Milford Sound

My InterCity bus pass didn't cover a ride to Milford, so I managed to catch a ride with couple of Dutch guys, Matt & Stephen, while Alan caught a ride with some English folks. On the way, we ran into a herd of cows which were in the road running toward us. We also got a speeding ticket.... Going 122km/h on 100 (max for the country. A $100 fine for that!! I don't think Matt is going to pay it tho.

Once in Milford, I checked in the Milford Sound Lodge. The only lodge in the area, with extortionate prices. We would call that a monopoly in the States. It had a roomy lounge tho, and scrabble, so Alan and I had a rematch there. As we were playing, Mikael showed up! Turns out he's slightly changed plans so he will be in Milford with us for the night, and in Te Anau for a night. He will kayak while Alan and I do the lazy thing - a boat cruise.

I woke up on the day of our boat cruise and it was pissing rain. I was so annoyed of all the rain in NZ that I thought about rearranging all of my future travels to avoid any rainy season that I might hit. At the moment, I'm due in Japan for the June rain. I'm not sure how I can do that without cutting China short. I'll have to see how I like China first.

The rain died by the time we got on our boat - Friendship. We even got a little bit of blue sky for a few minutes to get some nice photos, and then the clouds rolled back in with occasional rain. The boat ride was about 2.5 hrs from the wharf to Milford Sound on Tasman Sea. The rain made for greater waterfalls, and the cloud cover gave the mountains protruding from the water a misty look, so it turned out to be beautiful despite the weather.