Milford Sound

We enjoyed a relaxing weekend in Milford Sound cruising through the Fiordland and learning it is named"Milford" after a Welsh explorer who named it after his home town - Milford Haven!  

Rated as New Zealand's number one tourist attraction (plus we got 50% staff discount) we thought we would take the 300km journey that took us 5 hours to get there. 

Despite Fiordland being the wettest place in New Zealand ( 6,813 mm rainfall - think that's more than Bethesda!) we were lucky to visit on a clear and sunny day.  We took a nature cruise on board the Milford Mariner and spotted dolphins and seals along the way.  

After the cruise we enjoyed a delicious lamb wrap at the only eatery in Milford (the Blue Duck) and discovered a book on the "Great Walks of New Zealand".  We have already ticked off 1 of the 9 great walks - The Tongariro Crossing and decided that we're going to do the Routeburn or Milford Track in October. They take  between 2-4 days and include staying in cabins along the way, so we've decided to add a Great Walk to our itinerary and also a trip to the other Fiord - Doubtful Sound once the weather warms up.  

It felt like Christmas morning waking up at the cosy Milford Lodge the following morning. Everything was silent, apart from the crunch of the snow under foot with all the trees  covered in a thick frosty blanket.  

Driving back towards Te Anau, it is easy to see why Lord of the Rings was filmed here. The whole place is just enchanting, remote and magical.  

Cruising the Fjords of Milford Sound

Cruising past Mitre Peak 

Mitre Peak at Dusk

Wintery stroll along the river bank

Alpine Parrot "Kea"

Sunbeams at the Chasm

Learning to Fly

Almost 12 months ago Rob and I were in the Swiss Alps.  It was our last few days before heading home and we decided to head up the highest via ferrata in the Alps -  The Jagihorn.  Climbing to 3205m via five ladders, 400 pitons, 1000m of wire rope and up steep rock faces sounded hard, but after our strenuous week with our Alpine Guide scaling peaks between 3500m - 4000m, this via ferrata was going to be straight forward in comparison.

About half way up, both feeling exhausted and surprised by the unexpected steepness of the terrain, far we started to hear rumbles of thunder.  Being in the mountains in a thunderstorm is bad enough, but when a metal cable is your safety line, it's a pretty scary place to be!

Rob, who is practical and experienced went in to safety mode and gave me some lecture on what we should be doing, how fast we needed to move and what i should do next.  I however just felt hungry, tired and wanted to hide in a rock hole until the thing blew over, then i started to sob!  After a comforting hug and pep talk, I got my wits about me and mustered up the energy and scrambled my way to the summit in the rain.

As we reached the top I punched the sky in elation and gazed across at the 4000m snow capped peak we had climbed a few days before.   The rain then stopped, the sun came out and Rob handed me a book with a message that said "will you marry me?"

It was the most exhilarating and memorable day of my life and I knew that my life with Rob would always be full of fun and adventure.   I never thought I would ever experience so may emotions like I did that day such as anticipation, excitement, anxiety, fear, adrenaline, happiness, elation and shock.

Then to mark the occasion of that special day 12 months ago, we decided to go sky diving.  Once again I experienced all those emotions I did on the Jegihorn and will remember this as the second most exhilarating and memorable day of my life...