We had a relative lie in this morning waking at 8am instead of the usual 7am with our busy schedule! I'd had a restless night full of cold; despite missing the autumn to winter transition back home I still end up bunged up with sore throat - (typical with my immune system!) Anyway despite this we woke up to an amazing view of the sun rising over Lake Hawea - we were in a very secluded spot with no other campers in site. Given that Scott has given up showering on a regular basis on this road trip and I am subjected to the resulting smell of his feet (!) I did my best to try and persuade him into the lake with a suggestion of skinny dipping - but he turned it down! To be honest I was joking - I wouldn't have gone in anyway - the water would be freezing.

By 9.30am we were on the road again for our journey via Queenstown and Te Anau to Milford Sound. The latter part of our journey is sold as the most scenic drive in New Zealand so we were looking forward to it. Once in the first town we reached (Wanaka) we stopped to use the internet as we'd had no reception for our dongle in Lake Hawea. We managed to book a place sea kayaking on Milford Sound for tomorrow and also reserved 2 nights at a campsite at Milford Sound as the place is so remote there is only one place to stay!

The sun was out and we have been blessed with another glorious day here in NZ with blue skies and fluffy white clouds - shorts and T-shirt weather today! Yet again we were spoiled by gorgeous views as we approached Queenstown and had to keep stopping for photo opportunities. Our journey bypassed Queenstown on the ring road and headed towards Te Anau. The mood was slightly dampened by myself getting zapped by a police officer with a speed gun - I was doing about 150mph in an area which is 40mph although I'd obviously overlooked the sign as I didn't realise I was speeding! The police officer said the speed signs weren't as prominent as would be ideal hence why he was there to try and prove a point to get the signs improved!!Great - I'm the sucker along with Scott that has to pay a £65 fine - although at least the points don't transfer to my UK license.

In Te Anau we stopped for supplies and petrol and begin the most scenic leg of the journey (now at v slow pace after my brush with the law!) We had a late lunch stop overlooking Lake Te Anau and pushed on to the Eglinton Valley and the start of Fjordland National Park. I got some cheesy shots of Scott posing on the grassy valley floor of the valley with snow capped peaks in the distance. Our next stop was the Mirror Lakes - a 5 minute walk off the the road side. The lakes were small but amazingly clear with vivid blue colours due to increased density of the water from sediment left over in them from when the glacial river changed course many years ago. Our next stop involved a 45 minute walk through Red Beech forest next to Lake Gunn. The trees were covered in moss giving the place an eery feel. Apparently there are rare bats in the forest but we didn't glimpse any. As we approached the edge of Lake Gabb the wind picked up creating huge waves across the lake and there was a nip in the air. I felt the first few raindrops of the day. Hardly surprising I thought since we were on our way to Milford Sound - known for its huge amounts of rainfall!

As we neared the tunnel into the Sound the scenery became much more dramatic and forboding with icy peaks and black rock overshadowing the road and forming an icy ampitheatre at the entrance to the tunnel. The tunnel was long and v v dark - no lighting apart from our headlights! At the other end the scenery was just as dramatic with a long winding road going steeply downhill. The weather was by now overcast with low cloud and drizzle. We arrived at our busy campsite and grabbed stuff out of the van to use the kitchen facilities for dinner. In the meantime we got attacked by sandflies (innocent looking tiny flies with a mean bite that comes up in a big lump 24 hours later) which seem to be more prevalent here than anywhere else in New Zealand. The 50% deet has finally come out again after our Amazon experience.