Mallary and I decided to plan a big day trip out to Milford Sound, one of New Zealand's most fabulous views in its Fiordland National Park. We woke up at 5:15 to catch a taxi at 6:10 that would take us to the Frankton bus shelter, about 15 minutes down outside Arrowtown. From there, we organized Mitre Peak Cruises to pick us up at 6:45, to make the 4 hour drive out to Milford Sound. The ironic thing is that Milford is not nearly four hours away from Frankton/Queenstown. However, it is nestled in the heart of Fiordland National Park and no one has been able to pass any laws that would allow a company to build the roads and bridges necessary to make a direct route. Therefore, you must travel in a huge "U" shape through Te Anau and many other small towns before reaching the entrance to Fiordland. Since we had to be in Frankton so early, we watched the dawnlight break over the mountains (after we had been on the bus for almost 2 hours). We were the only 2 people on the bus for the first 3 hours-before picking up more people in Te Anau-so we got a personal commentary and learned a LOT about sheep and cow farming, the Maori legends of the area, the geography of Queenstown, and New Zealand in general. Our guide was very friendly and quite knowledgeable. He often stopped the bus and allowed us to jump off to get pictures of the breath-taking scenery. We had a spectacular day as well. Milford Sound is one of the wettest places on Earth, averaging well over 200 rainy days per year, and getting up to 2 feet of rain per day. Our guide told us that very few people get to see the sound when it is a peaceful, clear, and colorful as it was on this day. Even fewer people, he added, see Mitre Peak (the well known peak that gives Milford its "wow" factor) without clouds around the peak. AND even fewer people than that get to see Mitre Peak with snow! We were so incredibly blessed to be there that day! And by the way, I learned that Milford "Sound" is not actually a sound, but it is a fiord. A sound is made by rivers that carve out the land and reach the sea, whereas a fiord is formed from glaciers carving the land and meeting the sea. Pretty interesting, I thought.
Dawn's early light rising over the mountains. 
Mighty Mitre Peak, in all its glory!
The bus and I were quite close; by the end of the day I had been sitting in it for over 8 hours! 
Looking out towards the Tasman Sea. Only a few hundred kilometers until you reach Australia! 
Mitre Peak in the background.
Cruising along the sound. 
Milford has four permanent waterfalls that pour into the seawater. But when it rains, it is a sight to behold! Apparently hundreds of waterfalls burst forth from every crevice and pour down. They say that there is never a bad day to visit Milford, but I still think we had the best:)
A seal stopped to glance at me.
Up underneath one of Milford's waterfalls, I caught a beautiful rainbow. 
Cruising through Fiordland National Park.
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