Tuesday, December 27, 2022

As we drove from Lake Manapouri toward Milford Sound, we discovered that there were lots of freedom camping areas north of Te Anau. But the park charged $15 per person, so freedom camping there was not free!

The Milford road goes through spectacular valleys, but it is a scary place. We found out on our return journey that there are 3 accidents per day on average on the road. The road kept climbing, snaking up the valley, with few guard rails and lots of sheer drops. Agh!!!!!

We reached the Homer tunnel , and we had to wait 8 minutes for our turn to go through. I was first in line, but I waved to the cars and buses to go by me. I wanted to be last and not have anyone on my tail.

the Milford Lodge is both a hotel and a campground. The sand flies are terrible in the area, so everyone in the campground cooks and eats in the campground building, rather than outside. I had my fly hat from Uluru, so I was the envy of everyone being bothered by flies!