Friday, March 17th... Happy St Patricks Day

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Our adventure today.. Our shuttle bus picked us up at 6:30 and Anna, our guide and driver, drove 6 of us to the Milford Sound. Its located in the  area called Fiord land. It's about a 2 hr drive through pastures, forests, rocky cliffs and a tunnel through the mtn.




Once there we joined 4 others and were ferried across the water to start our hike. 


Our hike took 3 plus hrs in and back. We hiked to Giants Gate Falls. We were told to bring rain gear and dry clothes to change into after the hike. Wise words. The hike wasn't difficult but definitely wet. It rained almost the entire time, but no wind and it wasn't cold. We often walked through run off waters.


 HOWEVER
Because of the rain we had many waterfalls and huge gushing streams. We were told that hours later that many of the waterfalls would be gone. 








 






Along the hike we saw a Weka a flightless bird. She seemed unperturbed by humans. After our hike (and changing into drier clothes) we hopped on a small boat and cruised around Milford Sound. We saw tall cliffs and waterfalls along with some dolphins and seals. 


Then back to the dock to retrace our steps back to Te Anau. 

The jacuzzi sure felt good tonight. 
Giant's Gate Falls

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