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We had to get up at 6am for our trip to Milford Sound. I had had a terrible night sleep thanks to my cold and wasn?t feeling particularly enthusiastic about our 5 coach journey. It was freezing cold; the temperature had plummeted overnight so I slept most of the way to Te Anau, except for when Ben woke me to see the beautiful sunrise. Te Anau seemed to be a pretty place but the rain and miserable weather was distorting my judgment. It was a shock to see that all the mountains around the lake were covered in snow as it was still too early in the year. About 25minutes after leaving Te Anau, we had to stop as we were told the Milford Road was closed at the divide because of the snow and a small avalanche (apparently there had been 20cm of snow overnight) The driver wanted to head back but one cheeky, annoying girl from Manchester said we couldn?t as it was her only chance to see the sound and so she wanted to risk the drive (obviously didn?t care about the other 49 of us on the coach) After a 2hour wait on the side of the road, we were able to get through. The scenery was amazing, the snow made everything look 10 times prettier. We all got soaked when we jumped off the bus to take some photos, didn?t realize how deep the snow was and none of us had dressed for the weather. By the time we passed through the Homer Tunnel the change in weather was unbelievable. The drizzle had stopped and the sun was shining. The views down the canyon were amazing, with the snow glistening in the sunlight. When we got to Milford the sun was really beating down and so we got a nice spot on the front of the boat. The weather was perfect. The tour guides kept telling us how lucky we were to see the sound in these conditions. Clear blue sky, sunshine and snow capped mountains covered in waterfalls (due to the melting snow).Three seasons in one Day as he called it. The 2hour cruise was fantastic; we sailed down the sound into the Tasman Sea and back again. We also spotted some fur seals. Met a really nice American couple and had a great chat about our travels and they told us all about theirs. After the cruise we headed back to Te Anau where we stayed the night rather than going all the way back to Queenstown. We stayed in a lovely YHA with a cozy log fire. The next day, I was feeling a lot better so we went for a walk along the lake before catching the coach back to Queenstown. Milford Sound was fantastic, the journey there is beautiful and it gets even better when you cruise along on the boat. We were so lucky with the weather as all of our friends who went before and after us had heavy rain. Definitely a must do in New Zealand. Â
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