It was time to say goodbye to Queenstown today but before we did that we had another game of crazy golf, except this time it was outdoor. Conor and myself got bored straight away so we formed our own game while Mike and Tom played by the rules, boring enough old couple!! I think Mike won but wasn’t too bothered to ask. After this we got our bus to Te Anau. It wasn’t like our regular bus, it was more like a van with a little trailer on the back for our luggage. It was a bit like one of John Kelly’s trailers! When we reached our destination we checked into our hostel which was located by the lake. There wasn’t much around here as it is gateway for travellers who are going to Milford Sound. That’s where we will go tomorrow so we walked to the i- site (which is basically a tourist information office that is located in all the main centres of New Zealand and a regular information provider for us throughout our New Zealand adventure). We decided to go with the cheapest cruise possible which was priced at 99 New Zealand dollars that included a two hour coach ride to Milford Sound, a two hour cruise and a little picnic thrown in. We did our shopping for the following day and relaxed in the Spa that afternoon in the hostel. A man from Germany was our room mate for the night and he showed us a big knife that he had purchased. That made us feel real safe and with that we hit the hay.
After getting up at 4am for another United game, we got some more kip and got up again at 7.30 am to get ready for our trip. It was raining again and reminding us of what we are missing back home! Our bus only included 5 other passengers, so at least we know that we aren’t the only cheapskates around! The journey was very scenic and we saw all the waterfalls, cliffs, glaciers and valleys on the way, although the weather hampered our view. We even cut through a long dark tunnel, named “Homer Tunnell” which is shaped like a donut in the middle of the mountain, that the bus barley fitted through! Once at the harbour we bordered our boat which was over 30 years old but was in great nick!! We got our free picnic which included a sandwich and a little treat. It felt like our old lunch boxes we use to get off Mam in Menlo school…except they were ten times better (Mams)!!! Milford Sound is the most northerly and celebrated Fiord of New Zealand, its vertical sides tower 1200 metres above the sea. The conditions were dodgy enough to be fair and we waited inside for most of the trip. The free tea went down well and we got plenty of refills whilst munching on our snacks. The captain of the boat gave us a running commentary along the way including briefing us about the Mitre peak which is one of the tallest mountains in the world to rise directly from the sea. The wind was so strong that the Waterfalls coming down from the mountains were being blown back up into a mist of water before it managed to touch the ground. It was a weird and wonderful sight. It was more like watching smoke than anything else. The boat actually hopped a few times which isn’t supposed to happen but it was great fun. I taught this might be another Titanic situation but we were ok. The cliffs were huge and the rain made the waterfalls even more spectacular. We spotted a few seals resting on the rocks, they looked so lazy. Unfortunately the Captain had to turn the boat around, such were the bad conditions! On the way back we got up close and personal with one of waterfalls, “Lady Bowen falls”. It was hard to get a good picture of this and Tom’s camera nearly went for a swim. Overall Milford Sound receives a lot of praise on New Zealand books but our trip wasn’t exactly what we expected but a lot of this could have been due to the poor weather. At least we picked the cheapest option!! On the way back on the bus we stopped by Mirror lakes but due to this miserable weather we couldn’t see my beautiful face in the water!!!
Back at the hostel a middle aged Irish man was cooking up a storm. It smelt great! He turned to me and Mike and said “its time to put on the spuds lads”!! We just chilled for the rest of the afternoon and watched a film. Tomorrow we are heading to Dunedin so we have to be up early again for another bus…the story of our lives J
Sweet as,
Gary
After getting up at 4am for another United game, we got some more kip and got up again at 7.30 am to get ready for our trip. It was raining again and reminding us of what we are missing back home! Our bus only included 5 other passengers, so at least we know that we aren’t the only cheapskates around! The journey was very scenic and we saw all the waterfalls, cliffs, glaciers and valleys on the way, although the weather hampered our view. We even cut through a long dark tunnel, named “Homer Tunnell” which is shaped like a donut in the middle of the mountain, that the bus barley fitted through! Once at the harbour we bordered our boat which was over 30 years old but was in great nick!! We got our free picnic which included a sandwich and a little treat. It felt like our old lunch boxes we use to get off Mam in Menlo school…except they were ten times better (Mams)!!! Milford Sound is the most northerly and celebrated Fiord of New Zealand, its vertical sides tower 1200 metres above the sea. The conditions were dodgy enough to be fair and we waited inside for most of the trip. The free tea went down well and we got plenty of refills whilst munching on our snacks. The captain of the boat gave us a running commentary along the way including briefing us about the Mitre peak which is one of the tallest mountains in the world to rise directly from the sea. The wind was so strong that the Waterfalls coming down from the mountains were being blown back up into a mist of water before it managed to touch the ground. It was a weird and wonderful sight. It was more like watching smoke than anything else. The boat actually hopped a few times which isn’t supposed to happen but it was great fun. I taught this might be another Titanic situation but we were ok. The cliffs were huge and the rain made the waterfalls even more spectacular. We spotted a few seals resting on the rocks, they looked so lazy. Unfortunately the Captain had to turn the boat around, such were the bad conditions! On the way back we got up close and personal with one of waterfalls, “Lady Bowen falls”. It was hard to get a good picture of this and Tom’s camera nearly went for a swim. Overall Milford Sound receives a lot of praise on New Zealand books but our trip wasn’t exactly what we expected but a lot of this could have been due to the poor weather. At least we picked the cheapest option!! On the way back on the bus we stopped by Mirror lakes but due to this miserable weather we couldn’t see my beautiful face in the water!!!
Back at the hostel a middle aged Irish man was cooking up a storm. It smelt great! He turned to me and Mike and said “its time to put on the spuds lads”!! We just chilled for the rest of the afternoon and watched a film. Tomorrow we are heading to Dunedin so we have to be up early again for another bus…the story of our lives J
Sweet as,
Gary
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