Day 14 - Wednesday - Cruising Fiordland

Wednesday dawned overcast and rainy.  We were at the south end of the South Island, and approaching Fiordland, National Park.   

Here, a note about the "Where in the World is Smithee" GPS track at the head of this blog.  One, you can select a drop down box at the top of the map (left center, I believe) to select the view. You can select more than one day of track.  Two, I neglected to,change the date and time settings. They,are still set for back home time.  If you hold a finger over each track mark, or the little motorcycle that is sailing over the sea, you will pull up a date and time stamp. Add a day and subtract 3 hours for when I was there,  once into Australian waters, where I am now as I type this, subtract 5 hours.  

Enough metrics.

It was raining quite heavily, so we stayed in the cabin and watched the mountains glide by in the mist.  We did see a pod of dolphins frolicking away to starboard.  We cruised Dusky Sound, then out into the ocean, then further north ducked into Dusky Sound, which we cruised for some time before exiting again to the Tasman Sea for the trip north along the coast.  

As the day went on, the weather began to clear and become sunny. 

By 4:00 pm we'd left the rain and mist behind and entered the fabled Milford Sound. This is probably the place you've seen in photos if you've seen Any photos of Fiordland.  Milford is a fairly narrow sound, maybe a mile wide at most where it opens to the sea, and narrows down from there.

 It is surrounded by steep mountains that drop precipitously to the water.  There are numerous waterfalls  (cascades, actually, but I won't be overly critical.  Most people call them waterfalls).  

We reached the end of the sound, near the settlement of Milford Sound. It really isn't a town,  more like a lodge and a couple other buildings.  The ship turned slowly on its axis, using bow thrusters and proceeded to slowly retrace outer route in.  

The place is magnificent. In my book, it is a "must see" on the bucket list.  

After exiting Milford Sound, the ship headed west for the two day slog across the Tasman Sea, headed for Hobart, Tasmania. 

Next up, At Sea, or Smithee's Two Days Before the Mast