It was an early call for me since my Milford Sound tour bus (separate to Stray, my NZ bus company) was scheduled to leave at 7am. I got up, ready, packed, wrote a note for my friends and Max (regarding the money and my bands he was going to buy me), and left a couple items for them to take to my new room. Then... then came the hard part, the part I was dreading... saying good-bye to Hayley, Sophie, and Dan. Because it was so early they weren't up so I gently woke them up one by one, gave them a hug, thanked them for being there on this trip, wished them well in their travels, they returned the comments and hugs, and then I turned and walked out the door. I stood in the hallway with tears in my eyes because once again I was saying good-bye to amazing friends that felt like I'd known them forever when I just met them 5.5 days ago. It just didn't feel right. I was also upset that I wouldn't be able to give them a proper good-bye with one last chat, laugh, hug and a wave on the bus. And because Jim wasn't in our room I wasn't able to tell him good-bye at all. I worked my way out of it and headed down the hallway with my luggage.
Because the remaining people in my room were leaving during the day, I wanted to move to the room with the remaining people of our group that were staying. If I stayed in my room there was a 100% chance that I would come back at the end of the day to 5 randoms in the room and I just didn't want to do that so I had arranged to be moved to Max, Lewis, Lea, and Jeanet's room (it was Jim's room too, but he was leaving). The hostel was going to store my luggage for me since I couldn't get into the room until I came back in the evening. I was running very short on time so once my luggage was in the storage room I pretty much high-tailed it in the dark down the street to the bus stop regardless of how tired I was. I found the bus, but couldn't see a driver, so I stood there for a second and this lady said I'd better hurry up because he was about to leave, so I quickly hopped on and not even a minute later the driver was on the bus and driving off.
I was pleased with the quality of the bus - big comfy seats, serious reclining seats, foot rests, a TV up front, and a glass roof. The glass roof was pretty cool because rather than just looking out the window across from you and seeing the side of a mountain, you could see that, plus the top of the hill/mountain when you looked out of the roof. The glass roof was also cool when driving through the mountains because you could see the trees overhead. The bus had way more seats than people so the seat next to me was empty, which is always nice. I could tell the guide/driver was going to be good as well - telling a few jokes, giving clear instructions, sharing good information. I planned on sleeping on the way in, but the sun was rising behind the mountains displaying a beautiful pink and purple. As the sun continued to rise the mountains and land took shape and gained color and there was just no way I was sleeping. The sun was rising on my left and the moon was still out the window to my right. There were sheep everywhere (by everywhere I mean hundreds and hundreds), along with quite a few cows and deer (I've never seen deer in captivity before). The land was so green and the sky was so blue - I could tell it was going to be a beautiful day for sightseeing and cruising on the sound.
Sheep (the white dots) everywhere
On the way in we made several photo stops - mirror lakes, the great chasm, lake Te Anau, some valleys, mountains, waterfalls, etc. We also stopped for morning tea at a cafe/store. When the bus unloaded I told the driver that I was here since I didn't know if he actually needed to know. Turns out he had called and said I was a no show and the company was calling my phone but I had calls turned off since it was roaming and they cancelled my spot/lunch on the boat. He called them right away to let them know that I was actually there and gave me my boarding pass and lunch ticket which would have been a disaster if I didn't have either. At the cafe/store I picked up a couple souvenirs including a cheap, blue and gray, zip up, fleece jacket that said something New Zealand related in the top corner (I am mentioning this now because it matters way later in my NZ journey). Back on the bus I was looking at the things I had purchased and noticed the jacket had a hole in the armpit. I was upset, but figured if necessary I could get someone back home (either in AUS or US) to fix it since seamstress is not on my resume. I got over it and continued taking in the scenery. We arrived at Milford Sound by the afternoon.
Mirror Lakes
Mirror Lakes
We got on the boat, got our lunches, and started cruising off into Milford Sound (which should actually be called Milford Fiord because it was caused by glacial activity). I was immediately aware of how cold this outing was going to be. I left the fleece jacket I purchased on the boat since it had a hole in it and I was just thinking to myself how much I wish I had it now and how much I wished I'd packed another jacket. Then I remembered I did!! Never have I ever been so pleased with myself for being organized and thinking ahead. With both jackets on I was able to be out on the deck with the wind and still enjoy it. It was kind of nice to be on this specific outing alone, because I could just sit silently in awe of my surroundings. The water was sparkling, the hills/mountains were tall and green, the waterfalls were white as snow, the sky was blue, the clouds were fluffy. Everything about the weather and the scenery was perfect. I saw dolphins and seals, both twice. I stood under the power of a waterfall pouring over the hill/mountain. We cruised out to sea where the sound/fiord opened up to the Tasman Sea and all that could be seen in any direction was water and the horizon. When the boat turned we were greeted with a magnificent view of the hills/mountains opening up and welcoming us back in. We were told the story of how for a long time early explorers sailed right by this sound/fiord thinking that it was just a mountain range because the way the rocks jut out into the water makes it look like they connect with the rocks on the other side and it looks closed off and you can't see the water behind them. One day an explorer was caught in this area during a bad storm and his boat was being forced toward the rocks by the wind. He was pretty much prepared to be stranded for when his boat slammed into the rocks. So they say, "Imagine his surprise when his boat doesn't crash into the rocks and instead the rocks open up and his boat sails into this gorgeous sound/fiord that just keeps going and going until he reaches land on the other side.
