Going To NZ part eleven (The most exciting part yet: Queenstown to Milford Sound)

Hmm.

Queenstown was bade goodbye, and we moved past the towns of Frankton, Kingston (I once knew a guy by the name of Kingson. Freaky.), Garston (notice the town names end with a 'ton' everytime?), Lumsden, Mossburn (not a popular activity there), The Key (whose or what it is I really dunno, but maybe 'the key' to Milford Sound?), and finally Ten Anau, the gateway city to Milford Sound.

We drove into Te Anau, which was settled next to Lake Te Anau, and went about looking for a place to eat after the 150 km-odd journey from Queenstown early in the morning. As we parked and alighted, something really interesting happened: the sole of my right shoe gave way, and I was forced to sit down while my Dad and brother went to the nearby New World supermart to get some glue to patch it up.

After patching up my nike shoes (such reliable shoes aren't they?), we proceeded to get some lunch at a nearby restaurant. One thing i noticed, is that despite all the sheep farms, the menu in NZ eating places rarely include any lamb or meat coming from a sheep. Apparently, the meat is directly exported for foreign markets, and the locals get exterior meat coming meat to consume.

Lunch over, we drove on to Te Anau Downs, all the while able to see the Lake Te Anau on our left. The journey to Milford included travelling through dense forest, going into a tunnel through the mountain, seeing ice forming on the mountain side.
Then we came into a valley which slowly decended into the sound itself. We managed to see a Kakapo, a rare, flightless, green bird only seen in mountainous NZ areas. EXCITING.

We finally came into Milford Sound, and saw the grand monument of Mitre Peak (the main symbol of Milford Sound) and went into the ferry terminal. The entrance into the Sound just bending away to be hidden by mists. It was 2pm in the afternoon. We packed our clothes and got ready for the overnight ferry journey.

The ferry was called The Milford Wanderer, a veteran of Milford journeys crewed by a group of cheerful people and one very weird photographer. We boarded, and were given an introduction by the captain of the ship, who promptly introduced himself and the crew. The contents of his short speech included: when mealtimes were, what to expect and what the weather was like, so as to expect something unexpected (what?) and also what to watch out on the ship (raised door frames to keep out water etc.) and also to have a great time.

The best is yet to come.

Cheers,

Crawldaddy