A lazy start to the morning in the serene surroundings of Milford, as we prepared for our cruise around the fjord land at 11am. The sun was out in force however from most places this could not be felt due to the mountains.
The cruise through the fjord & out to sea was great. Yesterdays rain had led to many temporary waterfalls. There are only two permanent ones, yet can be over 10,000 during heavy rain. In fact one of these waterfalls was the same height as Niagara falls, but only 2meters wide! The whole area has to be one of the must see places on the planet.
During our cruise we stuffed ourselves on a Buffett that was our food for the day. The ferry dropped us off at the floating observatory, where we got to travel 300 hundred meters under the sea. Seeing the fish & coral in their natural environment was fun & very relaxing with the sunshine penetrating down through the sea water. A small boat took us back to shore, & with the sun still shining we set off down the Milford road to do three short walks. We first drove the 54km too Hunbolt Falls. 18km of this was down a dirt track that was quite an experience. The falls themselves had three drops before crashing down into the water. The river that the falls feeds into we crossed lower down on a suspension bridge that didn't look like it could hold many people. The next walk was the Lake Marian cascades followed by a shirt walk near the Homer Tunnel, where we greeted in the car park by a couple of Keas.
The tunnel itself took 65years to build, previously people simply had to climb over the mountain & abseil down the other side.
We have now settled in for an early night so as to get away at first light in the morning.