Queenstown to Fiordland National Park

We departed Queenstown at our usual 10 a.m. for the 200 kilometer (120 mile) trip to Fiordland National Park Lodge where we spent the night before heading on to Milford Sound.  Once again, we had beautiful weather with temperatures in the high 60s and partly cloudy skies.  We drove along the eastern shore of Lake Wakatipu, through the Eglinton River Valley and ended our journey on the shores of Lake Te Anau with the mountains surrounding us.  We made a stop at Mirror Lake; however, there was enough breeze to create ripples on the water which distorted the lake surface and ruined the mirror effect.  Besides the scenery, a highlight of the day was watching a shepherd and his dogs work some sheep from one pasture to another.  It was amazing how the shepherd was able to control his dogs by whistling different signals.  Within a few minutes, hundreds of sheep were rounded up and moved through a gate at one end of the pasture into another pasture.  We spent the night at one of the park's backpacker lodges.  It was not as spartan as we expected and had wonderful views of Lake Wakatipu and the mountains of its western shore.