Queenstown and Milford Sound

So after throwing myself off a bridge and collecting my T-shirt for doing so we headed into Queenstown. For those of you who have travelled through New Zealand will know that Queenstown is quite similar to Banff in that it is a ski town in the winter and most definitely a travellers town. It is also the adventure capital of the world so travellers of all sorts flock here to enjoy some of the worlds best adventure activities during the day. Then they all return to town jacked up on adrenaline and party hardy till the wee hours of the morning. Queenstown is littered with hostels, restaurants and bars. I knew that the only real adventure activity that I would be doing was the bungy jump, which was done, and the gondola ride to the top of the mountain and some luging. Queenstown does have so many activities to do, but they will all cost you. Much like Banff it is a very expensive town and will bleed your wallet dry if you let it.

I would be staying 4 nights in Queenstown and one of the days that I was there I would be doing a day trip to Milford Sound. Since it is such a party town and filled with backpackers on budgets the bars all offer a ton of drink specials especially if you are travelling with a company like Magic. My first two nights were pretty tame. We did go out for some drinks, but just a few and went to bed before midnight. The third night I was there my bus driver pulled out with his crew and another magic bus pulled in around noon with a new crew and a few that caught up like my friend Clara. This bus driver, Jack, had arranged a thing for magic passengers that included all you can eat pizza, and 2 for 1 drinks at 3 of the best bars in Queenstown as well as a few free drinks, all for 12 dollars. So Clara called me from the bus and asked if I wanted to sign up for that night, of course I did! So Sahria and I got ready and met up with the new crew at the World Bar at 6:30pm for our all you can eat Fat Badger pizza. The night only went down hill from here really, or up hill depending on how you look at things. We had an alright time at the World Bar and filled our bellies full of pizza and enjoyed dirt cheap drinks. Jack, the bus driver, was talking about a competition they were hosting at the base bar. I had already heard about the competition because Sahria and I were staying at the base for 2 nights when we first got there. I was thinking about checking it out to start with then he said he would be my partner, so it was set! The competition was

a horizontal bungy. Which means he was tied to a bungy cord that was bolted to the wall and had to run as fast as he could across the bar and grab a drink from the bartenders hand. Then he had to race back to me and I had to chug the whole drink and the pair with the fastest time won. We were the first to go, so we had a disadvantage of not seeing anyone else do it, but we did damn good. Despite a great effort we did not win, but it was better that way because the prize was a Nevis Swing and that means I would have to stay another night in Queenstown which I know I couldn't afford. After that we danced and had a ball all night and the atmosphere was great! The only downfall to this was that the next morning I had a bus to Milford Sound to catch.

Queenstown was great and I WILL go back there some time before I leave. I feel like it would be a great town to let off some steam. What more could you ask for really, a place to throw yourself off a bridge, drink, dance, and meet people from all around the world. There are some activities that I wouldn't mind doing out of Queenstown so I think I will head back in the summer for a bit.

So after a night of cheap/free drinks, dancing and a sweet bungy comp I wearly drug my ass onto the bus for Milford Sound the next morning. I did recognize many faces from the bar the night before on the bus so I knew that they all felt the same or worse then I did, and I prayed the boat wouldn't be too rocky. I hopped on the bus and had about an hours nap and after that I actually felt great, so turns out I wasn't as worse for wear as I thought. The rest of the drive out to Milford sound was so beautiful, but I am sure you guys are getting tired of me saying that. It is true that the drives around the South Island are so green and stunning no matter where you go. Each spot is just as gorgeous as the last, it is amazing. The closer we got to Milford Sound the shittier the weather got, but I heard that is a good thing. See Milford Sound is one of the wettest places in New Zealand and they receive about 200 rain days a year, that only leaves 165 of days with no rain! That's not a lot. Our bus driver Cam had said that often it is a lot nicer when it is raining because heavy rains activate the waterfalls in the area. Boy was he right! At one point we drove into an area that was almost completely surrounded with rock faces with beautiful tall waterfalls pouring over the edge. It was AMAZING! Unfortunately the shit weather did make it hard to take pictures, especially on the boat, but then again there is no video or picture in the world that can describe the beauty that I saw out there. We drove past waterfalls and waterfalls and more waterfalls the whole way into Milford Sound. Once we arrived I was boarding a boat that would take us out into the sound and out to the Tasman Sea.

We departed from the dock and headed out to the channel that takes us to the Tasman Sea, the Sound. This is the coolest place I have ever been! You are on a boat in the beautiful blue water and on either side of you are sky scraping cliffs, some up to 700 meters tall! And on this particular day the cliffs were pouring with waterfalls that emptied into the sound where out boat was gliding along. The Milford Sound does have 4 permanent waterfalls but I couldn't even begin to count how many I saw gushing over the cliffs. I am so glad that I went out to the Milford Sound and I am planning on going back and hiking the Routeburn and Milford tracks before I leave New Zealand (if I ever do). The boat cruise was 2 hours long and it was 2 hours of gorgeous amazing unbelievable sights. I took some pictures but it really looks like crap compared to what it looked like in real life. There could never be any substitute for how beautiful it was in real life.

The next day I headed out on Jacks bus for Dunedin. Good-bye Queenstown, we shall meet again!