Hello Friends, Family and other people I may not know,
(To start at the beginning of the trip scroll down to Day 0 - 3). Now that we had made it back to Queenstown it was time to begin the tour! Our bus picked us
up from the hostel around 8 o clock and we began our full day drive to
Queenstown (The adventure capital of the world). Our tour guided was named Max
(a typical name) and our bus driver was named seagull (not a typical name) they
were both excellent! On our way we stopped at a local farm to learn about their
way of life and have some lunch. We got to walk around the farm and feed some
sheep. Lunch was a very nice home
cooked meal full of locally grown food. Then we continued onto Queenstown. 
Along the way we stopped at many look out points including many glacial lakes.
Ive seen some very blue water in the ocean and lakes before but these glacial
lakes had a very unique water color, it looked fake in a way. Just down the road we passed by the
worlds largest water sprinkler, its over 1 Km long. (We also stopped in a town
and saw the worlds largest knit sweater). We arrived in our hostel just in time
to watch the sunset over the town. The backdrop for the town is a beautiful
lake and a mountain range called the Remarkables, and they are just that, remarkable! They are only 1 of 2
mountain ranges in the world to run perfectly North to South. These mountains are featured in quite a
bit of movies, mainly the Lord of The Rings when they light the signal fires
across the mountaintops. The
hostel was situated on the side of the mountain, great for views of the town,
terrible to walk up to after a long day, but there was a hot tub so all was
good. 
The next day we drove to Milford Sound,
which has to be one of the most epically stunning places in the world even on a
cloudy rainy day. It was a bit of a long drive but there was plenty to see
along the way! There were endless golden fields, reflective lakes, waterfalls,
fresh streams, smooth lush green mountains, jagged Rocky Mountains, and
glaciers. We stopped at many of these places for a look around and a quick
explore. I really enjoyed these stops mainly because I got to fill up my water
bottle with some fresh glacial water. We had some lunch and then it was time to hop on the boat
and go explore Milford Sound up close and personal.
Milford sound is actually a fjord and is a World Heritage Site. It is also home to the worlds tallest mountain that continues right into the sea. We took a 2 hour boat tour all around the fjord and out into the open sea. In the fjord you’re surrounded by mountains and water falls 360 degrees around. The mountains are scared with evidence of past tree slides. The trees grow on the shallow moss all along the steep sides of the mountains and when the growth becomes just heavy enough it gives way creating a land slide wiping out all the growth below it. Its hard to grasp just how large everything is, occasionally seeing a boat or a plane against the back drop put everything into perspective. We sailed close to the shore and were able to see some seals basking in what little sun there was that day. The captain took us to the base of a waterfall, which was really cool. Most people stayed up on the drier upper deck but a few friends and I opted for the much wetter bow of the boat. The amount of wind and water coming at us was incredible!When we sailed out into the sea the waves picked up quite a lot and our boat was not very big so it was a pretty awesome ride. Once again the bow of the boat was the place to be. Waves just crashing over the railings and soaking us from head to toe! It was a pretty cold day but it was worth it! We even got to see some more albatrosses so needless to say it was a great day!
Cheers,
Evan
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