Piopiotahi: Milford Sound

Today has been another big adventure, in more ways than one! We temporarily left the bustle of Queenstown by coach on a realjourneyz tour (to be recommended) to Milford Sound. It's a journey of several hours with folks to pick up and drop off en route, made more fun by photo/refreshment stops and Cameron the driver who had endless stories and interesting information to relate. We travelled through Mossburn, the deer capital of NZ, and learned that the deer are a cross between red deer from Scotland for quick growth and American elk for size.
We passed through vastly differing terrain from the Remarkables (which have doubled as the Himalayas and the Canadian Rockies in several movies); through huge areas of farmland where the imported gorse and broom are being eradicated to encourage the re establishment of the native tussock and flax; to conservation areas; the majesty of the Fiordland Range; alongside beautiful lakes at Manipouri and Te Anau; by acres of Manuka trees used for honey, tea tree oil and wood chips for smoking foodstuffs to the dense beech forests of the National Park and on to the Sound itself.
The rain began as we paused for photos at Knobs Flat and it was here I discovered my wallet was missing and we had just entered the 'no communication' area. Thankfully when we reached the Sound a message came through to say it had been handed in at Te Anau and we will collect it on our return tomorrow. The rain is to be expected here and can be a bonus because hundreds of temporary waterfalls appear in the fiord. Driving through Homer Tunnel and out into the Cleddau Valley with its alpine descent made us both thankful we were in Cameron's safe hands and not in Oscar the van!
Soon comfortably in our room onboard on the Milford Wanderer and with a bowl of hot soup inside us we began our journey into the Sound. We rushed from side to side of the boat as the waterfalls appeared through the mist and rain, falling for hundreds of feet down the sheer rocky and tree covered sides of the fjord. Moored in Harrison Cove for the night, we took to kayaks to explore more closely the shoreline, cliffs and falls. We had seen kea at the Chasm on an earlier stop but here we were extremely fortunate to get up close to two rare blue ducks, totally unperturbed by us paddling by.
Back onboard and out of our wet gear and into hot showers, we were then served a hearty dinner of steak, roast potatoes, pumpkin and kumara with salads and as much veg as we could eat, followed by fruit crumble and ice cream. I treated myself to a very fine glass of wine from a central Otago vineyard.
Tomorrow we cruise further along the Sound before it's back on the coach to Queenstown via Te Anau Police Station!
My blip shows the two boats, Mariner and Wanderer moored in Harrison Sound for the night whilst we get to play before dinner.....in the rain!