Day 6 (Part I): More Mountains than you can 'magine.

Sunday, September 7th~

(*Just a heads up, this is when my journal entries started getting really verbose. I’ll try to break them up into multiple entries. There was just so much going on! Ok, keep reading now!)

BIG DAY! We kicked it off with a great hot breakfast buffet at the hotel, then hit the road. Our first stop was at Mrs. Jones’ fruit stand. There were so many delicious things! I deliberated for some time, then picked up a couple of plums to munch on. Wouldn’t you know it, I come all the way around the world and go to a real salt-of-the-earth fruit stand and wind up with plums grown in the US of A! I also had some yummy real fruit ice cream (hokey pokey ice cream with banana), which was 100% New Zealand, so that made up for it. During the drive, Chelsea and Scotty were sitting up front playing “Horse and Tractor.” The game is simple: when you see a horse or a tractor, say “horse” or “tractor” (depending on which it is, of course), and get a point. I think this is going to be the next big Motha’ Van hit.

We stopped for lunch in Te Anau, the township on the shore of the lake of the same name. I know you’re probably already getting tired of hearing it, but it was just gorgeous there! The sky was steely with clouds, but the water was bright turquoise, and framed, as ever, by the Southern Alps. As we continued on the road, we pulled over for photo opps at Eglington Valley, the Chasm, and the Mirror Lakes, each more beautiful than the other. I can’t imagine ever getting tired of the utter splendor at every turn. It is simply magnificent. I find myself fighting back tears at the sheer beauty of it. Since we were on the road all day, there was no opportunity to get to Mass this Sunday, but it is so easy to experience communion with God when you are witnessing such awesome wonders.

Our destination for the day was Milford Sound, only accessible by a long winding road through the mountains, including the Homer Tunnel. Truly a marvel; the tunnel was simply carved out of the rock and it remains roughly hewn today, some 50 years after its opening. I am ashamed to admit to my siblings that I tried to hold my breath, but it was in vain. The tunnel took several minutes to get through and Roxanne (our tour bus) could only go so fast. After we came through the tunnel, we made it to Milford Sound in no time and boarded the Milford Mariner, our accommodations for the night.

The ship was beautiful! Our group got upgraded from the normal ship the tour goes on (dorm style quads and shared bathrooms), to en suite doubles. Very swanky. Our rooms rocked, complete with portholes and super comfy beds.

A word about Milford Sound: it is not a sound. It is a fiord, the northern-most fiord in New Zealand's Fiordland, which includes 14 fiords of all different shapes and sizes. There is a story that the Maori people tell about the creation of the Fiords. (Bear with me; I might get some of the terminology wrong, so I apologize in advance). The seas were controlled by a sort of grumpy goddess who would send the waters into sudden tumult with powerful and ferocious storms. A benevolent god, the patron of the Maori people, wanted to protect them, so he picked up his shovel and dug out a fiord; it provided some protection from the winds, but he accidentally formed islands which made it dangerous for the Maori sailors. He tried again and again to dig a perfect fiord, but he found fault with each one until he dug his 14th fiord. It was wide and deep and long, but not easily seen from sea and with lots of bays to provide the sea-farers with plenty of protection from the ferocious seas.

So, we cruised around the fiord for a while, admiring the steep walls of the mountains lining the water, carved out millenia ago by countless glaciers. We moored in Harrison's Bay for the night, and lo! then the fun began!