Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Come with me on a journey through time and space
DAY 14 - MILFORD SOUNDS
an early start and im not feeling my best but i do make the coach on time. joony and austin have to be woken up. apparently we are leaving early to beat the rush of the crowds, in new zealand i find it hard to believe there can be a gathering that could constitute a crowd, but i trust their judgement. cough cough
its a long journey about 5 hours so we entertain ourselves by eating cheesy puffs(wotsits) and the usual dull coach tricks. try playing ispy with kate but after mountain ,coach , lake and sheep we have exhausted all options. we have spent so much time on the coach that you end up doing stupid things. i have spent time asleep down the centre aisle only to wake up to find pen on me. i have drawn on others while they have been asleep. i have crawled commando style to the front of the coach from the back. i have nearly killed myself playing bus twister. i have made paperchains and xmas lanterns. i have covered someones head in bits of paper when they have been asleep. i have spent plenty of time sat at the front of the coach annoying the driver. i have danced down the coach. played cards and told poor jokes, confese to nick on the microphone as to how we stitched him up on the drinking game in rotorua. but most of all i have tried to sleep on the coach and strangely one of the most comfortable positions was on my back with my legs up on the headrest, maybe i should try this technique on the plane home.
windslow, the young guy from the Czech Republic was reading fhm, and occasionally asked me what certain words meant, all slang words to which i give him the definition before he goes red and continues reading.
im waffling now, nevermind. we stop at the township of te anau on the shores of one of nz many large glacier carved lakes for coffee, much needed. we stop later and admire the reflection in mirror lake. i wonder why they call it that?
we do get momentarilly delayed on our journey by a herd of cows that have ventured into the road, we chase them down until they b***** off basically.
we drive through a mountain, in a rather large tunnel, the homer tunnel, Doh. we eventually reach milford sound. it's a beautiful day and we catch a boat for a cruise around the waters of milford sound. it is actually very busy, there is a number of ferrys that just do the circular cruises all day. the weather is lovely and we enjoy a coffee before going up to the top deck for the awesome views, the veiws are possibly as good as on the dart river trip but there are far more people around. we take in the stunning views, look at dolphins, take pictures of the water just after the dolphins have gone back underwater, do bad seal impressions at the seals arrff arrrff. the water looks like tea apparently, didnt catch why.
joony decides to tell me i should be the next king of england, the crazy korean. i decide to get in as many random photos of people i do not know as possible, this is amusing for me and my friends but not so for those whos pictures i ruin. lisa nearly loses her cap. i take pictures of random bald heads and thats our cruise pretty much over with.
well i couldnt be bothered with a 5 hour coach journy back, so neil and i decide to pay for a helicopter ride back. just to annoy pepole we have been humming the tune to airwolf all day and mentioning the word helicopter as much as we can. grant, lisa, jan and megan opt for the cheaper scenic flight. my holiday budget is screwed.
we wait around at the "international airport", well stretch of tarmac for our helicopter to arrive. take a short walk that apparently takes 20 minutes, i guess it takes 20 minutes if you walk at the pace of a snail.
well we board our helicopter for our flight back, it is only 30 minutes straight to queenstown, but we will be taking a scenic route and stopping on the way. the flight is amazing, i love helicopters anyway, but with this scenery its just awesome. we take off and fly to one of the biggest waterfalls before climbing alongside it. we fly along side the mountain range, look down at the ferrys on milford sound before flying over the mountain tops. i am taking so many pictures and a few videos of the experience on my camera until it kindly informs me that the battery is depleted and promptly turns itself off.
we fly over some lakes in the ice capped mountains that are incredible colours of bright blue to turquoise. we fly up a glacier to reach our stop of point. we see the lake at the bottom of the glacier, still half way up the mountain where big chunks of ice have broken away and are flaoting in the lake. we circle around the top of the mountain looking for a place to land, it looks impossible to land anywhere there while we circle as it seems ice is cracking everywhere, but we find a good spot and land, we jump out of the helicopter and sink into a foot of snow resting on the glacier. we are on the top of the mountain now. we are told to stay fairly near the helicopter for obvious reasons. well what do you do if you are on top of a mountain covered in snow? have a snowball fight of course. it really is truely amazing looking at all the mountains around when you are on top of one. my camera squeezes out a couple more pics before totally giving up. its getting cold now and we return to the helicopter with wet ankles. the remainder of the journey is stunning, without the camera i take in the trip better and love every second of it, going over mountain ranges watching the ground fall beneath us as we go over each peak, following rivers towards queenstown. we reach queenstown but wish the ride could last longer. money absolutely well spent.
well we have some time to spare now unlike those still on the coach, so we stop off in town for a fergburger and to the lord of the rings official merchandise shop to buy some presents.
back to the hotel for a little snooze, we bump into mandy who tells us of her embarrassing moment interupting a new couple at an inappropriate moment. which was nice.
just enough time to return the stolen stocking to the lift, i was too chicken to take it back to reception.
we meet for dinner before another big night out. its kate, laurel and kevins last night of the tour so we are going to make sure its a good'un. we go to the hotel bar after dinner, just enough time for a barcardi breezer 3 second shotgun, well it would be rude not to. before venturing into town.
our first stop is the ice bar. we have to get padded up first in thick jackets and gloves before they let us in, we are only allowed in for 30 minutes too.
we get in and everything is made from ice, even your glasses. we enjoy a cocktail before messing around dancing and taking stupid picture. including some inappropriate one with the ice sculptures all for comedic affect. the bar staff offer a free drink only if they choose what drink it is, lisa and i oblige. lisa gets a nice cherry or something nice flavoured vodka through a funnel, they are not so kind to me as they pour pepper flavoured vodka down a funnel into my mouth. they said it is the worst tasting drink ever made and god damn it they are right, but hey its a free drink. bonus.
we get to smash our ice glasses before leaving for a normal bar, well i say normal, i mean frazers again.
we are at the bar having a good laugh. kate and laurel have managed to blag a few free drinks from the bar. after a few beers neil and i decide to buy champagne, its not actually that expensive, but we are pissed and think it would be funny. a few bottles later we are dancing on the bar entertaining or disgusting the crowd depending on what outlook you take of it. sadly i have no photos of this experience. phew, im sure others have though. i am still unsure who was slapping my arse while i was shaking my rump though. booze, bar and dancing, what a combo.
a few drinks later some folk go back while others continue on, we manage to lose everyone, kate asks where the rest of the connections crew have gone, the barman assures us they have gone to a bar called surreal, we try there but they are not there and the queue to the bar is huge, so we decide to head to the teapot bar, they must be there.
on our way we bump into mandy, who has already been politely told to leave the bar for being too intoxicated, later rumours say she was almost arrested, not quite true. anyway she tells us that some folk are still in the teapot bar, so off we go, we are not able to convince mandy to join us though. yep, we find the others, well a remaining 4 or 6, im not sure im quire drunk by now. after sharing a teapot and some dodgy dancing we head off back via yet another fergburger. fergburger in hand we head off to eat them back at the hotel. lazy mode, arm up grab a taxi. we cant remember the name of the hotel, so i tell the driver, go 100 metres up the road and its on your right.
good to see the stocking has made it back under the xmas tree. well another drunken night, another fergburger and another caning of the holiday budget. its all good.
- comments