Day 219 (January 27): Geology Rocks! (or, Milford Sound is lovely)

If you visit Milford Sound on a sunny day, as we did, you'll see this

This land has seen many battles. This is where Gandolf and Suaron collide. But even more pitched is the battle between the thrusting of tectonic uplift and the onslaught of erosion. On a sheer mountainside several thousand meters high, a crevice might be the work of the waterfall or the tearing of an active fault.

We have arrived in Milford Sound, the number one destination on our South Island itinerary. A coach bus brought us from the gateway town of Te Anau, where we spent two nights at the foot of an alpine lake. We have boarded an overnight cruise. Remarkably, the sun is shining. The guide points out that we can see clouds forming on the hillsides as the moisture from the warm surface of the lake rises to meet colder mountain air.

The boat moors and the passengers are offered a choice of water activities: kayaking, dinghy ride, swimming. Elise and I enjoy some quiet on the kayak ride while the others take the dinghy. Chatting with a neighbor, we have a funny conversation:

Her: Where are you from?
Me: The States
Her: Which one?
Me: Oregon.
Her: Me too!
Me: We're from Portland
Her: Me too!
Me: 97212
Her: Me too!
Me: NE 26th Avenue
Her: NE 35th Avenue (This is half a mile away)

We ascertain that her husband (newlyweds!) works in my field and in fairly close proximity, too! It's been a while since we've had a funny small-world experience like this and we have a good laugh.

There aren't a lot of words that make this better than the pictures I want to share. There are a few funny anecdotes: somehow I tipped my kayak and ended up very wet. There was an incident on the dinghy that disqualified Ali from swimming and cost an hour of crying (and also prohibited Elise from swimming). There was the group of friends from Canada/Pittsburgh that seems to have been on a nearly the same itinerary as us through Australia (Perth, Melbourne) except that they were following tennis on purpose!

Mother and Daughter on our way to Milford Sound

Father and Daughter on our way to Milford Sound

After the pass, our view toward the Sound

This would be our vessel for the night

The captain put the bow under this waterfall

Big water means smiles

Jon capsized about five minutes after this picture was taken

Sunny Milford Sound

This is a Kea, which is a very mischievous bird

Sleepy on the bus ride back

I don't want to disregard Te Anau entirely. It was a beautiful place to relax. We particularly enjoyed the park adjacent to our campground, which featured Lake Henry, of all things. We rented a fishing rod and unleashed Henry and his siblings on the waters. It was Lily who caught a small fish but we had hours of adventure and excitement, most of it good.

Lake Te Anau

Lake Henry

This is Lily's fish

This is Lily's bait;)

This is a happy Henry on Lake Henry

I found myself awake late one of the nights and found that the clouds had lifted. I went for a short walk to a dark spot and enjoyed a beautiful star-filled sky. We're fascinated that Orion is evident (in summer!) but that he is upside down. I saw the Southern Cross after weeks after missing it due to city lights and going to bed too early. There's a new moon this week and I'm hoping to see even more stars as we head into the alps.