Pining for the Fiords

Seb and I boarded the Milford Wanderer at 4pm and we were part of a little reunion - we met Ed who worked at the Funky Green Voyager in Rotorua and his mate Steve, and we also met a Canadian woman called Janice who was also at the FGV at the same time I was there with Kim. As Seb stayed there not long after I was there, we christened our trip as the Funky Green Voyage.

The difference between a Sound and a Fiord is: A Sound is a flooded riverbed or valley and a Fiord is where a glacier carves through the mountains into the sea. The confusing part her is that Milford Sound is actually a Fiord. Still there? Ok - let's proceed.

When the boat left the harbour, it was still raining. As we had shelter on the boat, we didn't mind and the views were amazing - there were many waterfalls in the Milford Sound but there are many temporary waterfalls when it rains heavily - an example is the Four Sisters which were amazing - when it rains it's like the mountains are bleeding water. The captain thought it would be funny to push the bow of the boat into one of the waterfalls - every one was curious, of course, but the end result was that everyone got soaked!

After cruising up the Sound, we were visited by a humpback whale which was in the bay we intended to anchor in for the evening. It got pretty close at one time and it is quite a rare thing to see a whale so close to the harbour.

When the whale left the bay, we were given the option of doing some sea kayaking. I was already cold and wet from the waterfall incident so I tought "What the Hey!". Thankfully the rain had eased off and the sun was peeking out above the mountains revealing the steep snow capped mountains that faced us.

The kayaking was great fun - it's the most exercise my arms have had in ages (well...... my left arm at least!). When I got to the pebbled cove at the far side of the bay, I saw some Fiordland Crested Penguins hopping out from the bushes. It filled my heart with joy to learn that even penguins look stupid walking on a pebbly beach!

As the sun started to set, illuminating the mountains by the bay, I made my way back to the boat and, as it was a once a lifetime opportunity, I dived into the nearly Antarctic water. It mainly came about from peer pressure and it was icy cold yet invigorating - I certainly appreciated the hot shower afterwards!

After my shower I went up on deck to watch the sunset as the penguins were porpoising by the boat (I think porpoising is a verb - I heard someone say it - it means when they pop their heads out of the water). It was funny to see their yellow eyebrows bobbing above the surface and, as stupid as they look, they are very graceful in the water.

Then, it was time for the 3 course evening meal - Soup, chicken fillets with slow roasted veggies and salad, and fruit salad with ice-cream for dessert, plus.it was all you can eat! Being the human dustbin that I am, (The vegetarian option was quite nice too!)I ate as much as I could until I was so full, I felt pain. It's a long time since Owain and I used to have our thursday night HBOS pizza eating competitions. I'm not half the man I used to be!

After dinner, it was a strange sight to see that everyone was playing board games in a very civilised manner - there was no drunken behaviour at all - I was a long way from Australia it seemed, that's for sure. With all the best games gone, Seb taught me and Janice a german game that, for convenience's sake, we called "Pokerdice". It is an absolutely classic game - one to teach your grandchildren in the years to come, and despite Janice being useless at it, we played it long after everyone else had gone to bed.

That night we all slept on board the boat - some people got a better night's sleep than others and I slept OK but I was awake at 6am to rise to a certain crew member's challenge - apparently no-one during that season had got up for an early morning swim in the Sound and I was prepared to be the first. As I'd jumped in the night before, I thought I knew better, but it was even colder than before - it was so cold, it took my breath away!

Just before the cooked breakfast was served, the Captain steered up the Sound towards the Tasman Sea and we were greeted by some Bottlenose Dolphins as they jumped out of the water as they followed us out to sea which, like the whale on the previous evening, doesn't happen often. Another rare occurence was that it was a beautiful, sunny day with blue skies all round - not to be sniffed at in the fiordland, I can tell you!

The breakfast was lavish and I certainly got my money's worth. Not only did I eat the equivalent of 4+ meals on the trip, but I also took as many freebies as I could: Teabags, butter, condiments and even a pen. Just like being at the Little Chef on those road journeys when I was a kid.

We made our way out to the Tasman Sea and it was very choppy. Everyone was at the front of the boat, that is, until the waves started crashing over them! I t got a bit too rough for comfort so the Captain headed back towards the harbour. On the way we saw some fur seals basking on the rocks and scratching themselves. We were certainly very lucky to see so much wildlife.

As we headed back to the harbour, we passed by the tallest cliff in the world (Over 600 metres - Cliff Richard is only 1.76 metres tall) which had an overhang at the top (Cliff Richard only has an overhang in the middle). We also passed a split in the cliffs which lies on the fault line between the Australasian and Pacific plates. Pretty freaky.

The memory card on my camera was full by the time we got to the powerful Bowen Falls right by the harbour. Janice had offered Seb and I a lift back to Te Anau, and although she was a bit weird (she was friends with The Dutch Terrorist), it suited us fine. It was a clear day, but as we approached the Homer Tunnelit started to snow. Another classic scene unravelled as we passed a sign which read "Avalanche Area - No Stopping" where a Japanese couple had stopped to take a photo of them in fromt of the sign!

When Seb and I arrived back in Te Anau, we thought about our Halloween costumes a bit more as we watched Lord of the Rings:Return Of The King - it's so nice to get closure on a story for a change - virtually every other hostel on the South Island seems to only only show The Two Towers.

Before we went back to Queenstown the next day, I got a phone call from from Owain - I suspected he had a drink or two (which he vehemently denies) as I was struggling to understand him. When I told him that I had just experienced one of the best things on my trip, he said "What! Japanese twins?!" That's my boy but that'd be two of the best things on my trip!