Milford Sound

Milford Sound, Fjordland National Park.  Images from this place are some of the most iconic for New Zealand.  This is a place I just had to visit.

Good news:  The weather was shaping up to be absolutely perfect.  In the previous couple days, the weather was described as absolutely dreadful by a local.  And that's saying something since this area has 280 days of clouds and rain per year; sort of the opposite of Colorado, come to think of it.  I'm sure that it would be interesting to see this area in the pouring rain with literally thousands of waterfalls cascading off the mountain, but given the choice, I will take sun and perfect visibility.

Bad news:  Laurie woke up this morning and, while standing and thinking, her back completely gave out.  She wasn't lifting a cement block and twisting her torso.  Just standing there.  Her lower back just seized up and now she's in agony.  She could barely walk and yet, trooper that she is, wasn't going to let this prevent her from going on this boat trip.

Putting on a good face:

Thankfully we had a morning cruise so we avoided the busiest time of the day when the hordes arrive on buses from Queenstown.  We had a 2.5 hour "nature cruise" that journeyed all the way to the Tasman Sea and back.  We were on one of the larger cruise boats in the Sound but it was not too crowded and there was excellent commentary about what we were seeing.

The waterfall in the photo below is 150 meters high (more than twice the height of Niagara Falls).  The peaks around it are about 1,500 meters high.  The scale, steepness and sheer immensity of these mountains was simply mind boggling.

The steep mountains continue below the waterline, allowing the cruise boats to come very close to the coastline.  This fur seal was putting on a nice show for us.

Here is a good example of a small waterfall plunging directly into the Sound:

The boat is nearly directly beneath this waterfall.  I can only imagine how powerful these falls are when there has been a lot of rain.

This experience deserved a celebratory brew - Monteith's Pilsner.

A photo for my son, a fan of the Dolphins and dolphins in general.  On the way back from the Sea, we had three bottlenose dolphins riding the bow directly below me.  Incredibly thrilling to see these guys effortlessly swimming in front of us.  They seemed to really enjoy the ride.

The waterfall on the north side of the sound, on the way back, was stunning.  The boat came very close and they warned us to protect our expensive camera gear.  Well, thankfully I didn't have my expensive camera gear at this moment and just kept taking photos as we approached the fury.  When it was all over and the boat pulled back from the edge, I was completely soaked.  Fantastic!

Check out the boat in the lower left corner and you get the idea of the immensity of these mountains.

Needless to say, the Milford Sound cruise and the entire drive to the Sound from Te Anau, lived up to its reputation.  We then drove to our next destination, Wanaka, with a stop for dinner in Queenstown.  Queenstown was a bustling town with lots of energy.  Tourists and Kiwis alike were roaming the streets with vigor.  Laurie, unfortunately, was not.  Poor Laurie.  Hunched over and hobbling from the car to the outdoor dinner table.  A bit of wine with dinner may have dulled the pain slightly.  

The short route to Wanaka goes up and over a spectacular mountain pass.  Cardrona ski resort was nearby although I really never saw a lift -- too busy keeping my eyes on the winding road.  Here's a view looking back toward Queenstown.  Just ridiculous.

Tomorrow, good news for Laurie as we took advantage of lax NZ regulations to hit up the local pharmacy for some strong, prescription-quality anti-inflammatories AND pain killers with codeine.