We hit the road right on time. It's a 2-3 hour drive to Milford Sound, so we made several stops along the way.
First was a stop to gaze at the huge Eglinton Valley.
Then a stop at Mirror Lakes. The name was appropriate. We did a little "mozzie dance", brushing the bugs off ourselves while waiting for our coffees. The coffee lady dies a great business at the end of the boardwalk/trail.
Next was a comfort stop at Knobs Flat's "million dollar toilets" (the cost to build them with no electricity available). This country has plentiful, super clean public toilets.
Next was Monkey Creek. Within a minute the cheeky Kea birds came to visit us. One perched on our bus and had his eye on Ewan. They hung around for quite a while. At least they didn't eat our bus. They're known to destroy cars.
Continuing on, we had only a short wait to proceed through the one-way Homer Tunnel. It's quite impressive as it's made almost entirely from rock (very little concrete).
The rain we'd experienced for the entire drive stopped right before got on the boat! We sat inside and enjoyed our box lunches.
After that I stood at the bow of the boat for the best view. Robin joined me. The temperature was just right. We were so happy that it wasn't raining.
Milford Sound is so impressive. The sheer cliffs rose into the clouds. Unfortunately, we couldn't see the tops of the highest peaks.
We saw several fur seals, including juveniles, basking on some rocks.
The boat captain steered us surprisingly close to Stirling/Waimanu Falls. He told us that if we were splashed by the waterfall's spray, that we would look instantly 10 years younger. After they fished me out of the water, we proceeded back to the dock.
It was an amazing cruise and I was able to check another item off my bucket list.
We continued on the 1.5 hour drive to Queenstown.
We made a stop in Mossburn. At the community Centre we enjoyed a "smokos" break (fruit and biscuits).
Queenstown shimmered in the sunlight at the far end of Lake Wakatipu. Lake Wakatipu is the 2nd largest lake in NZ. Housing is more expensive here than Auckland! I guess I won't be retiring here.
We hit a little traffic in Queenstown, but it could have been worse. My room at the Copthorne Hotel & Apartments Queenstown Lakeview has a big balcony, with a view of Lake Wakatipu. I unpacked a little and wanted a glass of wine to drink on my balcony. The hotel bar and restaurant were closed, due to staffing issues. The clerk gave me directions to a liquor store in town. But there wasn't enough time to get there and back before dinner.
We all met in the lobby. It was a short drive through the cute town, to the base of the Skyline Queenstown gondola. We quickly discovered that the gondola was broken down. Harry and Ian kept getting updates. Finally after about an hour, we started up the slope. Cool view from the gondolas that hold only 4 people. We saw several goats clinging to the steep hillside where they're building a chairlift. Due to the breakdown, other people had been stuck at the top for hours. Once the chaos calmed down, we had a lovely dinner, while watching the sun setting behind the mountains. We rushed outside to take pictures. The colors were spectacular.
Some folks took taxis back to the hotel. Others of us walked. I still wanted that bottle of wine. The first liquor store was closed, much earlier than their advertised closing time. Ron walked with me to another nearby liquor store. It too was closed. Strange. We started walking back to the hotel. We got caught in a detour that took us out of the way. We finally made it back to the hotel.
I tried to enjoy some water on my balcony, but the bugs attacked immediately. Oh well, I'll try again tomorrow.
Photo: Milford Sound
Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown:
Love the photos! Long day!
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