Milford Sound and the Sound of Playoff Hockey

Long time no post!

It's been getting colder and colder here in Dunedin, which is seriously confuzzling my body, which has become accustomed to the thought that June means warm. Not so in the southern hemisphere! Sitting here bundled up in my unheated flat with temperatures in the low 40's (outside and inside), I'm starting to warm up to the idea of returning to a New Hampshire summer, pun intended.

The most exciting trip of the past 3 weeks has been to Milford Sound, the place so nice I went twice. Renowned by Rudyard Kipling as the 8th wonder of the world, Milford Sound was named the World's top travel destination in 2008 by TripAdvisor. Despite it's fame, Milford Sound is not even a sound. It's a fiord, which was created by 5 glaciers over 5 ice ages carving out a deep valley in the rock, which was then filled with water. 

The first trip was with mates Evan and Hannah over the weekend of May 14. The day after arrival, we ventured into Gertrude Valley to walk one of the best hikes in the area, Gertrude Saddle. The hike began through a valley boarded on either side by vertical rock faces hundreds of feet high. Further into the valley it occurred to me that the valley was formed by a glacier, a monstrous ice scream scooper of ice that cut through tons and tons of rock on it's way to the ocean. Waterfalls cascaded down all around us, as if we were in a giant skull and they were the veins flowing down the inside of the cranium. 

As the picture reveals, it was quite foggy and we saw nothing from the top, but that didn't stop us from following the trail up one side of the skull. Passing waterfalls and trying not to fall on the slippery rocks, we made our way to the final push up a fixed cable to see the Black Lake. It was black. At least for the few minutes we could see it before the fog rolled in.

The next day we paid our $65 and took a boat cruise in Milford Sound. Although we didn't get the postcard-quality day for it, the fog lent a mysterious feel to the place. It was cold and rainy, but that didn't get us down, especially when a pod of friendly dolphins came up to the side of the boat!

Two weekends later I returned with my usual group, Pete, Lexi, and Mike. Pete and Lexi took the cruise and Mike and I stayed behind because we had already gone. That day (as is true for most day's in Fiordland, the 2nd rainiest place in the World), the weather was changing faster than Lady Gaga's appearance, so Mike and I got a brief opportunity to snap some pictures of the Sound in all it's glory.

Milford Sound, timestamp: 10:15 and beautiful

Mitre Peak beyond a palm tree, timestamp: 10:20 and still quite nice

Milford Sound, timestamp: 10:30 and foggy

Now in the last week of classes my focus must shift to studying for my exams, each of which is worth 50% of my final grade. Awesome. But the good news it, I'll be spending my downtime watching the Bruins play in the STANLEY CUP!!! The B's are in the Finals for the first time since I was 6 months old, and while I'd like to think I was aware of it and cheered them on, I have my doubts. So now I'll be keeping the Boston pride alive in New Zealand and praying we can bring another championship to Beantown!