Sea Kayaking Milford Sound

Last night, we met a family from Te Anau whose son goes to Dunedin through the lady from the flight from Wanaka.  We went to a restaurant here to meet them.  Jackson is a maths student from Dunedin in his junior year.  We didn't stay out too late as we knew we were heading out early today!

Our day began rather ominously.  We had to get up at 5:30 this morning to get to Milford Sound by 8:30.  It rained all night and was raining when we woke up and rained most of the way to Milford.  It was a little chilly as well.  Are we really going sea kayaking today? 

The drive was spectacular even in the mist and rain.  It’s about 128 km to Milford from Te Anau and everyone says leave 2 hours.  The road winds and eventually climbs to the Homer Tunnel.  This tunnel reminded me so much of the Whittier Tunnel.  Narrow and carved through a huge rock, the tunnel is dwarfed by it’s surroundings!  After the tunnel, a steep descent leads to Milford Sound. 

We arrived about 15 minutes early, got geared up and headed out on the water for the day.  It never rained on us, but the clouds stuck around all day.  The sun poked for a bit, but the water stayed calm – luckily.  The only real test was when the large sight seeing boats passed by and we had waves.  During our outing, we saw a penguin – the 2^nd most endangered penguin in the world.  We also had a playful seal swimming around. 

Needless to say, we are exhausted because on the drive home, we stopped at short hikes and saw some neat things.  I also talked to a fisherman who was after BIG brown trout.  I don’t know if he was pulling my leg, but he indicated there were very large browns in this particular lake.  I’d guess from his indication, they’d have to be 20 or more pounds.  Anyway, we’ve fixed dinner and I think we’ll be heading to bed relatively early tonight!   At least I am.  John is going out with Jackson tonight!

Pictures