Milford Sound

Milford Sound is probably one of the most beautiful places on Earth. The drive there however, was not. Well, the scenery was all amazing, probably some of the best in New Zealand, the only problem we had was when the girl working at the desk at a hostel we were staying at had told us the road there was pretty flat - just windy. Our car, the silver bullet is brilliant, but it has a slight problem with hills in the fact it appears to overheat within minutes. Were both pretty sure its just the thermostat is broken and lying but you cant be too sure.

We were driving the way there taking in the amazing scenery with not oo much car problems, when we come to a massive steep hill, the steepest so far. Its OK because were going down it but we were pretty worried about it on the way back up. Its fine, we decided because we can wait until the car has cooled down and then just chug it back up slowly. We drive a bit further before the famous tunnel, which is drilled through solid mountain for 1.2km. We supposedly;y overheating already so we stop for a bit before the tunnel. When we though it was ready, we headed onwards. What an understatement 'a bit steep and windy was' The entire tunnel in pitch black was down hill, we were seriously contemplating turning round in the tunnel, but we had got so far so we kept going. Out the other end, the hill kept going, and it was the steepest hill Elliott said he had ever driven on - and it went on for another massive 14km. WE were both a bit mad - how could she had said this was flat, had she just driven down from mount Ev erst, Elliott yelled on more than one occasion. WE parked up, worried to say the least, not too sure if we were ever going to make it out. Were we going to have to plead with a tour bus for a lift, of ring up the AA and join up!!

Putting that aside we caught a boat across Milford Sound which was amazing. The fact that there were low clouds added to the wow factor. Milford Sound is pretty South in Fjordland on the coast. The boat trip wen to the end of the fjords up to the sea and turned back passing waterfalls and seal point where a loads of seals and a pup lay basking on a rock.

We got back to the car and very cautiously chugged along at about 30 km/h all the way to the top, stopping only once to see a waterfall and once to let the car cool. By some miracle we made it to the top even through the tunnel, and we didn't get beeped at once! We stopped at the top before tackling the last big hill and were great ed by the Kea. They're the only alpine parrot in the world. They're an endangered species and can be killed by people feeding them high energy food that they're not used to, unlike the berries that they're used to. We saw 7 of them in a group and they re pretty cheeky, sitting on your car, probably scratching it in the process, on the lookout for food. The little sod bit some of the rubber sealant around the back window and flew off with it! If it was a hire car id be worried, but the silver bullet can take it without looking anymore damaged!

Once the car had cooled and we were sick of batting parrots off out car, we headed for the hill , chugged along and made it to the top fine. After that experience we could drive ANYWHERE! (Wouldn't risk it off roading however as it doesn't really like it on the road). WE drove to Te Anua, stopping at a camping ground to warm up our sausage's on the bbq. WE met a really nice Australian couplple and were totally attacked by black flies. They are the biggest pain and the bain of the South West. They're tiny but bite like mosquito's and are absolutely everywhere. You have to tuck everything in and cover any flesh because you ll get bitten and feel the itch like crazy. We slept in Te Anau and headed off to Queenstown the next morning where we got the most amazing burger - the only on our travels - called a ferge burger. Finally we made our final trip up to the Glaciers for some ice climbing! x