The Unbalanced Libra..

Our alarm went off at 630am today. K and I had breakfast, packed our subway and peanut butter sandwich for lunch and stood outside our motel and waited for our coach to pick us up at 715am. There was another middle aged Korean couple making the same trip to Milford Sound as us. While waiting, the man suddenly started doing push ups by the side of the road in the carpark where we were waiting.. Strange man.. = )

The bus finally came about 10 mins later, and it was quite full. Our guide, Bruce stopped the coach less than 5 mins after we boarded, and told us the bad news. Milford road was closed due to heavy rain, thereby increasing the avalanche hazard levels to medium. He gave us the option of alighting there and then and getting a refund, or taking the risk and driving to Milford, which was another 2 hours ride away. He told us he was pretty confident the road will re-open. He even said he was 70% sure. But, he said, in the event that the road is still closed, the tour company will take us to the glow worm caves exploration tour. K was totally not comfortable with that. He was pissed that the tour company was even thinking of replacing Milford Sound with the glow worms cause the latter only cost $51 per person, whereas our Milford tour had cost us $150 per person. A few folks left the coach, but I wanted to take the risk, so we went ahead.

K and I slept most of the way, having only slept less than 6 hours the night before. About halfway through the journey, Bruce updated us with good news: that the tour company managed to get a replacement with a cruise to Doubtful Sound instead of the glow worm caves. But we had to pay $14 per person., which was supposed to be a bargain cause the usual price was more expensive. Plus, lunch won't be provided cause we are last minute transfers. So those who didn't bring their own lunch had to buy from the cafe at the port before boarding the boat.

And so, that was how our trip started. From visiting the (to-be) 8th wonder of the world, to its supposedly inferior cousin. Some people say Doubtful Sound is much nicer cause it's more natural and less commercialized. I can't really judge. Cause it rained throughout the cruise, and we can't really see much except for lots and lots of super high waterfalls cause of the rain.. Everything around us in the fiord was so misty i felt like i was in a dream. Except for the noisy sound of the boat engine!

We had our lunch and tidbits on board the small boat and the cruise boat. When we boarded the cruise board, we were told there would be free muffins and soup for us.. So everyone started to queue up eagerly. Then, after doing a quick headcount, the staff there realized there weren't enough to go around, so we went back to our seats empty handed.. = (

The only highlight of the cruise was when the boat got really close to this huge waterfall and provided an excellent photo opp. We were so close I could feel the water splashing on my face! Other than that, i think we kinda wasted our money. Plus the whole journey was really exhausting. We had to take the coach, then a small boat, then another coach before finally boarding the big cruise boat. And then repeating the whole process on the way back. = ( Getting there basically took up the entire day already. The actual cruise in Doubtful Sound was only 1.5 hours.

Nonetheless, it was a nice cruise and I breathed in a lot of fresh misty air along the way. Another romantic activity for K and I in Queenstown! = )