We stated the day with a morning run along the banks of the Shotover River. We met a couple of men who were about to explore a tunnel that had been built to divert the river to gain access to the gold on the river bed. The tunnel however didn't work so now it is used by thrill seekers as a water ride.
We returned to check on the weather for our trip to Milford Sound. We had been debating for a long time whether it was worth driving there, staying nearer the location or whether to go at all. We then found a good deal with a fly, boat and coach return trip, so that's what we decided. Weather was looking OK for the flight so we set off to the airport. There was only 4 people plus the pilot on the flight. The pilot was keen to get going as the weather was deteriorating but our two Chinese passengers were late!
The plane was a lot smaller than we expected, the pilot however was a very reassuring ex Londoner. The views were awesome but as we climbed into the clouds above the Alps the wind picked up, it was scarily bumpy. It was bumpy all the way to Milford Sound and in this tiny little plane amongst the huge mountains we felt quite vulnerable.
The weather was dull and cloudy but in a way added to the atmosphere of the scene. Milford Sound was less commercial than we thought and we got on the boat and went on deck to enjoy the spectacular scenery. However it seemed most of the passengers (Chinese-ish) preferred to stay inside eating and drinking. The sheer scale of the fjord is hard to describe, even large boats are lost in the landscape. The waterfalls and seal colonies added to the scene. The coach trip back to Queenstown also passed through some great locations as well as through more fields of sheep, although most people seemed to sleep,the first half of the trip.
So back to our nice camp site which was full of German youth tonight, but all well behaved so no problem.