ROAD TRIP! - MILFORD SOUND & TE ANAU, NEW ZEALAND - DAY 9

6AM wake up without the call. We check out of the nicest hostel we’ve stayed in, pick up Ashley at a hotel down the street, and hit the road at 7AM to road trip over to Milford Sound.

I don’t know how else to put this, but the entire ride consists of us pulling over 50 times to take videos and pictures. The beauty of New Zealand is indescribable. We pass landscapes, mountains and forests. We drive through fog, and clouds that are hovering so low, you could almost jump up and grab it. We blast Lenny Kravitz, Beach Boys, Sting, and sing along, far out of tune, to Whitney Houston and Fleetwood Mac.

Every time we think we’ve seen it all, New Zealand surprises us with more diverse beauty that you or I couldn’t even imagine. It’s like a little bit of the Swiss Alps mountains, with jungle flora and fauna, some Nordic fjords, with the vastness of Iceland, and lush, rolling Irish hills...All in one little island. (Technically two little islands, but one tiny country).

We eventually make our way to Milford sound for our cruise. To be totally honest, the three hour drive was worth more than the actual cruise itself. We saw so much beauty, and that was absolutely priceless. We took thousands of photos, but not a single one could do it justice. I’ll try to have the rest of the email consist of photos. They’ll speak for themselves. Like I said, I can’t describe it.

The cruise itself was a fun activity. We ate fish and chips for a meal, and floated through narrow passages, surrounded by enormous mountains, and waterfalls. We got so close to one waterfall, that we actually got a bit soaked. I had to duck away to protect my cameras. It was very cold, and the winds were strong, but between the three of us, we had a really nice time.

We warm up back at the car, and enjoy some tea. It's my turn to drive. Oh bless. Thankfully, the car this time wasn't a stick shift, and if you ever have to learn how to drive on the opposite side of the road, New Zealand is the best place. It's open with long stretches of road, and hardly anyone around- I drove for a few hours. I was nervous at first, but I quickly adapted and kicked ass. It's more intuitive than you think. When you drive in the States, it's natural to the point of not having to think about it. Driving on the opposite side is natural as well, you just have to think about it sometimes. The only thing I keep forgetting, is that they’ve also switched the placement of the turn signal with the window cleaner, so every time I go for a turn, I my view gets a bit clearer. It's pretty hilarious. At one point driving back from Milford Sound, I had an endangered New Zealand Kea bird fly up to the car and land on my mirror. We were stalled, waiting to drive through a tunnel, and Rachel and Ashley were outside taking photos. They hadn't noticed right away. The bird and I were staring at each other until, I shouted for Ashley and Rachel to come look. They actually panicked a bit, and yelled at me to roll up the windows, because he'd get in the car. This caused me to panic a bit as well, and I couldn't get the windows up right away. The bird hopped on the roof heading for the open back window. Ashley panics and yells more. I had to fiddle with everything until I realized the key needed to be in the ignition for the windows to work...Obviously. I roll up the windows before it can get in anywhere. Kea birds are actually mischievous rascals, but based on Swedish tradition, I consider this a good omen! The light changes, giving us the signal to drive through the tunnel. The girls dodge the bird, and hop in, but it won't fly away or move. We have a line of cars behind us, but they spot our trouble. I try to roll up slowly and then break hard to jerk the bird off the car. This doesn't work. I start to drive regularly, and hope the bird is smart enough to fly away before we give it a free lift to Te Anau. It eventually flies off before entering the tunnel, and we carry on. We pull over another 50 times to capture the multi colored sky until the sun fully sets over a lake. The lake is so still is resembles that of a glass mirror, reflecting the sky and all the colors within.

I need to take a moment for a humble brag. I will say traveling here and to Australia, with my diving experience, bungy jumping, and driving on the opposite side of the road, AUS and NZ have tested me. But everything I’m afraid of, I’ve been facing head on, and excelling at all of them. If this isn’t too pretentious to say, I feel as though I’ve really grown here in an absurdly short period of time, and have become even more of an adult. I’m really proud of what I've been able to accomplish. I've surprised myself at every obstacle, and I’m impressed with the outcome.

We had a blast today; road tripping, cruising, eating fried fish and chips on the boat, having a good Kea omen, and driving all the way to Te Anau Lake. The sky is so clear here, you can actually see a bit of the Milky Way with your naked eye. I tried to do some long exposure shots, but alas, the clouds blocked my view.

Lastly, google “Mirror Lake” and “Mistletoe Toe Lake”. Those were my favorite two places we pulled over on our ride to Milford Sound.

After our adventures, and road tripping all day, while jamming out to the Forest Gump soundtrack, I am totally pooped.

Another 6AM wake up call tomorrow to see a glacier... And a 6mile hike.

-eM