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Today we went to Milford Sound!
Our day began early as we got the coach at 8am from outside our hostel. The driver seemed friendly and we sat at the front to give ourselves a good view of the scenery going by. It was a long journey to Milford Sound - about 5 hours - but thankfully it was broken up by a few stops. Our first was at Te Anau, where we would have phone signal for the last time for many hours. It has a huge lake, but we were really there for a quick toilet and snack break.
Back on the bus, it was on into the huge valleys. We learnt about the long process of building the road, which made its way along the bottom of several valleys and threw one long tunnel before arriving at the beautiful Milford Sound. The road is also the only one for hundreds of miles around. We occasionally stopped for a quick photo opportunity of the snow covered mountains around us, and stopped to go see a cascade at one point too. This was like a waterfall which had formed by the water carving its way threw rocks. It resulted in a very powerful flow of water which we could hear from the moment we stepped off the bus, even though it was a 10 minute walk away. A bridge took us directly over the cascade, where water blasted its way through the rocks. A few photos later we were back on the bus. Soon afterwards, we drove past the Mirror Lakes, and though we didn't get to stop and look at them, we glanced out the window and saw a perfect reflection of the mountains in the water.
Our next photo stop was at the start of the 1.2km Homer tunnel, which runs straight through a mountain. It took almost 20 years to complete, as initially work was carried out by just five men with pick axes. There was snow all around us and a few snowballs were thrown, but it was at the other end of the tunnel, where we stopped at the top of a huge valley, where a much bigger snowball fight broke out. We were happy to stay inside the warm coach whilst the driver battled it out with some of the other passengers outside.
On we went towards Milford Sound, past huge snowy mountains prone to avalanches. Eventually, after hours of driving, we arrived at the Milford Sound Visitor Centre just before lunch. We were soon aboard the boat which would take us on a cruise around the mountains, and the first thing on the agenda was lunch. A big buffet later, we went straight to the top of the boat out onto the viewing deck, where we were greeted by the sight of the incredibly picturesque Milford Sound. Good thing the camera was charged. We slowly made our way out to the ocean, past steep mountains on either side, some with snowy peaks, some with waterfalls running hundreds of metres down them, before turning back towards the Visitor Centre.
We were really lucky with the weather as even though it was almost winter and the Sound is prone to a lot of rain, there weren't too many clouds in the sky and we didn't get a drop of rain. As we slowly cruised around, we took in the incredible sights and took some great photos, including some of us in our wooly hats, big coats and gloves. We saw a tiny plane flying around the mountains, and it gave us an idea of the sheer magnitude of the mountains.
Before going back to the visitor centre, we stopped off at the underwater observatory. Here, we went down a flight of stairs and got to see unusual black coral, which usually grows hundreds of metres down but because of the unique environment of the Sound, it's able to grow just below the surface. We also saw a few fish, but it was soon time to board the cruise boat again.
On we cruised, and before going back to the Visitor Centre the boat came really close to a powerful waterfall. We took some great photos, and even more when we saw a rainbow in the waterfall. A short journey later we were back at the Visitor Centre, and our lovely cruise came to an end. It was time to board the coach for the long journey back to Queenstown. On the way back we got to watch Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and being at the front of the coach we had a good view of the screen. As it had done before, the film got us excited about Hawaii - as much as we were sure we wouldn't be staying in an amazing resort.
We eventually arrived back in Queenstown, and after a long day, we were ready for an early night. Xxx
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