We drove up to Milford sound - it was a beautiful day, the mountains, rivers, ice caps, flowers, sky were all awesome and gorgeous. The NZ book gave the impression that it ALWAYS rains in Milford, but tho it was windy it was great weather there too.
We bought tickets for the boat tour and wrote postcars and had beer at the only pub while we awaited launch time - even got to ride a tour bus out to the dock. It was a great boat ride, and well worth $23 each - saw falls, cliffs rising straight up, towering mountains, Mitre Peak, etc. - really neat!
Henry survived the ride back the toughest part being climbing the hills out of Milford - part of the road was really nasty gravel - ironically enough where they're "improving" it - but thankfully the majority of the whole thing was sealed. Rained a bit - going through the 3/4 mile tunnel was SPOOKY both ways - it's not paved and they just have reflectors along the walls - no lights! Quite and experience.
Coming down thru the valley the rain disappeared. Back in Te Anau Jim tried windsurfing again (spotty wind) then we had dinner at a gourmet-type restaurant. Found a place at the south end of the lake to pitch the tent and stay the night.
