Sorry for the back to back posts... We have returned to civilization!
We booked a kayaking tour for the morning followed by a 2 hour cruise through the sound so we were up quite early to meet our guides. Most of the pictures from the kayaking adventure are on the GoPro but it was definitely an awesome way to get up close to the waterfalls and look straight up at the cliffs that extend beyond the clouds and out of eyesight, literally. Some of the highest cliffs and peaks are over 5000 ft. tall and can descend below the water another few hundred feet!
Our kayak guide told us a native legend about how the Fiordlands came to be and here is my twist on it for all of you:
God gave New Zealand the mountains, cliffs and glaciers but decided it just wasn't enough. He copied the trees and the birds of his favorite forests and covered the massive inclines. Astonishing! But it didn't do the trick. He finally finished off the 8th wonder of the world by filling in the gaps and crevices with beautiful ocean water which we now call Milford Sound.
It was at this time that God discovered he had overlooked one MAJOR detail: If people like us discovered this place, they would never, ever leave... So for this reason, God blessed Milford Sound with irritating little pests called Sand Flies.
Don't forget to pack your bug spray... And then bathe in it!
Go Orange, the tour company, provided a picnic lunch for us but there was also complimentary fish and chips on board the cruise boat! Just FYI, It would be so silly for anyone to come to Milford Sound and not take a boat or aerial tour. There are hiking trails to explore (which we didn't have the time or weather for) but nothing will make you feel smaller or less significant than getting up close and personal with these waterfalls and cliffs.
The weather was a bit chilly on the deck of the boat and it was beginning to get extremely windy out on the water as our cruise came to an end but we were told that this was a great day for the sound! We did not realize that there are no sunny days here... Just sunny hours. Be sure to pack some layers and don't worry, rain or shine, you are guaranteed to be blown away.
One of my favorite parts of our day was seeing a dolphin right off the bow of the boat. We followed it for a good 5-10 minutes as if it was guiding us out to the middle of the sound! I was too excited to even document it with a picture (and that's rare for me).
Just to give you a better perspective of the magnitude of this place, this waterfall is as tall as a 50 story building:
Pretty crazy, right?! We thought so anyways.
The tallest, permanent waterfall in Milford Sound (Lady Bowen), which we kayaked to this morning, actually provides all of the power in the area and all of the running water (which is perfectly fine to drink BTW).
The weather is supposed to get dramatically worse tonight so we decided to head back to Queenstown this afternoon. We will spend our last full day with Jordan and Annie tomorrow so I'm sure there will be some crazy shenanigans in the next 24 hours!
If you haven't picked up on this yet, you should probably figure out when you are coming to New Zealand and go ahead and put Milford Sound on the priority list.
And if you need travel buddies, Tyler and I would be happy to tag along!
Blog ya soon, mates!
XOXO
Elissa
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