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Published: March 17th 2014
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Hello from our last destination in New Zealand. Today we sailed through parts of the most southwesterly portion of New Zealand. During the night we rounded the southern tip of NZ and we sail somewhere around 47 degree south latitude (between South Island and Stewart Island). There was some turbulence, but not bad. If anyone is interesting in checking, look up what is at 47 degrees North and that’s about how far south we are.
David got up about 7:00 because we were supposed to enter the Fjordland National Park at Dusky Sound around 8:15. Well, it was still completely dark outside so he went up to the breakfast buffet to eat and watch the horizon outside. That was the first problem – everything was shrouded in clouds. It was also raining lightly on-and-off. David went back to the cabin to check on Janet, who was getting up. We both went back to the Horizon Court for her breakfast.
The ship had been sailing north through the Tasman Sea. We got to the Dusky Sound about 8:30 and the clouds parted enough to make out the islands through which this fjord flowed. Janet went on
to her Knitters and Natters and David tried to find dry places to take some photos, preferably out of the wind which was still blowing. The ship essentially cruised around Resolution Island and came back out into Tasman Sea about 10:15. During this portion of the cruise the surrounding land had sheltered the ship from the strongest winds, but as we began to leave Breaksea Sound (our exit path), where the wind really whipped up. David had been on the front bow of the ship and it suddenly became difficult to stand without hold a handrail. He quickly headed for shelter. J
Our next entry into the fjords was supposed to be at 11:15 to enter by way of Doubtful Sound, sail around Secretary Island, and exit back into the Tasman Sea via Thompson Sound. Sadly, the captain announced that the winds were being measured at 45 knots on this route, so we skipped that section and headed for the Milford Sound (reported to be the most spectacular of all three of todays’ scheduled visits). The wind continued out at sea the clouds did not lift, and rain remained intermittent. We were worried this final destination might
also be cancelled.
However about 3:15 they announced that we were making our turn into the Milford Sound. A “sound” or “fjord” is a gouge in the earth that was cut by glaciers and is now filled with sea water. This particular waterway has a channel about 90 meters deep, however the top 2-5 meters of water is actually fresh water since so much “runoff” occurs from the large amount of rainfall they receive. Milford sound is protected by extremely high mountains (the NZ Southern Alps) so the wind was much reduced once we enter the sound. That did not protect us from the clouds that obscured our view of the upper mountains. It also did not keep the rain from becoming fairly steady and even heavy rain part of the time. All that being said, it was a very spectacular transit in/out of the sound.
David was scurrying from place to place, trying to stay out of the rain but to get the best photos. He is actually fairly waterproof (or at least will dry fairly quickly), but raindrops on the camera lens were a constant challenge. He did take a lot of
pictures and a few are included. Janet was able to stay in the cabin and watch the show pass by our window as we entered and left. This also helped her rest her knee.
Janet has been taking the pills that were prescribed by Sick Bay and giving her knee some rest (she actually took a nap during the afternoon while we waiting to reach the Milford Sound). Anyway, her knee is responding very well and she can get around much better than the previous few days. She will keep taking the pills a while longer and hopefully be all set for our next shore excursion in a few days.
In addition to the scenery today, this also turned out to be St Patrick’s Day. Many of the people were dressed in some form of Irish (or at least green) outfits. Janet wore her shamrock t-shirt during the day. She was able to get corned beef hash for breakfast, but she was disappointed that they did not serve corned beef and cabbage for lunch. For dinner, David wore a green shirt and his green suspenders (pretending to be Irish for today).
For dinner we had Dallas eating with us, but his wife wasn’t feeling well, so tonight we were a threesome. We both had Chicken Kiev which was delicious if not Irish. For dessert Janet had something made from chocolate pudding with chocolate syrup, and a side-scoop of chocolate ice cream. David had a coffee gateau with vanilla ice cream. Since it is St Patrick’s Day, David did have an Irish coffee to celebrate. YUMMY!
After dinner we saw the same Irish comedian we had seen the other night. He was just as funny with new material. From there we went to the other theater where Simon, our current deputy cruise director, sang some Broadway show tunes. He is leaving the ship at the end of this voyage so this was his farewell appearance. We enjoyed it very much.
That’s about all for today as we sail away back across the Tasman Sea toward Sydney.
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