Arriving in Queenstown - When to Visit Milford Sound?
 

We'll fly into Queenstown the morning of May 21st, and plan to spend our first night there.

I'm in the fairly early stages of working on our itinerary (we leave from Christchurch on June 2nd) and I'm trying to figure out if we should head to Te Anau the next day so we can visit Milford Sound, or if we should go ahead and spend the next two or three nights in Queenstown. Mentally, it makes sense to go to our southernmost destination first, but I don't know if that's the best way to plan our time.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Lee Ann

Let the weather be your guide...

Go on a quiet day - maybe Monday 23rd? Less crowds on the bus mean you can get a window seat. Or as Mel says go with the best weather.
I'd ask the tour company if it is quiet enough to make an impulse decision at short notice.

How do you plan on commuting? If it's a self-drive, then I would leave it till when you actually get there to decide.

I went many years ago in January. Lucky for us the rain had stopped by the time we got to Milford Sound. You will then see all the waterfalls coming off the mountains. Spectacular!

We went a couple of years ago on a cruise around NZ stopping in Dusky, Doubtful, and Milford Sound during November. Lovely and sunny.

http://hansellajc.wix.com/hanselltra...f21933cd57f91a

Chumbak, we will rent a car the day after we arrive, once we've had a chance to sleep and get over some of the jet lag.

I'm leaning toward driving to Te Anau on the 22nd, but I suppose we can change our minds if the weather is bad. Then again, we realize it's pretty likely that we'll get rained on this trip no matter what. :-)

Lee Ann

Lee Ann -

You've got the right attitude! The best thing about expecting rain is the glee you'll feel if it doesn't materialize:)

Melnq8 is absolutely spot on as usual, let the weather be your guide—because it's so unpredictable and changeable at that time of year. Do you plan on taking a bus tour to Milford Sound from Te Anau? In May, you shouldn't need to pre-book.

I live in Dunedin. There's a great chance that the weather will be glorious for your visit. This year has so far been overall warmer and drier than normal, possibly because of El Niño, but last year (2015) we had unexpected snow in April in the south, and cautions were in place for Milford Road.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/33...eather-settles
In May, the south was blasted by snow again, and once again cautions were in place for Milford Road.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/34...es-roads-south
Yet in June 2014, I was in Queenstown during its Winter Festival and there was no snow in town and the ski resorts were making snow. I'd packed snow grabbers for my boots, but I could have gone around in sandals, as it was so warm and sunny.
This is from May 2014:
http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/otago/3...ay-cold-fronts

Possibly check Metservice predictions before you leave and after you arrive. It can be wrong, but generally reliable for three days out. http://www.metservice.com/national/home

Thanks for those links, Diamantina. Since we're renting a car in Queenstown, I'm pretty sure we'll drive to Milford Sound.

Another thought - we could drive all the way to Milford Sound from Queenstown, spend the night in the lodge there, take a morning tour of the Sound, then drive back to Te Anau for the night. Has anyone here stayed at Milford Sound Lodge?

Lee Ann

Otherwise, would you drive from Queenstown to Te Anau, overnight, then next day do a self-drive to Milford Sound, take a cruise and then return to Te Anau for a second night? Where will you drive to after Te Anau?

These are sunrise/sunset times for New Zealand to give you an idea of your daylight hours:
http://rasnz.org.nz/in-the-sky/sun-rise-and-set

My husband and I considered staying at Milford Sound Lodge a few years ago, as the setting and chalet rooms as shown on their website looked beautiful, but after reading reviews that warned about the high number of sandflies, we instead opted to do the Milford Sound overnight cruise for a second time. Sandflies seldom bite at night, and don't do well in wind or rain. I don't know if mosquitoes, which bite at night, can also be found in Milford Sound.

Unfortunately, Real Journeys only offers Milford Sound overnight cruises through mid-May, so not an option for you.

