I jump into Mighty Mazda and blast off to Milford Sound. My timing is good as all the traffic is going the other way; I fuel up 120 kilometers away as there is no petrol in Milford. I pass 45 degrees south and when I arrive the lodge is heaving and this time I do have to share in a six bed room.

Next morning the forecast is bad so I head for the first boat before the weather closes in. Cpt. cook sailed past Milford twice without being able to see the entrance. The high walls of the fiord are eerie. The water is 350 metres deep and the sides so steep the boat can, and does, touch them. In a narrows the funnel effect of the wind means regular wind speeds of 100 knots. No place for Wild Fox! The trees cling to the cliff with intertwining roots. If one slips many slip - a tree avalanche which nature takes 25 years to repair. The baby seal colony is good. They fall off straight into 250 metres of water and can hold their breath for 15 minutes. When old enough they head off to become Mormons - they have between 12 and 15 wives.

 

The three hour cruise is brilliant and informative, the boat in great shape and the crew skilled. Typical New Zealand. Before arriving back we go to an underwater centre attached to the cliff with long hinged arms. The underwater technician is called Osheen. He is from Offally. There is so much rain here that the top metre of the sea is fresh water. At the centre we are 10 metres down and it is teeming with fish. The white coral is called black coral for a very good reason - look it up. I can't be telling you everything.

Here we also learn about avalanche management. There are 87 avalanche sites in Milford, 53 of which are a danger to life or roads. They monitor the amount of snow with instruments and litterally drop bombs from helicopters to start a small avalance before they get a big one.

I go to the pub for a beer in the evening. The barmaid is called Una. She is from Cobh...