We headed out on another remarkable drive to see Milford Sound, one of the great fiords (glacier-carved out very deep salt water and fresh water body that connects with the Tasman sea).
We first stopped at mirror lakes.
That's snow covered in dirt.
We had to wait to drive through a one-lane tunnel to get to Milford Sound.
That bird is called a Kea.
The sound is amazing. We hiked along the border.
The Milford Sound is actually a fiord. It is salt water on the bottom from the ocean and fresh water on the top from the streams. The fresh water is darker because of the trees and the dirt which creates a unique ecosystem where the coral and fish in the salt water receive less sunlight than normal for the depth and thus grow at a shallower depth.
We then stopped "The Chasm".
There Kea birds were attaching someones car.
We stopped at the side of the road to see some amazing falls and rivers.
We then started up the Key Summit trail which merges with Rootburn Track. We saw amazing sites.
Amazing waterfalls.
We had a limited amount of time so we were moving very quickly. It was supposed to be a three hour return hike and we only gave ourself two hours because we had to make it back for our cave tour. Jen got tired because of the pace and turned around. I continued to the top and made it in under 50 minutes.
It was beautiful at the top.
I took the 30 minute nature walk at the top.
There was a great short hike to a lookout of Lake Marian which is up in the mountains.
The views were amazing! I made it down in 20 minutes but I don't mean to brag. ;-)
We then went on a tour via a boat to a cave to see the famous glow worms--a type of larvae that glows in a cave to attract insects to catch them for food.
You aren't supposed to take pictures because the lights stop the worms from glowing. It is very dark in there. Jen snapped a couple at the mouth of the cave.
It was amazing. You take a little row boat to see the worms. It is pitch black so they guide the boat with a rope. The ceiling looks like you are looking at the stars.
There was lots of flooding everywhere.
Then we rode the boat back.
Another amazing day!!!
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