Feb 3 – this is the part of the trip we were most looking forward to. We spent the day going into and out of Milford Sound, Dusky Sound, Doubtful Sound. The scenery in New Zealand’s Fjordlands National Park is incredibly beautiful. These volcano created mountains go as high as 5500 feet above sea level and extend straight down in the water to depths 600 – 1300 feet deep. Who knows how many years  it took for these solid rock (lava) mountains to grow the vegetation that exists today. This area gets approx. 27 FEET of rain a year. Rainfall is both good and bad for sightseers. The bad news is rain brings clouds, fog, and lower visibility….the good news is the rain produces  lots of waterfalls. This was the case during our day cruising through these amazing fjords. Throughout the day, the weather alternated between cloudy, foggy, rainy, sunny, and partly sunny. Despite the weather,  the scenery was still absolutely stunning…..so pristine and rugged. Pictures don’t do it justice, but I tried….

A double rainbow outside our balcony

The two pictures below were taken at the end of Milford Sound. The ship made a 360 degree spin so those on the balcony’s could see everything, and then a 180 to head back out. There is a hotel and a small marina in the lower left and, believe it or not, a landing strip where small planes can land. Based on what I saw, this would not be an easy place to land a plane.

There were a couple times during the day when the wind was blowing so hard at the front of the ship, it was hard to stand up

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When it rains it creates a layer of silt on the water surface…but. as the ship motors through it, the natural blue color is exposed

And now we have 2 sea days across the Tasman Sea to Sydney. Unfortunately this has the potential to be quite rough.