Fiordland and Milford Sound

Today we were up at the crack of dawn, quite literally, to catch the 6.50am coach taking us to Milford. This was made slightly easier by the fact that it got really cold overnight and we were both sleeping quite lightly by the time the alarms went off, but was still not my ideal time to start the day. Nevertheless, we made it to the tour bus on time, and off we went. The first couple of hours were spent mostly sleeping, before we reached the really scenic parts, but after a breakfast stop in Te Anau (sp?) it wasn't long before we were winding through the mountains. The scenery really was spectacular, and we were happy to be in a coach which had a sloped floor, seats angled towards the windows on each side of the aisle, and glass panels in the roof. The view from inside was really good, and the driver stopped plenty of times on the way to let us take pictures of forests, mountains, glaciers, and lakes as still as mirrors. I will let those speak for themselves.

Once we got to Milford Sound at 1.15pm, it was time for the boat cruise. We were on a fairly small cruise boat which meant everyone had a good chance to look out from all sides, although we quickly learned not to lean out from the front because of the extremely high chance of getting smacked in the face by a sudden burst of spray. That is not generally recommended for digital cameras! The cruise took us out as far as the Tasman Sea, taking in waterfalls and fur seals basking on rocks, before heading back to the jetty again. It was a really enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.

The journey home was very quiet, with most people nodding off as we travelled, although we did break in Te Anau again for food and ice cream cones. I stayed awake the whole way back to Queenstown, and entertained myself by looking out at the herds of cattle and deer and the flocks of sheep in the fields. I knew that New Zealand had a lot of sheep, and suspected it had a few cattle as well, but I had no idea there were so many deer. Venison must be the up-and-coming thing, which is just fine with me because it's delicious. Sorry Bambi.