Milford

Hello all,
Going to race through this one again. Yesterday we left Te Anau on a fine sunny morning. The drive to Milford Sound is a beautiful, scenie 2 hour drive. Along the way we stopped to get the view of the Eglinton Valley and River. Acres and acres of blue, purple and pink lupine carpeted the valley floor all along the river--I've never seen anything like it--stunning! We went on to see one breathtaking view of the glacial mountains after another and stopped at The Divide to catch the Routeburn Track up to the Key Summit: a steady, steep, rocky climb for 1 1/2 hrs. The view was so worth it. Down the sides of the summit run three rivers through three valleys, and there was a view of the alpine Lake Marian. I felt like I was on top of Mt Everest and didn't want to leave. The weather was changing by the second and dropped 20 degrees in 10 minutes and we knew it was time to make our way back down. The hike was truly a highlight of the trip thusfar. We went on to Milford Sound with one spectacular water fall after another. The sandflies are now everywhere and I hate the little bastards. We got here late and made our dinner and prepared for the boat cruise into the sound. This morning we caught a small vessel and cruised out to the Tasman Sea. I cannot begin to describe the formations in this sound--Joel thinks it is the most beautiful place on earth. We are going to leave one day early and try to get our fishing gear certified. So, flying by the seat of our pants--tomorrow, we may get to Mossburn. From there, Garston and flyfishing. Best things I've done: Bringing Arnica and Kinesio tape to stabilize my knees on these irregular rocky hikes, bringing raingear and a down jacket. Regrets: not bringing my newer, stiffer boots and more socks and not investing in Cadbury stock before I left. I will be spending my birthday in Mt Cook Village and the only thing that would make that better is to have my loved ones surrounding me there and hiking with me. We send you much love, Linny and Joel