This week on the south island has been amazing, and my favorite part by far had to be the sounds (which are actually fjords). Our group had the opportunity to go on two nature cruises- one through Milford Sound and the other through Doubtful Sound. Milford Sound was really gorgeous and held a lot of history. Captain Cook originally didn’t even notice the fjord, because the mountains appear to overlap and form one land mass. Of course, eventually someone got close enough to realize that wasn’t the case at all, and thus Milford Sound was named so by the Europeans. The guide on the cruise explained to us the significance of several waterfalls, crevices, etc. to the Maori people, including one waterfall that was said to make one look younger in a day if he or she allowed the spray to hit his or her face. I did so. However, I did not wake up the next morning looking like a child. Doubtful Sound was actually my favorite of the two, and that cruise took place the following day. Getting there involved Brian (our bus driver) driving us 30 minutes to meet a fairy which took us across the water in an hour to meet another bus which drove another hour before arriving to Doubtful Sound. The fairy and bus ride were both rather scenic and set up the “nature-y” mood for the cruise. Throughout the duration of this lovely ride and I saw seals, penguins, and dolphins. The seals were lazily lounging on the water’s edge, sprawled across rocks. The penguins would only pop out of the water long enough for me to miss the picture, and the dolphins danced happily through the water, just far enough away so that a clear photo was impossible. Nonetheless, it was spectacular to watch these animals in their own, natural habitat. As the boat made its way back to meet the bus, the sun was setting. Although we couldn’t see the sun, the many colors of the sunset glistened off the snow-covered mountains for the perfect end of a wonderful day.
-Kayla Treece