Milford Sound: The Return

Saturday, February 26, 2000:  Milford Sound:  The Return

We were up by 6:00 am to the sound of “Good Morning” from Perry.  I sat up a little embarrassed by the milling of early rising people finding us sleeping on deck.  Perry took my picture with my camera while Doug stepped away to make me a cup of hot chocolate.  Perry said, “Hey, I’m sorry my snoring drove you two out of the cabin.  I heard you guys leaving last night.”

I replied, “I hope we didn’t offend you.”

“Not at all, some of us wished they’d done the same as you.  Can I bring you a cup of coffee or tea?”

“No thanks; Doug went to get me a cup of hot chocolate.  We’d better get the cushions back to the galley.”

We returned the cushions to the galley before breakfast was served (around 7:15 am).  The cook served up scrambled eggs, toast, stewed tomatoes, pork and beans, rolled bacon and sausage.  New Zealand breakfasts are the best.

Along the Milford Sound today, I heard penguins calling, then saw them come out of their burrows.  There were seals sunning on the rocks and at one point our boat raced dolphins.

After docking, we exchanged contact information with Perry and Sharon.  We boarded the bus back to Walter Peak Station.  Along the way, we stopped for mini hikes to see the Chasm, an alpine walk just outside of Homer Tunnel, and Hollyford Gentry.

When returning to the bus from our alpine walk just outside Homer Tunnel, our bus driver called, “Hey Bee Lady, we need your services again.”  Another bee removal from the bus took place.  After a brief applause, we boarded the bus for our next destination.

We stopped for lunch in Te Anu.

Stopped to visit the Bird and Wildlife Centre where I saw 3 (of an approximately 212 left in the world) very colorful Takahe flightless birds.

One more stop at the Mavora Lakes Park.

At Walter Peak Station we had a glass of wine while waiting for our steamboat back to Queenstown.

Back in Queenstown, we cleaned up and met most of our group at Winnie Bagoes for pizza and wine.

After, we went to The World.  We didn’t stay long.  It was too smokey and overcrowded.  There was a rattlesnake above a Lone Star AND there was no dancing.

We called it a night and bid farewell to our new friends.

We went home.  I finished the laundry, because our South Island road trip begins tomorrow.