The first day after skydiving I'd been determined to choose one of Queenstown's less adrenalin-heavy activities as a way of winding down. The great thing about this town is that there's so much going on we only had to book activities on the morning or the night before we wanted to do them, and our hostel reception was always able to do this for us. So, with no effort or pre-planning, we decided to go horse-riding for a couple of hours that afternoon.
At 1pm a van, smelling strongly of horses, picked us up from outside the hostel and drove us an hour out of Queenstown to Glenorchy, a picturesque, farm-oriented area. There were just four of us trekking that afternoon, and we were all at the "been on a horse a couple of times eight years ago" stage, which made it even better. We were each allocated a horse and, although I was a little disturbed by the size of mine, I soon got used to the relaxing feel of being in a saddle as our horses ambled along the road one behind another.
The start of the ride was peaceful enough, but the second we went off-road, everything changed. At one point we were allowed to run our horses uphill which was a wonderful feeling with the wind rushing past our ears - although not for Josh, whose horse had decided that any speed faster than a walk was a bad idea. The afternoon ended with a few unexpected dramas - one of the horses got temperamental and kicked both Josh's and my horse, which put them on edge for the rest of the journey. On several occasions I nearly fell off, so I was quite relieved to get on to firm ground again! That's one tip for anyone going on a horse trek: unless you're particularly experienced, only book a short ride. After over two hours I was very sore indeed.
On Friday, a combination of extreme stiffness and the money-vacuum that is Queenstown meant Josh and I spent the day quietly wandering through the woods by the lake. This was our last day in Queenstown before heading for Milford Sound and we decided to make it a relaxing one. In the afternoon we saw Dungeons & Dragons at the cinema - my advice is: don't bother. It was laughably bad. As it was Good Friday, the Queenstown nightlife was alive and kicking - more so than normal - and we left the place on a fun note.
On Saturday we took an early bus to Milford Sound. We'd been desperately keen to hire a car and do the trip ourselves but age discrimination (you have to be over 21) meant that this was not to be. There was nothing wrong with the bus as such, but in retrospect I would definitely recommend hiring a car if you're old enough - Milford is very isolated, and a vehicle would have given us added freedom to explore at leisure. Ah well.
Thrown in with our bus-ride was a cruise of the fjords, which we took straight after we arrived in Milford. I think the worst thing was the realisation that some people were going to finish this cruise then head straight off to Queenstown again. What a waste. Admittedly we saw some lovely scenery - the fast-flowing waterfalls down the mountains are a pretty spectacular sight - but I how can you feel the character of a place if you spend the whole day on various vehicles? I'd certainly recommend staying at least a night if you have time.
After our cruise we had a 40-minute, heavily burdened walk to the lodge, due to some dodgy advice from a tourist information lady. When we arrived I realised how absolutely freezing the place is. Luckily we were able to hire duvets as neither me or Josh owned a sleeping bag, but there was still the outside run to the toilets and shower to contend with. The lodge did have a little shop and restauraunt but we'd brought our own groceries which meant we enjoyed the culinary delights of jacket potatoes with cheese and beans. The evening was largely spent in the warm communal lounge - where my pack of cards came in extremely handy. The electricity generator switched off at 11pm - unsurprisingly, not much happened after that!
On Easter Sunday we'd booked an afternoon's sea-kayaking on the Sound, but it wasn't until the afternoon, so in the morning we walked round the little town - and little was the operative word. This place exists almost solely for tourism. We headed to another spectacular waterfall and the site of two small graves, one commemorating a recent air accident of several youngsters, before returning to the lodge for our kayak pick-up. We'd booked with Rosco's Kayaking, which was run by a guy named Horey. Following the leaflet's advice we'd tried to bring all the right gear, but we needn't have bothered - Horey provided everything except your underwear.
There were eight of us plus Horey in four double-kayaks. The weather was rainy and misty which was to be expected as Milford is one of the wettest places in the world - it rains for 50% of the year. Due to this the water became rougher the further out we paddled - and it was then that something horrible happened. Me and Josh had been having a few teething problems (basically we made terrible kayak partners), and suddenly a spell of bad waves completely broke my water confidence, which was still low from Coogee. I had an attack of water phobia, which was unlike anything I've felt before - I couldn't stop shaking in my kayak and I actually felt nauseous. In the end, the two of us headed for shore again while the others continued, and Horey said we could transfer to the morning ride the next day, when the water is much calmer. To be honest, that's the one we probably should have done in the first place, but I couldn't help feeling embarrassed. It was incredibly frustrating, as I've always enjoyed water activities in the past. Has anybody else experienced something like this? What's the cure?
Later that evening as I was stirring some beans in the kitchen, I noticed a large antenna wriggling at me, poking out from under the lid of an enormous saucepan. Several men were busy cooking live crayfish and the box of them still wriggling at me feet was a pretty unusual sight. There were many fishers at the lodge who would drive their boats down every morning, and this was part of their catch. One of the men gave me a piece of smoked blue cod to try and it was absolutely delicious. I promised to buy myself a beginners' cookbook when I returned to Australia.
Our last day in Milford was slightly frustrating as we had to wait until 3pm to catch a bus. It gave us time to wander in the opposite direction besides the river and enjoy the stunning visuals combined with the unusual sight of blue skies and sun. It also gave us the chance to be eaten by flies again. Two bits of advice - either have a decent, strong repellent that's 100% deet (though don't get it near your mouth or you'll foam, as I found out in the Blue Mountains) or become a smoker, as they won't go near cigarettes. That evening we returned to our hostel in Queenstown with the intention of an overnight stop, but were alarmed to discover that all buses to Christchurch were full the next day - apparently it was a late Easter rush. So, we had to revise our plans and book another night in Queenstown - not exactly what we'd intended, but at least it was a great town to be stuck in.
On the Tuesday we woke late, and treated ourself to lunch and a bottle of wine at Old Man Rock cafe, where we sat outside andwatched the world go by - a lovely way to spend an afternoon. After that, under the influence of alcohol, we decided to go shopping (a bad thing), then spent the rest of the day enjoying the place. Maybe another day there wasn't such a bad thing.
The next day we finally managed to move on, with an eight-hour bus ride to Christchurch. Again it was frustrating not to be driving, as we passed some beautiful places where we'd have loved to have got out, but it wasn't to be. In Christchurch we were met by a friend of Josh's - that evening we were to have the luxury of staying in a house!! The family were incredibly hospitable and made us a huge dinner. We chatted on various topics: travel (they advised us not to go to Greymouth), university (how bad student debt is in New Zealand), even politics (theirs are far funnier than ours). Before I left Australia I felt like I was leaving my home, but now I feel I could stay so much longer in this beautiful, friendly country. But that's travelling for you. Until next week (when I'll be adjusting to Australian living again), Milly
