I had a terrible night, and didnt sleep at all. We had to be up at 5 am so we could get in for breakfast at 6.30. We set off for Millford Sound - a ffjord about 2 hours away. The journey took us 3 hours as we stopped frequently to admire and take photographs of the beautiful and very dramatic scenery. The final part of the journey unvolved travelling about a mile through a tunnel cut through the mountains by hand over a long period in the middle of 1900s - quite dramatic and like entering another world as we entered the tunnel from a barren rock strewn mountain and emerged onto a steep winding road down to the heavily forrested area outside of Milford. When we arrived at Millford Sound we checked in for our boat ride up the Sound. A buffet lunch was included - it was Ok. The scenery however, was outstanding. We saw mountains over a mile high which start in the sea, lots of rain fed waterfalls and two glacier fed waterfalls. The weather was also very kind to us, which showed the mountains off perfectly. Most of the waterfalls are temporary only showing up after rain so we were lucky that there was plenty of rain yesterday. We travelled up the ffjord for over an hour then down to the Tasman Sea. The sea was calm although there was a stiff breeze at times. On the way there were several stops to get up close to waterfalls and seals basking in the sun. However the most adventurous part of the trip was still to come. About 15 mins from Milford we docked at an underwater observatory. Roger and I had signed up to do an hour of kayaking - something we had not done before. We had both taken a variety of stunning outfits to wear as we were unsure what we would need. We also took a change of clothing in case we ended up in the water. The instructor said we were alright as we were apart from Roger having to take his shoes and socks off as he was going to steer our double kayak. This was kayaking for idiots or we wouldnthave signed up. You get into the kayak while it is on a hydraulically operated platform. Roger had trouble folding himself up to get in to his seat in the back of our double kayak, then they lowered the platform and with some basic instructions we were away. We were in a group of 12, everyone else had done it befores so we tended to be last. Our paddling improved quite quickly, although we did put a few paddlefuls of water over ourselves and Roger said I sent a few paddlefuls in his drection that hit him in the face. It was accidental - honest! We paddled to the point where a glacial river ran into the Sound and we could see the complete course of the river from the glacier. Incredible! The time flew by and it was soon time to return to the base. We had a great time and after looking around the underwater observatory we were taken back in a small boat to Milford. The journey back to Te Anau included a couple more stops but only took 2 hours. Tomorrow we move on.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 10:18:05 +0000
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