Milford: Sound!

Sorry in the delay in posting but we have been in the back of beyond without internet access and without sunshine. Yes, the rain seems to have finally caught up with us over the last few days so we've been holed up in the camper van staring out at puddles and reading books. We did manage to make it to Milford Sound before the rain though and it was pretty cool. We stayed in a place called Moke Lake which is near to Queenstown and Su took this nice photo :

The next day we drove to Milford Sound and got on a boat called "The Friend-Ship" for a two and a half hour journey around the Sound (actually not a Sound but a Fiord). I guess the "Good Ship Lollipop" was in for repairs. Here are some photos:

It was a bit cloudy that day but you get the general idea - lots of steep cliffs and mountains on both sides and lots of waterfalls.

We then got back to the camper van to find it dead - we left the lights on but a set of jumper cables soon had us back on the road to a place called Lake Gunn which is near to Milford Sound and I took this as the sun disappeared (little did we know that we wouldn't see it again for a while) :

Yep - so it's been raining pretty much ever since. We celebrated the lovely Su's birthday (she's 21!) with a bottle of bubbley and junk food and we even managed to buy a Mississippi Mud Pie for Valentines day. Believe it or not (especially after the last blog), we still have some left. This is our last evening in New Zealand - we fly out to Sydney, Australia tomorrow for 4 or 5 days of soaking (and I mean soaking) up the sun and getting the chill out of our bones. If the weather isn't good there then a letter to the Prime Minister will be written. A stern letter at that. New Zealand is such a fantastic place, that if you get a chance to visit, do. The people are extremely friendly and the scenery is so good that we have to stop yourself taking it for granted.

Australia here we come!