Fjordlands

It's a cloudy, soon rainy day in New Zealand.  My plans for the next few days only involved hiking in the mountains, so plans foiled.  Instead I am internet binging at a holiday park in New Zealand.  I am craving BBQ flavored potato chips.  Will soon walk to the grocery to procure some.  Ok back to the post...

After doing the Gillespies Pass Ciruit, I had a giant blister on my right big toe.  This meant taking a few days off from tramping.  This was ok because I was heading into Fjordlands National Park so it was a chance to do some water activities.  One day I did a cruise of Milford Sound.  Milford Sound is actually a Fjord, which means it was carved out by a glacier.  It is supposed to one of the most beautiful in the Fjordlands, but it is also the only Fjord that is accessible by road.  I took a bus ride in along the gorgeous highway, then took a two hour cruise to the end of the sound.  Once on the boat the scenery was really amazing.  I found it hard to really capture with a camera because there was nothing to show scale of how tall the mountains really were.  But I tried my best.

On the Milford Road

Homer Tunnel

Other side of the tunnel

Cruise vessel, no we never actually sailed

 I also did a two day kayaking trip in Doubtful Sound.  I wanted to do a longer trip but I would've had to wait around for a couple of days and in the two day trip we visited the prettiest part of the sound anyways.  It was nice to be out on the water and the sound was beautiful.  We saw dolphins a couple of times, although they were far away so it wasn't too exciting.  We also saw one of the yellow eyed penguins, which are one of the rarest in the world.

Sunrise on Lake Manapouri, on the way to Doubtful Sound

View of where we were going to kayak

Per usual, looking my best

On the water at last

Riverside campsite