Finally! Milford Sound!
Once we arrived at the Milford Terminal, we waited about 20 minutes before boarding our ship (Maiden of Milford). We took time to don our fleece jackets and windbreakers before venturing out on the open deck on top of the ship. There are a couple of photos showing each of us grinning as we ventured out of the Sound to the Tasman Sea. You couldn't get those smiles off our faces at any time throughout the entire 2-hour trip. You can look at pictures and read about how beautiful the Sound is – nothing, absolutely NOTHING, prepares you for seeing it in person. For me, I couldn't get enough of the view looking back inland with the snow-clad mountains (in summer, no less!) rising abruptly from the water. We paused at the two main waterfalls (Bowen – near the terminal; and Stirling – about midway out to the Sea) and drank in the view of many others. And this was a sunny day! I can only imagine what it would be like if the rain were kick-starting falls all across the mountainsides. We saw seals sunning themselves on the rocks, but the dolphins and penguins must not have gotten the note that we wanted them to be on display as well.
Oh, and my Taieri Gorge ball cap took an impromptu swim in the Sound. We stopped at the Underwater Observatory to let off a couple of passengers. As the ship swung around to head out of the small cove, a gust of wind came up and whipped the cap off my head, over the bow, and into the water. We had written it off and were planning on how to replace it when a crewmember came along and asked if anyone had lost a cap. I admitted it and he said that one of the kayakers had retrieved the cap – and a crewmember from one of the ships following us into the cove would bring the cap back to the terminal. So, I was ultimately reunited with my cap although it was still damp the following morning. Now the cap has a story all its own!
