Day 9

 
 


Originally scheduled for day 8, we drove to Milford Sound (really a fiord).  Because of the Southern Alps, the coach trip was about 3 hours, doing about 3/4 of a circle.  To my surprise, I was the only one to opt for an optional plane ride back to Queenstown, not because of the time saved but to fly over the Southern Alps, many lakes, and basically see from above what we had driven around earlier.  The plane was brand new, and the pilot was concerned that we not scratch the windows with long lenses; I think there were 10 people (at least one from Vermont!) plus the pilot, probably the smallest plane I’ve been on since I was in Australia.

February 3