Milford Road, Mitre Peak & Key Summit

Very soon we will see one of the best views of NZ~~~ The very scenic Milford Road towards Milford Sound. Similar with Doubtful Sound, Milford sound is a fiord, an ice carved valley flooded by the sea.... Allow 2.5 hours from Te Anau to reach Milford Sound. Can't wait~

Took our first walk at Lake Mistletoe, 45 mins return walk. Nice and easy walk..

Driving on.. Stopping whenever we can to look at the beautiful views of the fiord =) 

Mirror Lake, 10min walk. On a nice day it does its job as a mirror reflecting the mountain drop but not today ...

The friendliest and cheeky mountain parrot, Kea.. They love to chew on rubber stuff like boots, tyre, the cables... This one was chewing on our van's moon roof cable!

Homer tunnel right ahead there!

The tunnel took more than 60 years to build back in the.... Length of 1.2 km.... Upon passing the tunnel, we are so amazed with the views! So many waterfalls surrounding us as we drive down the mountain.

Milford Sound

Many people would take a cruise to view the fiord or an overnight trip in such wonderland. But since we had our expensive good times at Doubtful Sound (not to mention the search for crested penguins, kayaking around the fiord, scrumptious buffet dinner and so much unforgettable memories), we just had to skip Milford Sound cruise!

Mitre Peak on the left

We still manage to see the legendary Mitre Peak without the cruise :p with the easy 20min walk from the carpark. It was cloudy that morning but then it turned good! So nice! Mitre Peak is believed to be the highest mountain to rise out from the sea, standing at 1692metres.

An oystercatcher was sitting on nest on this branch. Everytime people get near it, it will squeak and then its partner would fly towards the 'enemy' to protect her and the eggs! How lovely...

We also took the Milford sound lookout track , a 10min track from the carpark but nothing spectacular

There is a from the Chasm to The Divide which closes at 6pm and reopens at 7.30am.. So we took the Key summit walk which is access through The Divide. It is a 3 hrs return walk, climbing up to 919 metres. Finally!!!! Rewarding views up here, OMG!

This beautiful daisies shines like two delicious sunny side up fried egg.

Beautiful views of surrounding mountains and glacial valleys. Also saw the Marian Lake from the lookout at the summit.

Absolutely beautiful @ Key Summit Peak

Cascade creek campsite for the night, spacious nice campsite..