1. There is a wonderful Milford Sound Drive between Te Anau and the sound (it is really a fjord, but they did not have the capacity to know the difference at the time it was named) that took us about 2-1/2-ish hours to drive. We stopped at Mirror Lake, the tunnel, and The Chasms on the way up. (There is another stop, that had a parking lot and sign, where a lot of people were getting out and taking pictures in a beautiful field of flowers--wish we'd done.)
2. There was the pricey Milford Sound Lodge with its chalets (and once we got there, appears that they may have a hotel/motel as well?) or a very pricey overnight cruise with a couple different cruises vendors. We found going up and back in one day reasonable.
3. There are six cruise companies, but we chose (ahead of time) Southern Discoveries. I also chose the Encounter Nature Cruise, which is a slightly smaller boat than some of the massive ones, because it'll stop for wildlife and waterfalls. I also chose this company because it is the only one that has access to the Milford Sound Underwater Observatory--a must. I had purchased lunch aboard the 2-hour excursion because I was afraid the only restaurant in the sound (the Blue Duck) may be too busy. We had purchased a 5 desserts, 1 water, and 2 rain ponchos for $43, so I didn't feel as though they were selling at unfair prices. The cruise company does have ponchos, but best to be safe that we had enough. I had purchased 4 picnic, 1 gourmet, and 1 Indian lunch. It is best to purchase all picnics. Price for the 6 of us on that cruise (2 adults, 4 kids), the 6 lunches and 6 additional tickets to the underwater observatory was NZ $440.80. Our tour was at 1:00 and we finished at 4:00 (because of the observatory).
4. Drive back to Te Anau probably took just over 2 hours because we didn't make any stops.
4. Dinner at a fantastic Italian Restaurant in Te Anau. Four adult meals, 2 kids meals, 6 drinks, 1 appetizer (and we left a tip) for NZ $180.
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