No NZ trip is complete without a complete appreciation of Milford Sound. For a place with a 7 meter rainfall per year, we were lucky to have a clear blue sky on the big boat, Milford Mariner all the way out to the open ocean and back.

The skipper poked the stern right up to some of the vertical cliffs and waterfalls. Cameras were snapping all the time.

On the bike ride, there and back, we had several nice stops like the Mirror Lakes, where you would see the mountains perfectly reflected.

The roads impressed again going to Queenstown next day for a trip in the sky gondola ride. This clear sunny weather it was nothing short of spectacular.


Via a condemned gravel mining road (signs told that rented vehicles were not covered by their insurance) a small tour bus took 45 min to reach Skippers Canyon for a thrilling Chevy V8 Jet Boat ride with 360 degrees turns in a river so shallow, that in parts you could wade across with rolled up long pants if you wanted. We recognised the location in the Lord of the Rings movie, where the Ring Wraiths were flushed down river.

 

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