Milford Sound...WOW

The day did not get off to a promising start. It was teeming. Eventually we were on the bus and heading off. The driver was brilliant. He is Maori and was able to tell us lots about the area we were driving through. They have wild deer and pigs which are hunted to control the numbers. The rain forest is protected and a UNESCO world heritage site. It rains here a lot. They can get 10 METERS of rain in a year, so the shower we had was to be expected. It did mean there were lots of waterfalls.

When we got to the Milford Sound, the weather had cleared so the trip down the fiord was amazing. Everything you have heard about the place is true with knobs on ( oh yes, one of the places we stopped on the way down was called Knobs Flats! ) I don't think any pictures I have can get across the scale of the place. One of their permanent waterfalls looks impressive enough, but then you are told it is 150 m high, taller than Niagra Falls. The real treat was seeing a pod of bottle nosed Dolphins and their calves swimming under one of the falls. They even did a little jump for us. 

We had booked a flight back to Queenstown, but because of the weather it was dicey whether they would fly or not. We needn't have worried. It was somewhat strange when Prince Harry walked across the tarmac. Actually the pilots name was Stefan and he had a local accent, but you never know...

If I thought the flight in the jet was bad, it was nothing compared to flying in a small aeroplane. But the views were outstanding. It was an amazing day.