the bathroom was clean so i took a shower this morning. we had to walk down a few blocks carrying all our shit to where the kiwi bus will pick us up. even though i already ate breakfast, i bought just a little something to top off. we weren't on the bus very long when we passed te anau downs. that is where we would have gotten off if we walked the milford track. i wasn't sure if we could be dropped off there or how we would get there, so i booked the 2pm ferry. you have to take a ferry to the start of the track. we passed by at 10:10am i think so that would have really sucked to have waited all those hours. i'm glad we cancelled in that respect.

eglington valley, fiordland national park

shortly after entering fiordland national park, we did a photo stop at eglington valley. we passed some mirror lakes but there were too many tourist buses already parked there so our driver just kept going on. we passed a sign that let us know we were at latitude 45 degrees south. i just have to say that this driver has played the best music so far out of all the drivers. he actually plays songs i would listen to. he's played stuff like the cure and the white stripes. when "seven nation army" came on, we switched the ipod to play the same thing and blasted it!

rainbow over knobs flat

the kiwi experience is all about the kiwi traffic jam of sheep!

we had a bathroom break at knobs flat. it was cool because it was raining a little bit and a rainbow appeared. which reminds me that again this morning there was a rainbow over lake te anau. this place is just full of rainbows because of all the rain.

we got to homer's tunnel and stopped there for a few minutes to take in the views and to look at a kea that wanders the area. now i see why they call them cheeky keas. this one was close to us long enough for everyone to get a good photo, then he crossed the road and got on top of a car waiting to go through the tunnel. next thing you know, the passengers are feeding it. our side of the road was booing them and stuff. that's just giving a kea junk food and teaching them to beg off humans. boo!

coy kea on ground

cheeky kea on car

since it was raining, there were a lot of temporary waterfalls streaming down the hills. it was pretty. it was cool. it was pretty cool. we got to milford sound and i could only think "that's it?". yeah, once again, new zealand is more spectacular in photos than in person. glad i didn't hike for 4 days just to think "that's it?". also thought how sad it is for people who come just for the 1 day trip with only a couple of hours on the water. still, i wouldn't want to do the overnight hike. i realize that just isn't for me, at least not in the cold.

stream, snow, and waterfalls

we had to wait 3 hours to check-in to the overnight cruise so we went on the free shuttle to the cafe and hung out there for awhile. then we hung out at the terminal, waiting to board the vessel. got a lot of reading done. i've been reading "firestarter" by stephen king.

homer tunnel, stream, snow, and waterfalls

finally we got to board the ship. the rooms are small. it's pretty cozy. it's real ship bunks, what you picture when you think of sailors. some people cancelled so we have bunks all to ourselves instead of sharing. they are split into 4 people per unit. very tight quarters. if we had to share, the others would be pissed about all our gear.

milford overnight cruise

there are kayaks and a boat on board. you can self-kayak or do a guided kayak trip at night, or you can ride the boat. dinner and breakfast are included so i think this trip is real value for your money. i wasn't sure if there would be a shower on board but yes there are several of them. there's actually more showers than toilets.

on board the milford wanderer

the underwater observatory is in the middle of the sound, not where the terminal is, so it's isolated. we'll be going there tomorrow while on the cruise with the kiwi bus. dinner was followed by a game of scrabble. i definitely cannot eat mushrooms. if i eat too many of them it makes me sick. a little tight in the chest and slight stomach ache. just a weird feeling like the onset of a panic attack. i keep trying to eat mushrooms even though i don't like them to begin with but i've finally learned my lesson, avoid as much as possible! it's for my own good.