The Word of the Day is 'WOW'

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Day 79 (Wednesday 08/07/09, NJJ)
Up at 7.30am. Picked up at 8.10am for our day trip to Milford Sound. The scenery on the journey along the Milford Road, from Te Anau to Milford Sound, was stunning. We passed through tussock country, native bush, alpine mountains and the Homer Tunnel. It was very frosty for the early part of the journey and this made the view even more beautiful. We thought Te Anau Downs and Mirror Lakes were amazing but we were told the best was yet to come. We arrived at Milford Sound by 11am in time to board the Milford Sound cruise, 1 hr 40 mins out on the fiord. We had our complementary packed lunch on the boat and Jay even had a cup of tea to warm up. The scenery was superb. Mitre Peak was awesome. We saw New Zealand fur seals basking on some rocks and bottle nose dolphins swimming playfully in the distance. After the cruise it was back on the bus for 'home'. The drive took 3 hours but we had numerous stops along the way for photo opp's. Stopped at rivers of glacial waters, a chasm and falls, before and after the Homer Tunnel (you could feel the drop in temperature between one side and the next, thick snow at exit side), and Monkey Creek (where we drank the pure water straight from the creek). Back to Te Anau for 4pm. We were exhausted as the day was so amazing. Had pasta (again) for dinner then back to the van for 'Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' on laptop.

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