Monday, I had a bus ticket to and from Milford Sound (about five hours away on the West Coast in the norther part of the Fjordlands) plus a 100 minute cruise. I managed to get it for a dollar as it was the new promotion for nakedbus.com. I managed to maked it just in time to see my bus pull off down the next street. Lucky for me, I managed to get another dollar ticket for Wednesday. I made the trip and we stopped at a few scenic stops along the way: mirror lake, and a waterfall among them. I did manage a nice shot of a Kea bird:
There was a long tunnel through the mountain to Milford Valley (I believe it's called). I can't remember quite how long the tunnel was, but, for some reason, I think it was 8k. I'll see if I can find out and get a real number for you. On the other side, it was like coming out of near pitch black - aside from sparsely placed overhead lights - into gorgeous scenery. The mountain was like sheer walls on the side and the sun was beaming down into the canopy of the forest we were about to enter.
After a bit more driving we were at the sound which is actually a fjord, but don't ask me to recite the difference just now. The cruise seemed shorter than it was and wasn't quite as exciting as it'd been made out to be. It was still quite beautiful, it just didn't seem a whole lot more varied than the rest of NZ. the water was a gorgeous teal, and just as we reached the Tasman Sea, we saw a group of dolphins numbering about half a dozen or so. We turned around and stopped by two NZ fur seals:
I left this morning and am now staying in Fox Glacier Villiage. I'm here for the next two nights before making my way back to CHCH via Greymouth and the TranzScenic train. Tomorrow I'm going on a glacier hike. I imagine it will not be fun, and while I'm there I'll wish I were back in bed every moment. The pictures and the memory, though, I'm sure will be worth it afterwards.
3 comments:
Love the pictures! That seal is really, really cute. Also, I'm glad you got a picture of yourself on the horse. I'm looking forward to hearing about your glacier adventure. Love you!
Yes! Nice pics! Was the horse ride fun? How long? I love the background in the pic of you. Looks like some giant middle earth battlefield. Awesome! Thanks for the Kea bird! Maybe I'll go down to see them someday... Nice description of the road emerging from the tunnel. That sounds like a nice memory, too!
Dad: Horse riding was fun, though I was definitely ready to be done when it was over even though it only lasted an hour and a half. The background was filmed somewhere where Gandalf was riding his horse, and to the left of the picture is where Isengard was.
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