For the Benefit of Mr Kite

Back in civilisation again. We are in Wellington tonight - not that Christchurch doesn't have the Internet, but the place we were staying at didn't make it easy to connect.

 

Anyway, back to the bits of our travels I haven't yet filled everyone in about. Firstly Milford Sound. Well, it lives up to its reputation - it really is amazing and beutiful. All of these cliff faces and mountains that just rise up out of the sea. The road to Milford Sound is also really impressive - again lots of mountains (some of them have glaciers at the top of them which is impressive). Our driver stop lots to let us off the bus and look at the sights which is nice but a little annoying. Once we got there (after about 3 and a half hours) we boarded our boat - the Milford Marnier. It was really nice. On entry they offered everyone muffins (which Tom enjoyed, I didn't) and gave us a quick talk. Then we cruised for about an hour to a bay near the ocean where Tom and I kayaked. It turns out that kayaking isn't one of strengths. I eventually managed to propell my kayak but wasn't able to control which direction I was travelling in very well. Tom says I need more practice. Had a nice dinner (not fantastic) and chatted to a really nice Dutch couple. After dinner we finished our bottle of wine on the top deck. We saw dolphins and heard lots of wildlife. It was a really fantastic way to finish the day. When the sun set (around 10pm) the whole sky went a dusky pinky-purple and the glacier which we could see went pink. Tom ran down to get the camera but he was too late so you just have to take my word for it. Had a good night's sleep and a decent breakfast before more cruising the next day.   

 

Went straight to Queenstown after Milford. Not much to report. Still the same touristy town. Had dinner at Dux de Lux - the Christchurch branch of which was recommended to us by Tom's Aunt and Uncle. It was really good. I had some kind of fish that you don't get in Australia and it was nice. Tom had mussels.

 

After Queenstown we travelled for most of the next day to get to Franz Joseph. It seems as though all of the bridges on the South Island are one lane affairs and that most of them were built close to the turn of the last century. We passed over one bridge that was not only one lane but shared by cars and the train. What a delight! Thank goodness for seatbelts. Franz Joseph was a quiet little town. One surprising thing though was that the supermarket has more gluten free stuff that any supermarket in Brisbane. We did a half day climb on the glacier. That was amazing. It's literally a river of ice. Currently Franz Joseph is advancing not retreated so that makes it special.

 

Anyway racing the time on my internet quota here. More later.