We began today’s adventures with an early morning drive from
our hostel in Te Anau to the Milford Sound. As dawn transitioned from darkness
to the gray light of a rainy morning, behemoths of rock began to appear ahead
outside the van windows in the distance, proving to be an intriguing
introduction to our day.
Due to weather conditions and wave swells, we were unable to
sea kayak in the Milford Sound as planned; however, resilient and adaptive, we
decided to take a boat ride into the Sound. The light rain and rolling fog gave
the scenery within the Milford Sound a dream-like quality. Moved beyond the
ability to articulate complete sentences, most of us could only sit along the
boat railing and stare as we passed seals, mist-capped mountains, and looming cliffs
with “disappearing” waterfalls (strong winds scattered the water into a mist
before the waterfall could connect with the water of the Sound).
After our boat ride, we continued onwards in the rain to two
short hikes that provided views of chasms and streams. After wringing out our
clothes and loading into the vans, we all returned back to Te Anau for a
relaxing afternoon of coffee, shopping, journaling, laundry, and preparing for
our four day backpack on the Milford Track that will begin tomorrow afternoon.
-Mary Crowell
NOTE: We will begin our backpacking trip tomorrow, and we will be out of contact until Thursday. We will send along an update as soon as we can when we return, though it may be late in the week before we get a chance to update.
