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TheSounds

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Milford Sound

Saturday, November 27, 2004

"Unbelievable

I really wish I was a poet or a great writer or something - so that I could wow you with words, to share with you the unbelievable beauty of Milford Sound.
I went on the Milford Wanderer, a sailing/motor ship (so I'm not big on boat types) but anyways - we're drifting through this river-like area - super clear water. On either side of us are towering mountains - climbing strait out of the water. We saw Fijordland Penguins and New Zealand fur seals.
So many waterfalls. On the drive up and in the sounds - More waterfalls than I've ever seen in my entire life.
Glaciers. I saw my first glacier! Hanging onto the side of a mountain for dear life - looks blue-ish - instead of white snow it's blue ice! Coooooooool!
The bus I went on - only 10 of us - a cozy group of people from England, India, Germany, one lady from NZ and myself. They all chatted with me and were very friendly. One group invited me to eat lunch with them :)

We were quite lucky - weather-wise - while it wasn't a bright sunshiney day it wasn't raining (until we were driving back). And it wasn't too windy or too cold either. Very lucky - smooth waters.

On the way back we saw a Kea. Hilarious. I totally get why they say, "Cheeky as a Kea." They love shiney things and aren't afraid of people. Hopped right onto the side mirror of a car and was checking the driver out through the window.

Still sniffling and sneezing and coughing - got almost no sleep last night. Gonna call it a day - early. Gotta shake this thing."

The Fijordland Crested Penguins:

The Kea:

The Glacier:

The Sounds:

They rise right up out of the water....

See how close we got:

Doubtful Sounds

Tuesday, November 30, 2004

"DOLPHINS! Bottle-nose to be exact, about 20 of them in Doubtful Sound. The trip was good, different from the Milford one. For Milford they drive you two hours, with a few sight-seeing stops, over a mountain pass to the boat and then you go for a cruise. The Doubtful Sound trip you start on a boat - get a tour as you cross Lake Manapouri. When you get to the other side they take you 2000 metres beneath a mountain for a look at the Manapouri Power Station. Then you go an hour over a mountain pass to another boat and this is the one which you cruise on through Doubtful Sounds. Doubtful Sounds is much bigger than Milford - so you can't see the entire thing - and it was really rainy and windy and the water was choppy so they didn't take us all the way out to the Tasman Sea this time - but we got to see it. We also saw some Fiordland Crested Penguins (same as I saw in Milford - the rarest penguins in the world) and my love of loves DOLPHINS! They were so much bigger than the Dusky one's I saw up in Kaikoura. The skipper started the boat and ran for about 30 seconds then stopped and the dolphins road the waves - jumping all around! AMAZING - I got one ok pic and one that could have been great if I had pointed the camera a bit to the left! DARN! I'm debating which is harder - taking pictures of bouncing kangaroos as you drift silently through the air in a hot air balloon - or - taking pictures of leaping dolphins as you bounce about the water in a boat."

Manapouri Power Station - Way down inside!