Several different companies operate cruises on Milford Sound: Mitre Peak Cruises, Real Journeys, Red Boat Cruises and Southern Discoveries are more focused on conventional tourists while Go Orange and Jucy Cruize are cheaper with more of a budget backpacker focus. A lot of the conventional cruises are on big, impersonal boats but Mitre Peak Cruises have the smaller boats and offer a less touristy experience. Real Journeys also have some smaller boats.
The main advantage of these cruises is the view of Mitre Peak, so they are a waste of money when it is covered in fog and low-lying cloud. The first cruise departures each day are usually much cheaper, primarily because your view is more likely to be obscured by fog; although these can be great value on a clear morning.
The following video and booking calendar is for cruises on Mitre Peak Cruises:
Coaches operate from Te Anau to Invercargill, Milford Sound and Queenstown and there are also shuttle bus connections to the hiking tracks.
InterCity Coaches go to Christchurch via Dunedin and awesomeNZ and GreatSights coaches go to Queenstown and Milford Sound.
Topline Tours run a shuttle bus service to Manapouri and the Kepler Track and TrackNet operate a shuttle service for hikers tackling the Hollyford, Kepler, Milford and Routeburn Tracks. TrackNet also run buses to Invercargill, Milford Sound and Queenstown.
Most bus and coach services stop outside Kiwi Country (2 Miro Street, Te Anau), although the hiking trail shuttle buses are more flexible and will often pick up and drop off at your hotel or hostel.
The DOC (Department of Conservation) Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre in Te Anau is a great source of information about hiking trails in Fiordland National Park including the Kepler, Milford and Routeburn Tracks.
The Hump Ridge Track (53km, 3 days) is the country’s best privately run hiking track. It starts and finishes at Blue Cliffs Beach, a 20-minute drive from Tuatapere, and follows the Hump Ridge, returning along the coast. It is an excellent walk that features some very impressive bridges including the Percy Burns Viaduct (the world’s largest wooden viaduct).
The huts are of a very high standard. In summer it costs $175 for hut accommodation and transfers to and from the trailhead.
It is similar to the Kepler Track and is moderately difficult with some challenging sections and steep climbs on the first day. It involves a lot of walking – around 18km each day.
Refer to the track’s website for further information.
Bluecliffs Beach to Okaka Hut (18km, 7–9 hours)
The track follows the coast for a few kilometres before cutting inland to Flat Creek. Then it’s a steep climb to Okaka Hut on Hump Ridge.
Okaka Hut to Port Craig Village (18km, 7–9 hours)
This section of the track passes several of the towering wooden viaducts, for which the Hump Ridge Track is famous, including the Edwin and Percy Burn Viaducts.
Port Craig Village to Bluecliffs Beach (17km, 5–7 hours)
The walk back to Bluecliffs Beach passes through rimu forest, but for the most part is a coastal walk past rock pools and sandy beaches.
The Wairaurahiri Wilderness Jet run jet boating trips on the Wairaurahiri River. This is a lot longer than the average jet boat ride with full-day trips that jet across Lake Hauraoko and then down 27km of grade three rapids on the Wairaurahiri River. The trip includes three to four hours in the jet boat.
If the Rakiura Track is too easy for you, the North West and Southern Circuits (125km, 8–12 days) may be more your style. The complete hike covers most of the northern half of the island, but it can be broken into two segments, both which provide the opportunity to see kiwi in their natural habitat.
This track has huts spaced approximately one day’s walk apart.
The Rakiura Track< (36km, 2–3 days) is one of DOC’s Great Walks. It is a popular walk with birdwatchers, but lacks the stunning views normally associated with the other Great Walks.
Accommodation in DOC huts on the route costs $24 per night.
Halfmoon Bay to Port William Hut (12km, 4–5 hours)
The track starts at the end of the road north of Oban and follows the coast for most of the first day.
Port William to North Arm Hut (12km, 6 hours)
This section starts off by backtracking for 45-minutes along the beach and then cuts inland. The track climbs to the summit ridge where there’s a lookout tower that offers views to Paterson Inlet. The track climbs for a little longer before descending to North Arm Hut.
North Arm Hut to Halfmoon Bay (12km, 4–5 hours)
The last section of the track passes Sawdust Bay and Kaipipi Bay, both on the shore of Paterson Inlet. The final stretch from Kaipipi Bay to Oban follows the old Kaipipi Road, the original access route for the sawmills at Kaipipi Bay that employed over 100 people in the 1860s.
