Milford Sound

On Wednesday, first thing in the morning we headed out to Milford Sound. The drive turned out to be one of the most beautiful that I have ever been on in my life. A drive that should take about four hours ended up taking more than six. We kept stopping to take pictures and just take in the scenery. It was absolutely incredible. Neither pictures nor words can do it justice. We stopped at one point at the Mirror Lakes, which reflect the mountains perfectly. We also stopped at an area called the Chasm, which is a waterfall that has carved really cool shapes into the rocks. At night, we went down to the fiords for some stargazing, which was very cold but pretty.

The next morning we went on our cruise of the sound. It was nice but also extremely cold. I was wearing as many layers as I possibly could and I was still freezing. Milford Sound is pretty far south on the South Island. On the plus side, it was not raining. Supposedly, Milford Sound is actually much more beautiful when it is raining. It's said that the more it is raining, the better your experience will be. When it rains, there are fantastic waterfalls, apparently. Frankly, I was perfectly okay with being dry. And there were still some waterfalls. So I was good. On the cruise we got to see seals! They were adorable. I want one as a pet. We were actually quite close to the rock that a bunch of them were sleeping on. Seals are pretty much the laziest animal I have ever seen. They pretty much just sleep all day. Perfect for taking pictures.

In the afternoon, we went on a hike up to Marian Lake. The hike was great. We were in a forest so it wasn't too sunny but we were climbing up a mountain, so it kept us nice and warm. It was also cool because it wasn't just a hike with a beaten trail. There were indicators every so often so that you knew you were still on the right track but at a lot of points, you sort of had to find the way yourself. The view at the top was fantastic. I was the most secluded and peaceful spot. We were the only ones there too. I think I could have stayed there forever. But, alas, we had to hike back down the mountain and head off to Te Anau for the night.