On the way home

An early start was the order of the day as Clint volunteered to dash to Starbucks to collect breakfast before we set out to Milford Sound. The brand new RealJourneys coach was very cool with its tiered, angled seats and massive expanses of glass. Tracey, our driver, kept us well entertained as we headed the two hours down to Te Anau under increasingly grey skies. Statistics about sheep, deer, stoats and other introduced species made a very good case for not interfering with Mother Nature's work. A brief stop for coffee revealed the temperature had dropped also. We were beginning to think our luck with the weather may have come to an end.

The remaining two and three quarter hours were interspersed with a number of stops as we headed up along the bottom of steep valleys towards the Homer Tunnel and then Milford itself. No-one really noticed the skies clearing but all of a sudden there wasn't a cloud to be seen. The scenery is the most specatular you could imagine. Remnants of recent avalanches were still mightily impressive, as was the engineering effort that had gone into blasting a tube 1270m thorough a mountain. More stories, of postmen and more wildlife, were retold and before we knew it we were down at the harbour waiting for our departure on a cruise of the sound (actually a fjord, as Tracey so rightly pointed out).

Two and a bit hours on the water allowed us to scour both sides of the lake, the south side on the way out into the Tasmin Sea and the north side on the way back. The weather remained flawless and stunning, with the boats crew joking that they'd had similar conditions before - sometime in 1978. Seals and penguins were the main attraction and the rolling and picthing on the open water certainly made everyone hold on. The vegetation, sounds of wildlife, fantastically high waterfalls and impossibly balanced trees were really something to behold. The entrance to the fjord from the sea is a long way from obvious, a true hidden jem.

Once back on dry land, we wandered the ten minutes along the foreshore to the airport for our trip back. The coach was going to take a bit over four hours to race non-stop(ish) to Queenstown but our light aircraft trip would see us back there in under 45 minutes. Phil managed to bag the seat next to the pilot while Clint and I were left to fight with the chickens on the back row. Fortunately we were all afforded amazing views as we headed up Arthur's Valley to Lake Quill before turning left to head back across to Lake Wakatipu and home. Words and pictures are inadequate to describe what we saw, a truly memorable experience.

Getting back at a reasonable time for a beer and pizza was a great decision. The evening was gorgeous and sitting outside in the mountains was glorious. Having eaten, we managed to walk off some of our excess by hunting for some secreted Tupperware in the park next to a (unexplained) monument to Captain Scott of the Antartic. I think it's fair to say Clint and Phil won't be signing up to the sport any time soon. ;-)

The following morning saw us head up the Skyline gondola and three runs down the luge. Despite Phil's cheating, I managed to win two of the three races. My extra weight (a bag and camera etc!) proved useful as we hurtled down the hill - great fun. Then it was some light shopping and back to the airport for our hops to Christchurch and ultimately Auckland. The traffic was at its peak as we headed back to the North Shore, the only facet of NZ that needs improving.

A farewell dinner at Wildfire in Takapuna with Bex and Karen was lovely and I took the opportunity to thank the girls for so generously loaning me their men for the duration of my stay. My trip has been so very busy but so very short. It was great to see Phil's boys too and I'm stilled a little shocked at how NZified they've become over such a short time.

One last VERY early start for the airport and it was time to say goodbye once again. We had breakfast before Phil and Clint followed me to make sure I went through security, they seem to have some bee in their bonnet about overstayers.

I'm now in my hotel room in Narita, Japan before my return to Heathrow in the morning (or whatever time my body will think it is by then). No doubt I'll miss the friendly Air NZ Kiwi service. I've had the most fantastic time and it was sad to leave my friends yet again. That said, I'm looking forward to getting home to my family and planning our excursion down to NZ so I can show them what a special place it is. I'll be back!