I made it a nice early half 6 start this morning so that I could have a good breakfast, get ready in plent of time and be set for my long day exploring Milford Sounds. I was picked up by my bus at 8 and we set off on our way. We drove out of Queenstown for 2 hours until we arrived at the town of Te Anau. Not much happening here, just some boats going about and a nice cafe for breakfast muffins.
We stepped back onto the bus and made our way towards the Fiordland National Park, the biggest national park in New Zealand. For about an hour we drove past loads of open farmland with mountains in the background which was impressive enough in its self. The driver of the bus was really good, he obviousley knew a lot about the area and told us loads.
The open farmland changed to dense vegetation and we now knew we had entered the national park. The next 2 hours was spent driving through some of the most amazing scenery I've ever seen. Windy mountain roads took us past PROPER mountains, the kind I wanted to see since I've been in New Zealand. Big grey ones capped with snow. They were absolutley amazing. We stopped off a couple of times for picture stops over and between some impressive valleys and also at a place known as "The Chasm" where the rock has been eroded by the river and has holes all over. It was so cool. We continued on, still absolutley amazed by the stunning landscape, untill we reached the boat terminal at Milford Sounds.
We borded and started the our cruise with an all you can eat buffet. To be fair, it was rubbish, and they had not tried atall to cater for vegetarians, lucky for me I had a big breakfast. I still helped myself to a load of rice, veg and noodles though. Half way through eating the captian of the boat, who was giving occassional commentary, told us there were dolphins in the water. I ran out to have a look and was so so chuffed when I caught them. I hadn't expected to see any but it was absolutley amazing. They didnt make it easy for me to take a picture though. We also saw some seals on the rocks which was cool.
After I we had eaten we headed up top and took in the amazing views. Milford Sounds is much like the Queen Charlotte Sounds that I had cruised through on the ferry to the south island, excpet Milford is better. The mountains are greyer and snowier, the water is bluer and there are loads of amazing waterfalls. I stood and filled up my camera with pictures untill we were dropped off at the Underwater Observatory.
Here we were given a bit introduction and then taken down loads of steps into the observatory below. It was pretty amazing looking out and seeing all the fish in their natural habitat. After a while checking the fish and reading some stuff about them we were stuck onto another boat and taken back through the sounds to the terminal.
It was such an amazing day and well worth what I payed for it. I had thought the photos I had seen of it before hadn were impressive but, even on a fairly dull day, they were nothing compared to seeing it with my own eyes. Definitely one of the most stunning, if not the most stunning place I've seen in New Zealand so far. If/When I come back here, I definitely want to spend a while down south by Fiordland, doing some hikes and whatever and seeing what it all has to offer.
Tonight I watched Wedding Crashers on the bus back since the driver put it on for us. Decent film. Then we stopped in at Queenstowns answer to Burger Fuel - Fergburger. Kind of simmilar to Burger Fuel but different. I had a "Bun Laden"; falafel patties on a massive bun with tomato, lettuce, red onion, avacado, lemon yogurt and sweet chilli sauce. It was pretty damn good, definitely on par with Burger Fuel.
Tomorrow I have yet another early start for my canyon swing. Im not all that nervous about it after doing a bungy but I'm sure that'll change once I get down there in the morning.
