Today was Milford Sound Day. Same scenario as the days before: Wheels rolling at 7:30. But at least no bags to put out, which says a good amount of time in the morning.
We left in the dark and, again, it is probably just as well that we passengers couldn’t see the road. There were a plethora of curves and turns again. One that was particularly scary was the Devil’s Staircase, where legend tells it that 22 head of cattle went of the road. I was sitting on the wrong side of the coach to photo the steep drop.
It was another gloriously sunny day and not too cold at all after the sun came up. Can one ever tire of these views.
The drive to Milford Sound is a long one from Queenstown. To pass the time, Peter’s commentary was informative and sometimes funny with his stories from his past. Topics included:
- Sheep - there is much cross-breeding of sheep now. Lamb demand has been reduced due to the trend toward cutting back on red meat. This, however, is not particularly good for the merino wool market.
- Deer - there are no wild deer in NZ. In fact, there are no predator animals. Interesting to note that 97% of all venison sold is from NZ.
- Vegetation - the vegetation in NZ runs the gamut from tropical to ferns to beech trees and conifers. Toi toi is almost like a pampas grass that we see from time to time. Flax has been used throughout the ages by the Maori for clothing. When the English arrived, they began milling it to send back to England for manufacturing hemp for ships.
We stopped at a rest area as per requirement for Peter. It was a huge gift shop and I bought a merino wool scarf since the next two days’ activities were outside.
Shortly after we entered the Homer Tunnel. That was definitely an interesting passage. We entered at 3,000 feet about sea level and exited at sea level. Never have I been in a tunnel that went downhill.
A great stretch your leg stop was at The Chasm. It was a walk around an almost rainforest feeling path that culminated in a rolling stream. The loop provided 20 minutes of exercise time according to my watch.
We arrived at Milford Sound a little after 1 p.m. The highlight of the day was the boat cruise. After a nicely done buffet, the scenery was breathtaking. We were just south of the 45th parallel and it was a bit brisk, to say the least, on the upper level of the boat. But the views were worth it.
A fur seal had a nice day to bask in the sun.
Because the wind was calm and the day so pretty, the boat reached the Tasman Sea. What a thrill.
The cruise ended about 3:45 and we headed to the coach. Just one rest stop on the way back.
Got back to the hotel around 7:30 and we decided that we would just eat here rather than exploring options in the town.
Gerald had filet, Lois and Sharon split a margherita pizza, Barbara and I had seafood chowder and split a pepperoni and parmesan pizza. Earle had butter chicken and Charles a burger.
Back to the room where I posted one of the problematic blogs and then bed.
Gerrit Cole best Trevor Williams today 5-1. But a good effort on Trevor’s part.
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