Well, it's raining. . . . . A lot. . . . Now the Milford Sound gets on average 6 meters of rainfall each year. . . . Sometimes more. . . . . They have been known to get the same amount as the UK for a year in 24 hours, so not surprising that it is raining now. . . . Now then, you may think that this is a bad thing, well my friends, you will be mistaken, what you lack in overall views, etc (which I saw the other day anyway at Doubtful), you gain in spectacular waterfalls. . . . Tons of them. . . . All over the place. . . . ! It's great. . !

But before I got here, yes, I went Quad biking again. . . . . And again I had a great time. . . .I wasn't out as long as I would have liked but hey, it was still great fun. . . . Just me and the guide. . . . . ! We mozied on through a farm, down some pretty steady tracks, then nailed it up this hill to one of the highest peaks in the area. . . . We had great 360 degree views and the wind to match. . . . . Blimey, it was breezy up there. . . ! We then headed back down and did some more fun tricky stuff. . . . I did actually get sort of stuck and well, that's all part of the fun as well - Right?!?! Because there was only the 2 of us, we did the normal route ahead of schedule, so he took me off on some other bits and we rode through a river and stuff, it was coolio and a great way to start a day. . !

After that I headed back into town and got some supply's, petrol and snow chains (just in case) for the ride up to Milford. . . . . As I mentioned before, I met up with a Welsh girl and we both wanted to do the kayaking, we also planned to car share going up there, so I picked her up and we were off. . . . . .

The road wasn't half as bad as the locals made out, yeah fair enough it may get bad in winter winter, but there was no snow and the road was all tarmac and pretty wide. . . ?! Still, I took my time anyway and soaked up the surroundings. . . . . We got to Milford after stopping at a few points of interest, the best of which was The Chasm. . . ! A huge rock carving formation or near vertical rapids where the river has scoured out all sorts of channels and deep holes in the rocks. The sculptured rocks have been battered by the water and churning stones, it's like nothing I have ever seen. . . . ! Pretty cool!

After that we got to Milford and checked in then had a little look down at the water over the Sound itself. There is nothing really to do around here, so we had a coffee in the café, then a beer in the bar before heading back to base for the evening. . . . . I got chatting to 3 English girls and played Scrabble with them, had some food, some wine a few beers then finished the night playing cards with the girls. . . . . They seem a pretty cool bunch, done quite a bit of traveling, but I am a little dubious of their diet. . . They have had baked beans and mash potato both night now?!?!?!

Up early in the morning and ready for kayaking. . . . . There was a strong chance that it would be cancelled due to the weather, but the wind seemed to calm down, leaving us to contend with just the rain. . . . . That didn't bother me and before we knew it we were kitted up and out on the water. . . . . As I said, it's pretty much been raining ever since I got here, so the waterfalls were great. . . . . The views were not as good as they could have been, but it was still great to be out on the water again! We did about 11km on the water over about 4 hours which seemed to fly by. . . . . We got back and I jumped straight into a hot shower. . . The afternoon was great, I didn't do much, just chilled out, etc. . . . . The girls came back from their boat trip and we played another game of scrabble, followed by some more cards. . . . God, I know how to live, don't I. . . . ! Some food, beers and then I had a chilled evening watching a DVD on my laptop (Inside Man - Denzel Washington, very good!). . . . . !

Up early again, ready for a good start to the day and after breaky, we were off again back towards Te Anua. We stopped off at a walk that I wanted to do, just to break the journey. . . . The trek had been recommended to me by Claire and Nick. . . "Hard walk" Claire said, "but well worth the view and the lake is beautiful".

Well. . . . . Yeah, hard walk alright especially straight after breakfast. . . . It says it's a 3 hour return walk with a 400m ascent. . . . . ! I loved it. . . ! It was quite a rough track with lots of rocks to clamber up and as it was still raining the water was running down all over the place. . . Needless to say, I got absolutely soaked and we made it to the lake in 1 hour, but so much for the view. . . . . More like a great view of mist and cloud. . . Thanks Claire?!?! Only kidding. . . . . Had a lot of fun on the way back down. . . . I only fell over once - Doh! But you've gotta laugh?! The rest of the drive back to Te Anau was pretty tame, I dropped Beth, the Welsh girl off and headed to a café for a spot of lunch.

Now refueled I am off again heading towards Queenstown. I have no real plans ahead of me, so will wait and see once I get there. . . Will let you know how I get on. . . . Ciao for now!