Friday, February 18, 2011

Day #17. Milford Sound.

When my alarm clock went off at 6:30 am, why did I turn it off and go back to sleep???  Woke up at 7:45 and realized in a panic my bus to Milford Sound was to leave in 15 minutes, and I still had to go throw my stuff in storage and walk the 2 blocks to the meeting spot!  I jumped out of bed, shoved stuff in my backpack, frantically grabbed the storage room key, rushed around getting that sorted out, and without even brushing my teeth ran down to the bus stop with my overnight bag.  Just made it!  :)  Gosh I am such a retard sometimes…

The bus ride was long.  Five hours, approx.  The road was winding constantly, and I was getting sick to my stomach in the back.  However, the closer we got to Fiordland National Park, the more crazy beautiful the scenery.  I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings.  It was the way the mountains stood, framed with forests of white trees.  Many of the trees had webs hanging from their branches.  The sky was overcast, it was barely drizzling rain, and fog had settled in random places.  I kept looking for ghosts on white horses!  Then we went through a long tunnel cut through the mountain stone, a little further, another corner, and there was the Sound.  Milford Sound.  I had been waiting for this moment the entire trip!  Milford was one of the places I was most excited to visit.  I had heard of its intoxicating beauty.  There she was.  Sullen.. mysterious.. ethereal.

I boarded a big boat and spent the next 2 hours breathing it all in, slowly moving through the channels.  I cannot even adequately describe with words how magnificent this place is.  I couldn't decide if I liked how eery everything was with the dark ominous weather, or if I would have wanted it to be sunny.  The water was very dark and looked frigid.  I saw tons of seals rolling around in it and, with great difficulty, heave their chubby bodies up the rocks.  I noted countless waterfalls, one of which reminded me of a long, sweeping, luminous, powerful, and yet incredibly delicate bridal veil.  Milford was stunning.  Glorious!  In every possible way.

After the cruise was over, I took a shuttle to my quaint little Milford Lodge dorm room.  The lodge is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by woods and framed by the mountains.  I'm looking forward to the wonderful sleep I just know I will get tonight!!!  Here in Milford Sound there is one restaurant and one pub, both of which are expensive, so I'm glad I grabbed my food bag on the way out this morning.  Just finished eating a warm bowl of Raman with leftover sauteed purple cabbage, fried eggs, and the remains of my delicious hot house cucumber.  Internet is outrageous here too.  It costs $10 for 50 megabytes.  I used the entire 50 on just 8 minutes of video skype with my boyfriend before it cut me off.  I couldn't believe it!  Had to go buy another $10 worth just to upload my blog and do a little net surfing.  Btw, it is our 9-month anniversary today!!! :)

It's almost 7 pm here.  So quiet and peaceful.  Definitely going to bed soon.  Thought about kayaking tomorrow morning, but I'm exhausted.  Think I will just chill and walk a little bit, maybe even watch a movie from the Lodge's extensive collection.  Catching the afternoon bus back to Queenstown tomorrow.  I'm thinking I will arrive just in time for a Fergberger :)

Plan:  Spend the morning chilling in Milford, then take the afternoon bus back for my last night in Queenies before moving on to Dunedin

Budget:  $30 hostel, $20 internet (freaking ridiculous how much they charge for the net here)

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