The road to Milford sound has been called one of the worlds most beautiful drives, and rivals the destination in beauty. Luckily it is very difficult to do the latter without the former (though there are loose talks about creating shorter routes to Milford Sound). Milford Sound lays only 70.3 km east as the bird flies from Queenstown, but a healthy 286 km as the asphalt winds through the mountain passes. Day tours tend to depart early in the morning from Queenstown and return in the evening. Those who elect to drive themselves tend to make camp in Te Anau and drive the remaining 2h to Milford Sound avoiding bus traffic. The road winds through valleys, over hills and through a mountain. Getting stuck behind a slow moving vehicle can put a damper on ones day, more so because of the obstructed view rather than the slowed rate of movement.
It wasn’t until the completion of the Homer Tunnel in 1953 (it was started in 1935 with construction slowed by WWII and an avalanche) that people could drive to the Sound. Before that people were flown in or hiked the, again, world famous Milford Track. In summer, low avalanche season, a stop light controls the flow of traffic through the tunnel on a 15 minute cycle. I’d have to check but that sounds like it could be the longest stop light in the world.
On this road to Milford Sound there are plenty of stops to make, with 3 highlights being Mirror Lake, Lake Gunn and a lovely lookout. Most people, if they hit the red, also stop at the entrance of the Homer Tunnel which provides an amazing view on the west side as the road weaves down into the valley. For future reference it’s a good idea to leave Te Anau a little early so you have time to stop at Mirror Lake in the morning when there is no wind. We didn’t have the time and stopped on our way out, and the light wind destroyed the mirror effect.
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