Day 27 Milford Sound

After waking up bright and early, or rather just early since none of us were feeling particularly bright, we headed down to the pick up site at 6:45 to catch our 5hour coach to Milford Sound!

We debated a lot about whether to drive there ourselves, in the end the cost, both of time and petrol… to get there outweighed the benefits of catching a coach. Plus accommodation was ridiculous. So we opted to do one of the coach-cruise-coach options which is a 12ish hour day trip… and it was an experience. I seemed to conveniently forget all about my travel sickness up until we’d been on the coach half an hour and I realized the company had not only lied about the coach having a glass roof but about the coach having a toilet on board… So all in all most of the scenery acted as a distraction while I attempted to retain some decorum…

Aside from that minor hiccup Milford Sound was as beautiful as everyone, and the guidebooks, say. It’s so popular mainly because it’s the most accessible fiord in Fiordland but regardless of that I’m sure Miter Peak would attract attention however inaccessible it was.

First stop was at one of the many ‘mirror lakes’ this one was incredibly peaceful and surprisingly, considering how dense the bush was and how close we were to the lake, there were barely and mosquitos or sandflies!

Next stop was at a mountain stream where we were encouraged to fill up our water bottles! We were only just getting into the national park and already I could see the legendary Fiordland waterfalls. After a heavy rain, or while it’s raining, entire mountain sides spring waterfalls everywhere, and even on a hot sunny day, like today, there were hundreds of beautiful falls along the way

 Again.. I don't really know what Queenstown has done to my hair.. 

 Pretty spectacular right? 

 some of the constant waterfalls which always trickle down the mountain sides - we saw much bigger ones later on!

Another icy blue stream where we could drink the freezing water 

We saw a Kia! I’ve been hoping to see one in the wild since Franz Josef when I read about them as they’re apparently really intelligent and are often mischievous with a desire for destroying car windscreen wipers! They were bigger than I’d first expected too

After 5, long but beautiful, hours we got the mini harbor where it was straight from the coach onto the ship for 2 hours.  

 Mitre Peak from the dock

 One of the massive waterfalls 

 The first lot of seals we saw just lounging around, soaking up some rays

 The fiord was originally missed on nearly all maps because when sailing around the coast it just looks like a small bay, it was only discovered when a ship was caught in a storm and sought shelter

 More sleepy seals :)

 The landscape was stunning with steep mountains rising straight out of crystal clear water 

 One of my favourite parts of Milford Sound, where a river leads back into the mountains 

 At one point the driver decided to drive the boat into the waterfall, so we got completely drenched, I got a pretty amazing photo too 

The tour was ridiculously expensive for what it actually was and it was a truly manic 12hrs with no time to spare between the 5hr coach ride, the 2hr cruise and the final 5hr coach. Needless to say everyone just fell asleep on the ride back as we were all just worn out. It was truly beautiful though and it was good to now be able to accurately compare fiords to sounds as they're often mistaken for each other. I can certainly see why it's such a popular attraction as it was stunning. 

Day 5. Te Papa

Today was all about the Museum, stretching over 6 floors it’s huge but apart from the size it’s got a lot of interactive exhibits so we spent hours there and even spending all that time I don’t think we even covered it all. There was a lot on the formation of New Zealand, geologically, as well as information on it’s climate, environment and all it’s endangered animals. I definitely enjoyed the sociological exhibits the lost and I loved learning more about Maori culture and history.

 There were lots of Maori Quotes around which I loved.

What is given by the land should return to the land

The Weather also took a turn for the worse, with all the storm clouds which have been lingering threateningly on the horizon finally making their move meaning one thing, rain. Although I spent most of the day inside the museum staying warm and dry I did venture back to Cuba street as I just love the quirky, independently owned shops there. I didn’t buy anything, mainly because I know if I do I’ll just have to cart it around the South Island, but there were a lot of tempting bits and pieces. There’s an abundance of cafes and Op-Shops (from what I can tell these are basically charity shops but privately owned and often carrying vintage and designer pieces) as well as an old fashioned record store and quite a few vegetarian and vegan restaurants (which it always nice!)

I picked up a bubble tea while walking around, as I’d heard about them and really wanted to try one! They’re weird, I got the watermelon flavor, it was nice, just strange

And then we spent the rest of the afternoon/early evening playing monopoly with Alex (Another guy sharing our room from France) while it rained outside. Ferry to the South Island tomorrow which I’m not looking forward to as it’s meant to be really bad weather!

The sign on the doors to the hotel - it really is the Windy City!

Day 1. George's Breakdown

After I got up bright and early I had a bit of a rushed morning, but by 10am I was checked out of Student village with my life squashed into a suitcase and our new car all packed up.

(Moving out of Student Village)

That’s where problem number 1 occurred. George woke up later (9am) and then proceeded to skype everybody instead of packing. (But after a lot of tearful goodbyes and me and Axel helping George pack we named our lovely car Bernard and set off.)

Problem number 2. We couldn’t find the button to open the fuel cap so had to call tom, this was a minor problem in comparison to everything else.

Problem 3. Axel and Cara’s car broke down and we had to get Amanda to come save the car.

Problem 4. There were crossed wires about which supermarket we were going to and ended up all over the place.

Problem 5. George yelled down the phone at Axel ‘‘because axel was stupid and didn’t tell him what he wanted on his sandwich’’

Problem 6. A teenager ran at our car while we were driving and popped the hood – not to mention scared us half to death

(This was our view when we realised Bernard was going through petrol exceptionally quick)

Problem 7. George scratched a car (we left a note)

Problem 8. Our $50 of fuel disappeared after an hour and we had a panic about whether or not it was leaking

Problem 9. We realized it wasn’t leaking but worse, Bernard does through petrol VERY quickly

(Desert Road)

Problem 10. We lost sight of Cara and Axel, who we were following and got lost.

Problem 11. We got to Wellington and realized the hostel was right in the CBD and there was absolutely no where to park

Problem 12. We lost Axel and Cara again.

Problem 13. George can’t park

Problem 14.  We found out there was a cancellation policy that was more expensive that just staying the five nights we booked.

Problem 15. We realized we’d have to wake up at 7am to move the car (this was resolved as we’ve found something of a solution)

Problem 15. All the restaurants were closed when we got here at 11 and we were starving

Problem 16. Me and George went up to the top of building looking for our room (our room is 406 and 100s were on the first floor..)

Problem 17. When we got to the top we realized our room was actually on the ground floor….

Problem 18.  Wifi at the hostel isn’t free any more, as of yesterday.

Problem 19. George had over-packed/packed the complete wrong things

Problem 20. I realized George is the most stressful driver I’ve ever encountered.

The landscape seems to change every 5 minutes!

We’re safely settled into the hostel now though and hopefully tomorrow won’t involve me laughing at and trying to calm down George so much! I should also mention the view driving down was BEAUTIFUL! And Wellington has the most perfect location as it’s based around a harbor on a hill side, can’t wait to explore it tomorow

I wish I'd taken more pictures as I didn't take any of the Lake nor the mount but we'll be be heading back that way so I'll take some then :)

P.S George has decided to a baseball bat to keep in the car... as that will surely help his road rage 

P.P.S We all got into bed and George realised his was the only bunk in the whole room without a ladder, cue an ever so elegant climb into bed for George