Well I thought maybe I would catch up on the rest of our trip. After we left Invercargil, we headed up to Te Anau. On the way there, we stopped at Gemstone Beach where I was seriously attacked by sand flies. I really hate the little things and I am still itching. Seems like it lasts forever! It was a lovely beach though and we got to watch someone riding their horse on the beach which was fun. It made me remember riding a horse on the beach in Venezuela. There were about a zillion of those gorgeous shells with the pink inside on that beach and I didn't even think to get off and pick one up! We picked up a few interesting rocks on this beach in NZ but there were very few shells.
We stopped at a little op-shop on the way. There was a cute little lady there named Glennis. She showed me a book on Christ and meditation that she was reading. In return, I gave her a Book of Mormon and a Finding Faith in Christ DVD. She was excited about that. She said she was going to leave them out and maybe her children would see them and get some ideas. She was a shiny person and I will never forget her little cute face. There was not a lot more to see on the way to Te Anau except for the Southern Alps becoming closer and bigger. They are really amazing. A lot of the inland country here reminded me of home.
In Te Anau, we stayed at a nice little B&B called the Shakespeare Inn. It was really nice and the host was so helpful. He told us what we needed to go and see on our way to Milford Sound. We wandered around town and watched an awesome video about Fjordland which Milford Sound is part of. The photography was breathtaking and the music was great. There was no naration and that was perfect. We bought a copy of the video so we can see it again and again. It is kind of strange here. We had hoped to get a few things for kids and grandkids as rememberances but there is not all that much commercialization here. Ken couldn't even find anything that said Milford Sound on it. I think he was a little disappointed.
On the way to the sound on Saturday, we stopped in a place that has an interesting podocarp forest. It was easy for me to see why the Lord of the Rings movies were shot here. The trees are covered with all kinds of moss. There are big burls on the trees that give you the feeling that there are trolls and hobbits and strange creatures at every turn. There are lots of holes in the trees that look like something might pop into or out of them at any time. Ken stood under a big burl that looked like a sort of deformed buffalo. The kids would love it there. Your imagination kind of runs wild. We also stopped at Mirror Lakes and that is really beautiful. The water is perfectly calm and them mountains are reflected there. The lake looks like it has the real mountain and the mountains look misty and distant.
Milford Sound was an amazing place. We had sunshine almost the whole trip and so we didn't have to contend with rain. The scenery leaves you at a loss for words. Our sound cruise was on a big sailing ship called the Milford Mariner. They also use it for overnight cruises but they are even more pricey than the day cruises. The ship went right up under one waterfall and Ken and I were at the front so we got that experience close up and personal and a little wet! We saw lots of seals but mostly we were inpressed by the mountains that rise straight out of the ocean. There are tons of waterfalls and this was a dry day. The colors of blue you see are incomparable. It was a great trip.
We stopped at a place called The Chasm on the way back. It is an unbelievable waterfall. You can hear it and feel it before you see it. It roars so loud! It was my favorite shade of aqua and it rushed through these cut rocks in a way that I can't even explain. I could have stayed there for hours. The colors were amazing, the rock formations cut by the water were incredible and the sound was something else. All in all, the Milford Sound area was an unforgetable experience. On the way out to Queenstown, we left the manager of the Inn a Book of Mormon and said good bye to a lovely experience.
On to Queenstown. It is the Park City of New Zealand only it sits on a huge lake. We got an amazing deal at the Queenstown Hilton. It was easily the nicest place we have stayed in years. It is across the lake on a peninsula away from the main town so it is quiet and relaxed. We really enjoyed our time there just relaxing with our fireplace and the patio doors open to enjoy the rain which came while we were there. We went on the gondola to the top of a peak above the lake and watched people going on the luge and bungy jumping as well as mountain biking. Being the adventurer, risk takers that we are, we decided against bungy jumping! Sorry Jase, we are not up to your daring level.
We said good bye to Queenstown and headed home having had a wonderful time and having done a little missionary work as well. We seem to be able to make a lot of contacts while we are out and about on our little wanders. We are still looking at each other and saying, "Is this really happening!" To top it off, we got lots of texts on the way home telling us our investigators had come to church and that there were close to 90 there. What better way to top off a wonderful trip.
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