Today started well and despite having a night of musical beds we managed to get to the boat with 45 minutes to spare. As a result we were able to sit on the wharf to be harassed by sandflies and watch the world go by. There was a little hiccup when we were asked to pay for lunches but that was swiftly sorted out and I did NOT pay for them. Anyway we boarded the Milford Mariner and sat out on the top deck. The view was outstanding, the company not so. Alex saw fit to start complaining immediately and then continued to do so for pretty much the entire cruise. This ended up with us missing about half the cruise as Alex insisted on sitting inside. We also visited in a drought so that only the permanent falls were running. We then took the observatory option which was well worthwhile ! Alex was a misery, Elizabeth was a joy - fishy, look fishy !
After the voyage we drove to Te Anau. Elizabeth fell asleep not long after we left Milford which was predictable as she threw an almighty fit when putting her into the car. These tantrums are often accompanied by the words ' not again, not this again' and this is not from David or I much as we would agree with them. We stopped at the Chasm which is a pretty scary name but a good path led us to a really impressive waterfall. Elizabeth was totally underwhelmed by the experience and remained asleep despite being lifted out and carried. We carried on and at the Homer tunnel found the lights were for us so we went straight through. Someone had the unfortunate experience of being broken down at the top.
We then drove to our motel via a supermarket and picked up some steak and salad for dinner. After dinner we walked along the lakefront to a playpark which the girls really enjoyed. As normal it adhered to Kiwi health and safety standards which meant as I turned to David and was about to say that slide looks as though there is a bit missing and is pretty high, Elizabeth can zipping down and was deposited squarely on her bottom.