Milford reopens for tourists after blocked road cleared

The only road access to a world-class tourist attraction was restored yesterday after an 11-day closure, leaving Milford Sound's tourism operators to count the cost of the lengthy absence of visitors.

Several kilometres of State Highway 94 either side of the Homer Tunnel had been blocked by an avalanche since July 30, leaving the township without fresh supplies.

Crews worked around the clock to get the road into Fiordland open again.

It was partially opened to allow supplies through on Sunday, and opened for public use yesterday.

However, it was closed overnight because of the risk that rain could bring down further avalanches. It was hoped the road would be open again today.

One tourist operator said people were still nervous about travelling the road yesterday because of steep snow banks flanking the highway.

Peter Robinson, Southland's area manager for the Transport Agency, said: "The contractor has done incredibly well. I mean hundreds of thousands of tonnes of snow have been moved to get it open and they have worked some long hours to do that".

While tourism operators expect fewer visitors during winter - about 200 cars travel through the tunnel each day at this time of the year, compared to about 1600 in December and January - it is still a blow. Poor weather also meant tourist flights were cancelled.

Milford Sound Lodge acting manager Terry Mieremet said every day's closure meant that pre-bookings had to be cancelled and no walk-in guests.

About 10 to 20 guests would normally be expected each night.