March 24

I wake up around 9am; it felt good to sleep in again. It is a bit gloomy; there is still a light drizzle coming down and there are clouds blocking the highest points of the mountains. The Milford Sound cruise is set for 12:30pm so I have plenty of time to make my way to the dock just a couple of kilometers down the road. The Milford Sound area consists of the lodge holding all the visitors, a small apartment complex for the employees, a bar, the docks, and a tiny airport, believe it or not. That’s it, there is nothing else for miles. There is no cell service here either. I gather my things and go shower in the lodge then come back to the van to clean up a bit. As I approach the driver’s door, I am swarmed by flies, the cursed sandflies of Milford Sound that they had talked about. I took a few hits; several bites on my ankles and on my hands. Oh well, I guess I’ll be staying away from that side of the vehicle. I get back around and grab some breakfast; bread, nutella, peanut butter, plum jam, and a banana. It had been a couple of days since I wasn’t rushed in the morning.

I make my way to the dock and find the starting spot for our ship. The views outside are pretty good, even with the cloudy skies. It is not the best of days weatherwise, but at least it will be a good day for the dramatic filter; hopefully the rain holds off. The clouds cutting through the middle of the mountains/cliffs gives them a very mysterious/erie feel, which looks very cool. I run into another traveler, who also happens to be staying at the lodge (go figure, it’s not like there are other places to stay; this place has to be making a killing) and we introduce ourselves as we await to board the boat (I’d rather not use people’s names on here without their permission so for now we will call her CG). Another German. I swear it is 40% Asian, 40% German, 20% everyone else for all the travelers here. I didn’t realize this was a popular destination for Germans. We need six week vacations like our Deutsch friends, seriously…but I’m getting off topic here. The drizzle died down a bit as the cruise started, so we head to the top outside deck. The views are amazing. Mountains and cliffs towering over you as you float through the water ways. Sometimes if you get the angle right, the clouds cut through the middle of the mountains and make the top sections look like floating islands. I get some pretty good shots before they call us in for fish and chips. I’m not the biggest fan of fish&chips but the fish was delicious. There are no utensils so she and I dig in with our fingers in the classiest way possible in front of a stranger you just met. For those of you keeping track, I did just have two meals within a couple of hours of each other; judge away. By the time we finished the food, it started raining outside. At least I get to test out the rain jacket. We go back outside for a bit, and we take in some more views but the blasting wind/rain combo makes for an unpleasant outside experience. I think my German friend stuck it out a bit longer just to be nice; she did not look comfortable. Both the wind and water are starting to hit pretty pretty hard. I, on the other hand, was in full dork, Steve Irwin, attire: rain jacket, hiking pants, and hiking shoes. I seriously thought the pants were the silliest thing, but I’ve been converted. Dry or wet, they are comfortable, and they go from wet to dry in 15 minutes. If this outfit doesn’t get the ladies…eh, it’s not going to get the ladies, but at least you’ll be dry. We cruise by some lazy seals and watch them lay on the rocks; they look dead. I don’t understand why we are so enamored by animals that lay around lazily. Go to Sea World, at least the seals there do tricks. (This is the second time I mention Sea World. They should pay me for the advertisements I’m doing here to the audience of 3 or 4 readers.) We move on towards a larger waterfall and the ship pulls up really close to the waterfall. I go outside to check it out and get drenched by the rain/waterfall combo. Not to worry, I have my super dork outfit on. Back inside for the last 30 minutes of the cruise and after a couple hours total, the ship comes back to dock. That’s pretty much it. Nothing too crazy, but the cruise was very fun in a sightseeing sort of way. Couldn’t get many pictures after the rain started so the pictures for this trip are limited. However, I highly recommend this to anyone who goes to NZ. The views are great, even in subpar weather.

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All in all, the Milford Sound Lodge is definitely a very cool place to stay. If you ever make it out to the Milford Sound, I would recommend spending a couple of days at the lodge. Very cool community feel with a hint of hippiness. Its a hiking area, what do you expect.