It was pretty much love at first sight when we arrived at Milford Sound. Of all the places we visited, this might have been the most surreal. I can see why the South Island is a popular filming location, because I've never seen a place that looked so straight out of a movie!
We waited a few minutes to board the boat and then took a seat in a covered area, which turned out to be a good choice because it was pretty chilly and windy out in the open. We chose one of the smaller tour operators, since we heard some of the large boats were too crowded and couldn't get as close to the shoreline. There were only about 30 people on our cruise, so it was nice to not have to fight for space! In fact, we really only had to compete with 28 fellow tourists, because two of our fellow passengers drank a bit too much wine and then slept on the benches inside the entire time. It was the weirdest thing.
We went outside to take a few pictures and this happened. Story of my life. No matter how many hair ties I buy, I never seem to be able to find one in desperate times. I swear they just disappear into thin air, along with bobby pins and socks. That's my theory, anyway.
Just a few minutes into the trip, we saw a whale surface. I missed it for the most part, but got this tail picture as it dove back down.
In other wildlife news, we got up pretty close to a bunch of seals just chillin on this rock.
After seeing them up close, I've come to the conclusion that seals, as a species, aren't that cute.
We continued down the coastline and came across a lone penguin waddling through the rocks. Who needs a zoo when you can just cruise around Milford Sound instead!
We made it to the edge of the Sound before turning around to head down the other side. At this point, the waves were decent-sized and the ride was pretty rocky, even though the captain said it was a relatively calm day. Someone on the boat asked how far out they go in choppier conditions and he said they turn around when people start to look green! I hope he was kidding...
Oh look more seals!
We saw a couple of pretty epic waterfalls during this portion of the cruise, and we even went under one. I made the mistake of staying outside to try to get some pictures under the waterfall but pretty much failed and ended up soaked. Here's a selfie we took just before the waterfall incident. Peter had the good sense to head inside after this.
The last picture I got before getting completely soaked.
The cruise lasted about two hours and we got back just in time to grab some lunch at the cafe across the street.
We took a couple more pictures, because how could you not with this background, and then were on our way!
We drove back up to Queenstown and spent the night there before continuing on to Lake Wanaka, which I'll post about next!
More New Zealand adventures:
Absolutely beautiful!! Amazing seal pictures!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mom!
DeleteWow...All the pics look absolutely pretty! Thanks for taking us through your Milford journey.
ReplyDelete- The Muser - Drop by some time.- thatgirlslifestories.blogspot.in
Thanks! It was one of the most scenic places I've been for sure!
DeleteWow, Milford Sound has got to be the most beautiful fjord I've ever seen (and I live in the land of fjords, haha). Even more so with all the wildlife! So beautiful!!!!
ReplyDeleteHaha!! Ya, it was pretty amazing!
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