Wednesday: Mirror Lake, the "Chasm", Milford Sound

Wake-up call is at 5:30 am because the 6-hour bus ride to Milford Sound leaves at 7! Lloyd is our driver who drives us from Arrowtown to Milford Sound via Te Anau... and back! He does this 4 days in a row and then has four days off. It's a grueling route with unpredictable weather and winding, mountainous roads, but he does it with great enthusiasm and knowledge of his country. We learn about agriculture, history, geology, and climate.

See the moon over the snow-covered mountains?

The weather couldn't be better -- blue, blue sky even though there were gusty winds and snowfall only a few days earlier.

We stop for small hikes in the countryside -- and Mirror Lake where the still water mirrors the snow-capped mountains,

the Chasm where nature has carved incredible "sculptures" in the rocks and boulders.

We arrive at Milford Sound at 12:45 pm just in time to board our boat the Milford Mariner.

We eat a box lunch on board (sorry, I ate it before I remembered to snap a photo). There had been a lot of rain the past few days, so there are a lot of waterfalls cascading down the steep walls of the sound.

We see several seals sunning themselves on a rock.

We sail for about an hour when suddenly the temperature drops and there are gale-force winds. I'm on the upper deck about to go down a flight of steps and the wind is so strong, I have a hard time putting my foot down on the next rung. But then, just as suddenly, the wind stops and it is pleasant again. A double rainbow appears (the second one is faintly above) - I think it is the most beautiful one I've ever seen. You can see it end to end over the water. 

20-30 dolphins playfully swim alongside the boat, racing and jumping. It is fantastic!.

The return to Arrowtown is 4.5 hours - Lloyd is hauling! I can see the Southern Cross (constellation of stars) in the darkened sky. We're all exhausted and stop for a nice dinner at the Hole-in-One Restaurant at Millbrook. Not in the mood for venison, duck, and boar sausage pizza, wuss that I am, I order a steak sandwich with Bernaise sauce.  Tomorrow I ride on a jetboat on the Dart River... if the weather allows.