We made our way to Te Anau (on the southeast end of the south island) in the Fiordland area. We headed up to Milford Sound which looks on the map like a small town, but the reality is it is a large boat dock where small cruise ships leave for the sightseeing tours they offer (and nothing else). We boarded a boat for a 2 hr tour of the Milford "fiord". The weather was foggy and rainy but this was actually expected as we read that this area gets 6 meters of rainfall a year. That's no typo - 6 meters. It was a great tour of the fiord - out to the Tasman Sea and back. On the way we were really lucky to see a very rare sight - the Fiordland Crested Penguin - standing on a rock under a tree (probably trying to get out of the rain). This was great as we also saw a few seals basking on the rocks in the rain. Everywhere along the trip you could see these huge cascading waterfalls falling down the steep sides of the sheer cliff walls that rise right up from the water to the clouds above. It was raining and cold and you could barely see, but it is not lost on you the beauty of this raw and rarely seen part of the world. This is the furthest south we will be going on this trip. This is also the furthest we could possibly be from our home back in Manotick. As we drove to Wanaka today I started, for the first time, to realize that we were actually heading home now. The road to Millford Sound is a dead end. You drive the 2 1/2 hrs from Te Anau and then...it ends. As the lady at the boat tour office said "this is the end of the world". We are travelling back on a road we have already seen for first time on our trip and it feels very strange. We are actually, from this point on - on our way home...and it feels pretty good.
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