QTOWN 5th

Following day we headed straight for Queenstown eager to research the White Water Rafting situation. Basically we weren't sure how much it cost etc and we were wondering whether to leave it and do it in Australia instead. We headed straight for the I-Site and picked up some leaflets to have a look at and then spent an hour or so on the internet doing bits and bobs. We eventually decided that we would leave the rafting till Oz when we would have more time and money and instead head straight to Milford Sound where we planned to do a half day Kayak tour of the sound.

We had a quick mooch round Queenstown which is set in gorgeous scenery around a lake with pine forests all around. The city centres feels more like a big town and it is what I would imagine a large ski resort to resemble with much of the shops selling some kind of skiing paraphernalia. Also nearly every kind of adrenaline sport you could imagine takes places here including bungee jumping, sky diving, shotover jet boats etc etc. Might have been tempted to try a few things if we had more time and money, only a few though!

Less than 24 hours after arriving we were departing for Milford Sound but we were really excited by the prospect of kayaking so no tears shed.

Te Anau - Milford

As there is only one road in and out of Milford Sound we headed to the entrance which is a small town called Te Anau. We stopped at the I-Site there to book the kayak trip we had decided on and check the weather. We had heard that there was a massive storm brewing out at sea and that it was forecast to come ashore on Friday so we hoped to be in and out of Milford by then as we had no snow chains and would probably end up stuck down there if not. We checked with the them the price of the only campsite down there and set off along the 120km road which promised captivating scenery. Only now did we wonder why we hadn't actually booked the campsite instead of just enquiring about it! Oh well let's just hope they aren't full!

Well the guide book didn't lie, the drive up was amazing. Much more so after you exit the tunnel through one of the mountains, thankfully this tunnel not proving as worrying as the one at Yosemite due to our smaller vehicle! Although we were driving passed snow along the sides of the road which was a little alarming! Fingers crossed it wouldn't snow again before we left!

Snow capped mountains and waterfalls accompanied us all the way to the Milford Lodge which we hoped would be our home for the night!! No prizes for guessing the camp ground was full! As the Kayaking tour was picking us up from there we decided to bite the bullet and stay in one of the dorms for the night as the narrow and winding road that we had come down offered no kind of shelter or parking for at least a 50km backtrack and neither of us were in the mood to attempt that in the dark.

It was a nice change to be around people again as this camping lark is quite isolating and we welcomed the chance to join an older group of Ozzies that beckoned us over. We had met one of the blokes in the communal kitchen when we saved his spuds from boiling over so I think he felt sorry for us 'pommes' sitting on our own and bellowed across the lounge area that we had to join them!! We were quickly introduced to the 8 of them that were travelling NZ together for 3 weeks and no less than 10 minutes later one of the old chaps was slurringly inviting us to stay with him when we got to Oz!! He promised to get a pen and paper and write down his address for me all whilst reaching for his next beer! Needless to say I wasn't very hopeful! We had a good laugh with them though and exchanged info on NZ and Oz for a few hours. Much to my surprise Ted did end up giving us his address which is around 300km from Melbourne! We did tell him that we weren't sure if we would be venturing down that way but promised we would ring him if we did as he was very very insistent!

We bid farewell to the ozzies and headed for bed excited by the days activities that lay ahead!