On the way north towards Milford Sound, we took the Southern Scenic Route which took us along the coast until we had to dart northwards to go around Fiordland.

We headed along the coast admiring the scenery until we had to make a rather early stop at Sarah's request. We went to Thornbury!

It's a tiny little town without much to do (although there is a machinery museum - we didn't go) but we loved it all the same. It's funny how these tiny towns have such large text on the map!

We carried on and had a lunch stop at Colac Bay, sitting out looking at sea and then we blasted northwards stopping only to take in the Clifden Suspension Bridge (yes, that is the real name!).

We had a quick stop in Te Anau by the lake and then headed up to our camping ground for the night. The drive took us along the Milford Highway and held the sights that you imagine to see in New Zealand. We were staying in Cascade Creek which is a conservation camp site in the middle of a forest by a little creek and was stunning. All over New Zealand there are conversation sites, which have the most amazing locations, but equally are pretty basic. We were a few minutes from Lake Gunn and were surrounded by mountains! Not a bad little spot for only £2.50 a night!

Unfortunately being in these beautiful areas comes at a price. Sand flies. For those of you who don't know, they aren't actually near sand. A few minutes with the door open and the van was full of them. Thankfully we had our brains switched on. We opens all the doors and drove around until we were rid of them. Not a mistake we will be making again!

That night we went on a lovely walk around the creek. It really was amazing around there with all the mountains. We feel so far away from our experiences of the last five months. Not in a bad way though.

After an early night we got up early to the sound of torrential rain. Just in time for our cruise around Milford Sound. Not ideal, but we figured that in rain that bad, a boat is the safest place to be!

We arrived early and groggily made our way on board, ready to make full use of the free tea and coffee advertised. After a cup of tea, we head off into the fiord.

We had been advised to make sure we did the cruise, no matter what the weather and they were right. The heavy rainfall had made Milford's many waterfalls even more spectacular with them gushing from the cliffs in dramatic style.

The fiords are really beautiful and the scale is phenomenal (we were told that Milford is one of the smaller fiords as well!). We even saw some seals lazing around one the rocks at one point. They seemed to be enjoying the wet weather!

At one point the boat navigated its way into the spray of a waterfall. They advised that only the brave or stupid stay outside. Needless to say, Tom went out and braved the icy water. We he asked Sarah if she was, her response was "I can't. I'm wearing denim.". Pathetic.

Several thousand gallons of water later, Tom looked like a drowned rat. A happy one though.

After an hour and a half of beautiful scenery, we pulled back in at the port and made the long drive back to Te Anau. We wandered around the town, played a game of mini-golf and generally had a well deserved lazy afternoon. Thankfully the sun had returned for us!