Day 26 - Magnificent Milford Sound (and the first day of the Ashes)

​From Queenstown, it is a 300km+ drive to Milford Sound, making a day’s round trip quite a long day. We were promised that it would be worth it though!

It was therefore a 6am breakfast before getting onto the coach to start the adventure. The first two hours were pretty uneventful. There were some nice views of lakes and mountains, but the really good stuff came after our pit-stop at Te Anau. 

It was chucking it down with rain, but this only served to make the waterfalls even more spectacular. We made stops at Mirror Lakes (that were not very mirror-y today), Monkey Creek, and various other places to admire the incredible views of waterfalls pouring off the mountains. Our driver and guide for the day, Brendan, did a cracking job of pointing out key features to us - I can honestly say I had never heard of tree avalanches until today, so I definitely learnt something new. 


Going through the Homer Tunnel was also a highlight, and the views coming out of the tunnel led to an audible ‘wow’ from everyone.


It was just after 12:30 when we made it to the Sound itself and got on the boat for our tour of the fjords. 

The rain and wind made it very atmospheric, and also very wet! I spent a lot of the two hour journey outside, taking in the Jurassic Park-esque scenery, but did duck back inside every now and again for some shelter. 


The highlight of the journey was probably when we pulled up really close to a waterfall. Given how wet we all were already, being in close proximity to a waterfall didn’t really make much of a difference in that regard, but was exhilarating. 


Back on terra firma, we got back on the coach for the 4.5 hour journey back to Queenstown. I used this time to listen to the cricket - the first day of the Ashes. Let’s be honest - it has not gone very well. Even that cannot take away from what has been a very special day though. 

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