Time to get up early to prepare our lunch for the trip. We should be picked up by a bus at 9am to get to Milford in time to catch the cruise which goes along the sound and all the way to its end to get a glimpse of the Tasman sea. As the last couple of days have been cloudy we are very happy to see the sun coming out on our way to Milford. The sky is clearing up and it seems that the weather is going to be great, so the excitement is at its top! The bus ride itself is rather amazing, getting into some thick forest reflecting in the cold lakes. The mountains around here are really stunning this time of the year: a deep green at the feet and white tops. Even if it’s winter down here there isn’t much snow, but the temperature in some parts of this valley goes below zero, so the road gets covered in frost.
We are approaching the southern end of New Zealand and the end of our visit here. Before entering the fiordland region we have a three day stop in Dunedin on the south-east coast. Dunedin is a university city and it shows! It’s really nice and vibrant, and has a lot of British-looking buildings. Many of them are Anglican churches:
3-4 hours southwest of Nelson lies Punakaiki, a tourist village dedicated to the pancake rocks, as well as some surfing beaches during summer. We are staying at an incredibely nice hostel just on the beach, but this time, contrary to Mexico, the temperature was comfortable to sleep with windows closed and even a soft duvet on! The place, run by some germans, is all new with a well equipped kitchen and benches on the terrace. We leave our stuff in the room and head immediately to the rocks which lie a mere 400 meters stroll away. This stretch of the west coast is indeed pretty amazing. The rocks are steep and the waves incredibly loud and powerful. The view from the top of the road is stunning.