Queenstown to Milford Sound (South Island Day 4)

So the night before we decided to pull of on the side of the road to sleep just outside of Queenstown. They next morning we were all so gratefully awaken by a city council member telling us we were prohibited to "freedom" camp within 10km of any residential areas in Queenstown. Apparently he didn't recognize we were from America and invented freedom.

After a good scorning he then handed me a brochure of all the place we could camp and told us if we were found again we could get fine. Lucky for us we blowing this popsicle stand and making for Fiordland. It was kinda funny though, because there were tons of campers on the side of the road the night before. So this guys just must drive around a 8:00 in the morning everyday yelling at campers and handing out these brochures. The brochures (I wish I had kept it) went something like this: "STOP! YOU CANNOT CAMP HERE! ... If you're not camping, then have a nice day." I would've told him we weren't camping, but I answered the doors in my pajamas, and it would've been a hard fib to sell. So I simply replied "We were tired?" Only to realize what I said was blatantly obvious.

A quick breakfast by the lake and we were cruising. The drive went smoothly, as I popped in one of the four mix cd's I made for the trip. I'd listened to all of them at least ten times each by now and was still able to sing along with relatively good enthusiasm.

We entered into Fiordland national park a little after 1:00 and began our 2 hour drive to Milford Sound. Along the way, however, we pulled off at different areas to run through valleys, walk though forests, and play in streams. At one area all the boys began to build a dam in one of the creeks- some things you never get to old for. Dana, the only girl with us, stood and watched as the boys played with their rocks.





The drive through the park was pretty treacherous, like the roads often are. We did get to drive though a single lane tunnel that went straight through a mountain. It was built during the depression, so I was hoping it would hold up as we made our way through, and it did.


We got to the sound pretty late in the evening and weren't really able to do anything. We found a hostel/camper park to stay for the night. We had booked our activity for the next morning: Sea kayaking out on the sound.