After a lovely warm night we woke to grey cloud over the mountains and a promise of a hot sunny day to come - 28c the Garage owner told us, the hottest day of the year in Te Anau. We had booked to visit Milford Sound today - again with Real Journeys. To deviate from today's adventure just a quick word about this outfit. The second trip we have done with them and they are high quality with great service and facilities. Yesterdays coach was ordinary but fitted the journey, today's coach was super-dooper and fitting today's journey. It rose at the back sloping down towards the front, the internal seats were slightly on the slant to make it easier to view from the HUGE windows, the chairs had foot rests, seat belts, reclined and had plenty of leg room. The cherry on the cake was the glass roof, we were driving through a humongous mountain range (think French/Italian Alps) for a good part of the journey and the glass roof meant that we could view them in all their splendour. Today's nature guide Janice was superb and gave us cool info all the way to the harbour and our ship - the 'Milford Mariner'. A three masted sailing ship (used for overnight trips, lucky lucky passengers) with an engine meant that we travelled in style.

Anyways, we digress too much: Our day can really be split into three, the journey to Milford Sound, the journey through it and the evening monsoon in Te Anau.

The drive to the harbour initially took us through bush, the majority of which was tea tree bushes known and used medicinally by the Maori as Manuka. When the bushes are in bloom Bee Keepers move their hives into the area so that the honey they collect it.....Manuka Honey. Now don't know about you but we had no idea that Manuka Honey came from the Tea Tree bush...did you? Apparently Captain Cook was well up to the mark because he gave Manuka to his sailors and even brewed Manuka beer (which had to be mixed with his crew's Rum because it tasted so foul) because of its medicinal properties and the health giving vitamins his sailors needed. Apparently other sea Captains took on extra crew to make up for those who would die en route due to dietary induced illness, but Capt Cook never lost a man this way. This area of bush - Te Anau Downs - has been used for filming parts of The Hobbit but we didn't see any hobbits or wizards today, and Gandalf was nowhere to be seen.

As we travelled we saw Cabbage Trees mixed in with the Tea Tree and many of these would have been planted by Maori who used them to indicate a safe way through the bush and also to provide food - the cabbage tasting roots.

The majority of bush was Tea tree scrub which gives way to Southern beech - Silver Beech in the bush/low lying areas, Silver beech as the hills turn to mountains and then Mountain Beech on the mountain sides. Much plant life (and also some fauna) is unique to New Zealand, whilst similar to plants and animals in other parts of the former continent of Gondwanaland - most of it evolved to cope with the land after its separation. After this separation the Bats were the only mammals on NZ and some of the bird species present here today pre-date the dinosaurs! However, as ever, man has much to answer for: first the Maoris introduced rats and dogs for food, and then White settlers brought a whole heap of trouble with their rabbits (food, fur, memories of home). Rabbits did what rabbits do best and the settlers brought in ferrets to control the rabbits and the ferrets did what ferrets do best and bred in huge number which has devastated the native birds. Another pest is the Possum, introduced for their fur, they have become a real problem also - current estimates put them at 90m. The Department of Conservation is working hard to clear islands of pests to re-introduce birds in these sanctuary's and enable them to re-establish. Happily there is some degree of success.

We travelled on the Milford Road which was built by the jobless during the Depression, the men received meagre wages for their Back breaking job. It's got to be said that they were working amongst FANTASTIC scenery but the conditions were awful: sleeping in canvas tents (sometimes bringing their families along) they were subject to snow, avalanche and heavy rain and floods. No surprise that graveyards showed they rarely lived beyond their 40's. But thanks to their efforts - and the hacking away through the mountain to build the Homer tunnel (NOT for the faint hearted) - we are able to comfortably access and gawp at this wonderful, beautiful area. Thanks guys!

The mountains we drove and sailed through were HUGE! And we mean HUGE! They were steeper than the European Alps and rose pretty much straight up - the highest was 2,600metres. Some of them were bare rock and some appeared to have a green covering - which on looking closer was trees, scrub, ferns and lichens etc. Incredible - you look at a mountain and think 'oh yes, it's got green plants on it' but on looking closer you can see there are trees clinging on to the mountainside in impossible places. The mountains carried through into Milford Sound, soaring straight up for thousands of feet. All have permanent waterfalls as well as temporary waterfalls - there is very little soil to retain the water and so it just pours off the mountains. One mountain has 34 after heavy rain! We heard more about how tree avalanches (one of which closed Milford Road for 9days) can occur at anytime but especially after rain or heavy snow when the trees - even with their roots all knitted together for stability - sometimes just give way, they can't hold on. And so another 150-200years will pass before the barren area is rejuvenated. The whole area is pristine nature and hasn't changed for thousands and thousands of years. Just how lucky are we to see this!? The weather was another marvel; we left the harbour in bright hot sunshine and as we sailed out into the sound - ahead of us was cloud and mist, behind us was brilliant blue sky and sun. We weren't to see the sun again until halfway back on our return journey - but still giving us plenty of time to take some fab photos of the Fjiord.

An ecological / commercial note: to get to Milford Sound from Queenstown it's a 2hour+ road journey each way as there is that wonderful range of mountains that get in the way - but it has enabled Te Anau to commercially flourish with its population trebled daily by tourists en route to Milford, there really is not much else at Te Anau, it's a tourist town. Well there is thoughts and plans afoot to either build a cable car through / over the mountains between QT and Milford, or dig a tunnel through the mountain. Suffice to say the town is very concerned at what that would mean for their economy, and the Maoris and Green lobby are very concerned at the impact either could have on the bush. If you ask us, we don't think it's necessary because as it is it's a lovely drive, keeps people in employment and adds to the relaxation of a holiday.

Well eventually we returned to Te Anau, and to a baking hot van. We opened the windows and roof vents and set out for dinner in a lovely little Italian place (pan-fried Blue cod and salad for Shirl, meatballs and spaghetti for Dave). During dinner the sky darkened and there was a shower, and then another. And then as we settled the bill the heavens opened and it poured and poured. In Tshirts and shorts, Dave rushed back to the van 15minutes walk away whilst Shirl walked barefoot (well you can't walk in wet flip-flops can you?) through streams of rain water warmed by the hot pavement and arrived back at the van completely drenched! Could not have been any wetter if she'd gone for swim fully clothed in the lake! The monsoon went on for almost 2hours, there was a small river flowing through the camp in front of the van, the dusty spot where sparrows dust bathed on our way out was a bog, the bed was wet, some of the paperwork on the table also, but it gave us a good laugh! (We've been told that you can experience 4 seasons in a day here, it snowed on the hills and mountains around Queenstown the week before we visited there.)

Okay, enough enough: we are really on the NZ countdown now but have some great things lined up for our last few days, tomorrow - off to Mount Cook.