Jan
9
Waterfalls of Wonder
Filed under Australia/New Zealand 2009-2010
Milford Sound, New Zealand
January 6, 2010
10:04pm
Photos have been uploaded here.
I sit below deck on the Milford Wanderer, a 61-passenger sailboat, on which our group is spending the night. Joanne is reading, and three ladies from Slovakia are playing cards, while the rest of our crew and the other passengers are above deck playing various board and card games with Michael Jackson playing in the background.
Although it has mostly been a rainy afternoon, preventing us from seeing mountaintops, the wet weather has actually been a blessing. Our drive to Te Anau for lunch was pretty short, and then we left for Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park, New Zealand’s largest park. Craig commented that the scenery within the park is what this country should look like without the influence or destruction of humans–very lush forests blanketing mountains carved by glaciers. Craig also mentioned that humans didn’t inhabit New Zealand until 800-1000 years ago, and before that no mammals existed here, just birds. One of the European settlers introduced 30 opossums for fur trade; now there are over 60 million and are a nuisance.
We stopped at a few places along the way, in order to avoid the crowds tomorrow, and first pulled over to a beautiful valley of grasses. Craig urged us to frolic in the field, and to further the suggestion he played “The Hills are Alive (with the Sound of Music).” Christine frolicked so much that she lost her camera, so we formed a search line (like what you see on made-for-TV real life dramas when recreating a body search in the woods), and Fredrik was the hero of the day.
We passed through Homer Tunnel (according to Craig, a little-known fact is that it was named after Homer Simpson before he began his TV career) and made our way down to the water to board our vessel. The views while zigzagging our way to sea level were fantastic. Because of the enormous amount of rain, the mountains on either side were covered with waterfalls. Craig had said we’d probably see 2,000 waterfalls; I stopped counting at 100, and I’m sure his estimate wasn’t far off. It was as if the landscape was crying.
Milford Sound is actually a fjord –the difference being that a sound is formed by a river and a fjord is formed by a glacier–and the explorers who named it were confused. We boarded our vessel, and after a safety briefing by a fast-talking captain (I don‘t know how the foreigners with English as a second language could‘ve understood if I didn‘t), we were served delicious hot soup. For a late-afternoon activity before dinner, we could choose to go out on a tender craft, go kayaking, or go for a swim. I chose the warmest and driest activity and hopped on the small motorboat with my rain jacket, camera, and Joanne’s umbrella to protect the camera. Good thing the last item came along, because it poored cats and dogs while we were out. Our guide talked a bit about the fjord and puttered us around to see a variety of things up close. We were packed around the edge of the boat and the rain was so heavy that I should have just left the camera behind. A hot shower after returning to the main vessel was the perfect remedy.
Dinner three hours later was also very tasty. Joanne and I spent the afternoon playing gin rummy. Then after dinner, Henrik and Paolo joined us for a game of Scrabble. The party is still going on upstairs, but I am ready for bed. I’m more sure than I was yesterday that I am getting sick, but hopefully the Sudafed and some throat spray, which I bought today, will help. I hope I can sleep quietly, because we are all housed in tight quarters of two bunks in each room. And hopefully I won’t have to pee, because toilets are accessed by going upstairs and outside. Brrrr!
