The following day, I decided to travel to Milford Sound, a location that Rudyard Kipling called "the eighth wonder of the world."
Again I decided to forgo my own travel, and I boarded a bus named "Jucy" to ride down to the Fjord and take a cruise.
Along the way we stopped by a town called Te Anau where I saw a nice statue of an endangered bird. The guide said there were about 600 of them alive in the world. I guess most people thought they were extinct until some were found in the mountains nearby.
The town had some delicious venison pies. Apparently New Zealand imported a number of deer from Europe and the USA many years ago. They also brought in moose and elk from Yellowstone Park during Teddy Roosevelt's era. I guess they've done pretty well here. Anyway, tasty!
The scenery along the drive was beautiful.
We saw some Kea, which are a mountain parrot native to New Zealand. They're apparently really pesky. They'll tear apart windshield wipers as well as hubcaps off cars. Sneaky little devils were trying to get us to feed them.
The mountain valleys were great.
Finally we reached the sound and boarded our vessel. The Jucy Cruise ship, "Maiden of Milford."
I really enjoyed the cruise, even though it was freezing and wet and windy.
We also got to see the seals! These were juvenile males, which hang out here rather than with the regular seal groups... What do you call a seal group?
I just looked it up - they can be called: Pod, Bob, Harem, Rookery, or Herd.
I think I'll stick with "Bob." I saw a Bob of Seals!
Anyways, I then got back on the bus and went home. Also, New Zealand has some terrible sand flies. They bite like the dickens... and they're worse than mosquitoes. Just FYI.
One other thing - they say it's summer there in December, but it's all lies. It's stinking freezing.
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