Having checked out of the hostel, I was waiting for the bus when I got talking to Brian, a flight simulator programmer from the UK. He was from Bracknell – close to Reading where I lived and worked for 2 years.

On the 4 hour journey to Milford Sound we stopped at a small town called Te Anau for a second breakfast, then resumed the journey. Luckily, the friendly bus driver was in tune with the needs of most people on the bus, and stopped at several places along the way for us to admire the scenery and take the odd picture.  When we approached Milford Sound around midday the sky had clouded over, but it still looked stunning.

Brian and I found beds at the backpackers hostel and then went for a walk to a viewpoint above the village.

The recommendation was to take a cruise out onto the lake, and we just made it to the dock in time to get on a boat that was about to leave. It took us a few km to stare up at the ever-so-steep sides of the fjord, and then to a waterfall. It was very touristy, but well worth it to get out among the scenery.

The best part of the cruise was that on the way back we were accompanied by dolphins which swam along just under the bow of the boat, apparently doing so just to have fun. Every so often we would see one leap out of the water.

Later, having eaten at the hostel kitchen, Brian and I headed down the road to the hotel bar where we found there was a full sized snooker table. We played 2 frames of snooker and to my surprise I won one of them, potting the black with a proficiency that belied the fact that I’ve barely ever played the game! A kindly soul at the bar offered us a ride back to the hostel in his pickup. We noticed that the clouds had dispersed, and stars were out, suggesting that tomorrow will be a rather better day for photos of Milford Sound.