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Days 5 and 6: We headed down through Te Anau towards Milford Sound and were fitted with mountain bikes for a spectacular ride through the Eglinton and Hollyford Valleys to The Divide. It was a rather strenuous ride and the 25 miles that I did were more than enough (think long, steep hills). It was then a short haul through the Homer Tunnel and through the Alps where we descended over 3,000 feet into Milford Sound. We spent the night at Milford Lodge, the only accommodations in the entire valley.

We woke rather early the next day and were suited up and floating in kayaks by 8 AM. The first 30 minutes or so on the sound were tranquil and beautiful, but the winds increased throughout the morning and we were soon being battered by 4 foot waves of frigid water. It was nice to be back on land and have a warm shower. After cleaning up we spent most of the day driving to Queenstown for our last couple of days together.

We were lucky to be in New Zealand during wild flower season.  Seen in this picture are mountain lupins. Mountain Lupins Here's Elysia picking flowers to spruce-up our tour bus.
Mountain Lupins Mountain Lupins Lunch!
45 degrees north latitude runs through northern lower-Michigan and is somewhat of a tourist attraction for Michiganders.  OK, so it's not something you'd pack the family into the station wagon to go see, but you'd probably get out of the car and take a picture...much like we did here, except that we're 90 degrees (or 1/4 of the way around the world) to the south. John and Sue This is where they shot the scene from the end of the first Lord of the Rings movie in which Sam swims out to Frodo and almost drowns. This is where they shot the scene from the end of the first Lord of the Rings movie in which Sam swims out to Frodo and almost drowns.
The mountains became very imposing as we approached Milford Sound.  The 75-mile (120-km) long road to the sound from Te Anau was described by Rudyard Kipling as "the eighth wonder of the world". The mountains became very imposing as we approached Milford Sound. The Chasm is an impressive series of steep falls formed by the plunging Cleddau River.
This is near the entrance to the Homer Tunnel (doh!) Milford Lodge.  Make sure to take a flashlight - the generator is turned off at 10PM! Valerie and her dad Kurt Joan and Steve
Jim and Helga Donna and Pat Paul and Allision Sue and John
Valerie and me with mugs of Mon-TEETH's (inside joke) Group shot Paul was too annoyed with the flies to do a pirouette himself.
The mighty Mitre Peak (center).  The sound was tranquil at first but quickly became very choppy as the winds picked up. View from the Routeburn track View from the Routeburn track  

 

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