Around the World

That morning I saw a great view of Mitre Peak. We sailed around the sound for an hour before going back to shore. Milford Sound is known as the wettest place in New Zealand and one of the wettest in the world. Rainfall can reach 9.8 inches on a span of 24 hours. The rainfall creates dozens of temporary waterfalls (as well as a number of major, more permanent ones) cascading down the cliff faces, some reaching 3,280 ft. in length. Smaller falls from such heights may never reach the bottom of the sound, drifting away in the wind.

We got a ride with David and Melissa in their Hyundai Accent. We rode down the Milford Road and through the Homer Tunnel. We stopped and hiked up a steep trail along a waterfall. That evening we stayed at the Te Anau YHA. The 4 of us had pizza at La Toscana (the best pizza) and had a lot of fun. We shopped for some food and had ice cream cones after looking around town for my hat. We did some laundry since everything got wet on the track. My body was worn out and I was very tired.

We rode with David and Melissa up north and had lunch in Cromwell after seeing the bungee jumpers at Kawarau suspension bridge. We got some fresh fruit along the road. We passed a Kingston Flyer, steam train, along State Highway 6.When we arrived at Mt. Cook, we walked to the Tasman glacier. Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand, a peak in the Southern Alps range, which runs the length of the West Coast of the South Island. Mt. Cook is just over 11,000 feet. The Tasman Glacier and Hooker Glacier flow down its slopes

I bought a leather cap at a local shop since I lost my other hat in Te Anau. We made chicken spagetti for dinner with David and Melissa. We shared a cabin at the Glentanner Holiday Park, located near the Mt Cook Village (The Hermitage).

The clouds cleared that morning as we hiked to Hooker Valley. It was a magnificent view of Mt. Cook. We hiked a windy trail and crossed two suspension bridges to see the Hooker Glacier.

That afternoon, Donna and I went on a scenic flight with Air Safaris over 12 glaciers and Mt. Cook. It was a one hour tour in a small Cessna that included; beautiful turquoise glacial lakes, golden tussock lands and braided river systems of the Mackenzie basin, remote high country sheep stations, glacial valleys and landforms, Aoraki Mount Cook, the Tasman Glacier, the Westland Tai Poutini National Park encompassing the magnificent Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers spilling down to the rainforests of Westland, and a view of the west coast and the Tasman Sea.

We stopped at Lake Benmore hydroelectric dam on the way to Christchurch. Lake Benmore is New Zealand’s largest man-made lake. It was formed behind the Benmore power station. Capable of generating 540 megawatts of energy, Benmore is the country’s second largest hydroelectric station after Manapõouri. Benmore power station is just one of eight along the Waitaki River in the central South Island.

We arrived to Christchurch that evening. We all stayed at the Viney's house. We had stopped to visit them on the way to Milford Sound a week ealier.