Boys in Blue ........

Our cruise around the Sound was booked for 9.55am, so we didn’t need to get up early (for a change!). We were out and about just after 9am, the sun was shining and the sky was blue ...... perfect for a 2 hour cruise around Milford!!

We got a few photos of Milford and it’s brilliant reflections before walking up to the cruise depot. We checked in and boarded the “Mitre Peak”. Once onboard me (Ben), Mam and Dad made our way up to the top and Claire went for the FREE cuppa’s. We’d just finished our brews and we were off heading into the Sound.

Within 5 minutes we were seeing our first piece of wildlife.......a seal splashing about in the water! The scenery was completely different than the last time me and Claire were here. Last time there had been so much rain, there was hundreds of waterfalls coming from the tops of the peaks. This time we had blue skies and sunshine.

We continued towards the Tasman Sea. The skipped spotted a couple of cheeky seals sitting on the edge of a rock, we stopped and watched for a while. We saw quite a lot of fur seals splashing about in the water, up against the waters edge.

An hour into the cruise and we hit the Tasman Sea. The huge mountains disappeared from beside us and the water just got choppier. We got to see our next piece of wildlife, an albatross just soaring above the water. It’s wings were huge. We turned around and headed back in towards the bay, this time on the other side of the channel, in the shade!! It was freezing!!! We stood strong though and stayed on the top deck outside. We were all wrapped up with layers, hats, scarfs, hoods, Mam looked like she was ready to tackle the South Pole!! It was freezing though.

The views were just as amazing on the way back in. We were approaching the Stirling Falls, which we remembered from last time gets you wet! This time however we didn’t get as close this was cos our path was blocked by a pod of 6 dolphins !! WOW!! They were swimming under the front of the boat. The skipper had to cut the engines and wait until they had gone. 4 of them swam off out towards the sea but 2 stayed with the boat. A mum and her calf, they were just swimming the length of our boat. Right up close to the edge and with the water so clear you could see them really well. Me, Mam and Dad stayed on top but Ben went down to the bottom. He got right close to them down there. They were just swimming around the boat checking everyone out before deciding to leave. It was amazing, can’t believe they stayed for so long. With the falls as a backdrop it just doesn’t get any better than that!! We’d forgotten how cold we were which was good.

We were back setting sail again and once again passed by the Bowen Falls and docked up at the ferry port. Aweomse!! The perfect trip!

We walked down to the Blue Duck Cafe and had some soup to warm and a brew to warm us up. Ben managed to get the Milford photos he’s been after.

We got back in the van and headed out along the Milford Road, winding our way out, along the cliff roads. Seemed like we were the only ones heading out of the Sound so we had a good run.

We stopped off at Te Anau for just a fill up of diesel and swapped drivers before driving onwards.

Me (Claire) added to my roadkill total, killing 2 sparrows who decided to throw themselves at the van!!

We were driving up hill and then coming back down the hill and noticed a Police Car at the bottom. Cue Ben getting pulled over ..... whoops!! 103 km!! The copper said we were only supposed to be doing 90km !! WHAT?!! The man in blue took Ben’s licence and got in his police car. We were busy trying to find anything that said the speed limits. Not long after the copper came back apologising. The van was under the weight category needed for the speed limit to change, our speed limit was 100 as we thought ..... phew!! He just drew a line through the fine sheet and continued to make small talk with us for the next 10 minutes. After a hard time trying to end the conversation we eventually got back on the road again.

We stopped for a brew at Lake Wakatipu and then drove onto Cromwell. We eventually found it and pulled up at 6pm. It was a long day in the van and we were glad to get to the campsite. What an eventful day today though.

After catching up on the washing, a few games of cards and our tea it was time for bed.