Our boat
Rainbow created by the above waterfall
Seals are on the rocks in the foreground
Where the sound/fiord opens to the Tasman Sea
Why the explorers thought it was closed off
Surprise!
A gorgeous view!!
When we arrived at the seals for the second time I snapped a photo or two, my camera made a weird sound, and then this entire outing (and possibly the rest of my whole trip) had every potential to be ruined. My screen went black and I couldn't see out of my viewfinder. No matter what I did I couldn't get it to work. The battery that started off in the camera was close to dead so I charged my spare battery the night before. When the first battery died just at the start of the cruise I changed batteries. So when this happened I knew it wasn't the battery. I tried changing lenses but that didn't make a difference either. I tried different settings, nothing. I found an older couple with a canon and while they didn't know much about the inner workings of the cameras they suggested the battery. I told them that would be my first guess but that I had just put in a fully charged battery. When I asked if they could take the lens off so I could compare inside the two, they said certainly, and did so. Turns out the shutter thing on the inside was stuck closed. I tried to pull it down a few times but it just popped back up / closed. At this point I decided that maybe it was the battery even though it said it was fully charged so I got the first battery and put it back in and the camera turned on, made a sound, and then was working again. Unfortunately it was only working again for a second before it shut off again. Great... I had about 30 minutes left of this cruise and 2 dead camera batteries. I had already missed the second set of seals and now of all things... I was missing the second sighting of dolphins!!! I had to think fast since my camera wasn't working and I still wanted to capture this. I pulled out my phone, which while it doesn't take fast photos, could at least take video (although crappy quality). In the end I ended up capturing them swimming alongside our boat. It could have been better if my proper camera was working, but I'm glad I got something. For that matter, I'm glad I got to see them at all!! After that I decided I couldn't let this whole camera thing continue to get to me and we were coming up on an opportunity to stand under a water fall, so I put the whole camera thing aside and chose to just enjoy and experience this opportunity and moment. There is no photo or video, but there is the memory I have, and don't they say that is what really matters? I had the crew ask if anyone had a spare canon battery pack and no one did, so I made the most of it by just standing there taking it in. I kept the battery popped out of the camera and if there was something I just had to photograph, I would pop it back in, snap a quick picture, turn the camera off, and pop it back out. Surprisingly, this actually worked throughout the rest of the cruise and all the way home.
The waterfall I stood in/under
The cruise was over all too quickly and we had to quickly load back onto the bus before the tunnel we passed through earlier closed (it closes every day at around 3:40 or something like that and then you can get stuck in a line of traffic for up to 2 hours, which isn't ideal for a bus full of people who have a 3-4 hour ride back already). On the bus the driver mentioned we'd be stopping back at the same cafe/shop so I decided I was going to return the jacket I had purchased. Once the bus started going, I was passed out. I slept until we reached the cafe/shop. I returned the jacket and got some ice cream for the rest of the bus ride back. We watched a New Zealand film called Whale Rider, which was really really good. I want to watch it again though on a bigger screen with louder, more clear sound. While watching the movie I got to watch the sunset over the mountains and water. We made it back to town in good time - enough time for me to swing by the skydive place and get a t-shirt (something I was afraid I wasn't going to get to do). After getting my shirt I got my room key and luggage from reception and went up to the room. Nobody was around so I reheated my rice and chicken for dinner from the day before, did some photo sorting/deleting, facebooking, etc. I found my 2 bands I asked Max to go get for me hanging on the bulletin board and couldn't help but smile - 1) My friends I've made on this trip are just so amazing. 2) This was another thing I thought I wasn't going to have time for. Everyone came back in (including 1 random) and we got to chatting about my trip, their day, the good-byes with the others, where the random was from, the random's travels, etc.
Max, Lewis, Lea, Jeanet, and I just kind of hung out in the room and chatted for the night since we were all pretty exhausted and had to be up early the next morning for the bus.
:)
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