This being said, I love the feeling of isolation and the quiet of Milford Sound (or Doubtful Sound) at night and in the early morning. On a clear night, the stargazing is great, as there is no light pollution.

Advantages to overnighting in Te Anau include: having the option of taking a coach tour instead of self-driving if the weather takes a turn for the worse; having a choice of restaurants (or a supermarket if you're self-catering); having a wide choice of accommodation, including some with lake views; having the option of taking a glow worm tour if you return from Milford Sound early enough.

If you opt to do a coach cruise from Te Anau to Milford Sound instead of self-driving, I would book the day before, as these coach cruises tend to leave between 8 and 10 a.m. from Te Anau.

Here are two useful links:
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/sh94-milford-road/
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-rec...s-for-drivers/

We too considered staying at Milford Sound Lodge, but changed our minds for the same reason Diamantina did. Also because there's not much to do at Milford other than the cruises and a very short walk near the wharf. We're walkers, so staying in Milford wasn't really an advantage for us.

We did stay at Knobs Flat for three nights a few years ago - it's located about halfway between Te Anau and Milford. We chose to stay there so we'd have easy access to the tracks along Milford Road. It was sandfly hell, and the accommodation was a bit rustic. Great shower though. It served its purpose, but we probably won't be staying there again.

Thanks for the sunrise/sunset link; it'll be helpful.

Are we going to have to worry much about sandflies in late May? Are they a year-round pest?

>>Otherwise, would you drive from Queenstown to Te Anau, overnight, then next day do a self-drive to Milford Sound, take a cruise and then return to Te Anau for a second night? Where will you drive to after Te Anau?<<

Yes, that is probably what we would do. After that, we would go back to Queenstown and spend at least a couple of nights there, then head toward the west coast.

As Mr. Pickle and I have been talking about what to do, I found this "bed and boat" package on Milford Sound Lodge's website. They don't have prices listed for May, so I've emailed them to get more information. From what I can see, though, it might be a good deal.
https://www.milfordlodge.com/milford...t-boat-package

If we do this, we'll leave Queenstown fairly early in the morning, make a stop in Te Anau, then drive to Milford Sound. If the weather is decent, we'd like to do the Key Summit track on the way. http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-rec...-summit-track/

Lee Ann

Lee Ann -

Yes, sandflies are a year round pest, but they're slower and fewer when it's cold. They're easy to outwalk, you just need to keep moving. They tend to like moving water and overcast days.

Regarding Key Summit - This will be a full day - a four hour drive plus the hike to Key Summit, which we clocked at 5:25 miles - it took us 2:50 to walk it on our most recent trip (we're getting old though), but it was worth every huff and puff. AND not a single sandfly at the top, at least on that particular day.

We really enjoyed our one night at Milford Sound Lodge, which we preferred to our night in Te Anau. Being at the lodge allowed us to take the 7a.m. kayak tour of a small part of the Sound, which was a true highlight of our time in NZ. We stayed in a private but very simple double room with shared bathroom down the hall. We met up with a couple of women whom we haf first met on another kayak trip, near Franz Josef, who were staying at Milford in one of the chalets, so spent a fun, rainy evening drinking wine and talking in their room (nice view of waterfalls coursing down the hills across the river). If you can afford it, I highly recommend staying in one of the chalets.

There's a cafe at the lodge that serves hearty if simple meals, and the vibe in the dining area is buzzing. Pretty easy to meet people at the shared tables. We really enjoyed the experience, which gave us two very different views of Milford Sound (the first afternoon/evening was wet and moody; the second morning, bright, crisp sunshine). And apparently we were quite lucky, because sandlies were not an issue. They only bothered us a tiny bit when we stopped along the shore in the kayaks for an extended look at a crested penguin taking a bath among the rocks.

So I would definitely choose a night in Milford over a night in Te Anau.

Thanks, Melnq8 and Aprillilacs!

We figured on spending a full day between the drive and hiking the Key Summit track, so we'll be sure to leave Queenstown early that morning.

Lee Ann