With expectations of a really cool sunrise over the mountains, I got up early and went outside into the glacier valley. The moon was just setting over the mountains and the colors were not as great as expected so I wandered around for a bit and was slowly joined by a few more from our group. Not being a "oh my gosh this is the most beautiful sunrise ever" moment, I wandered back inside and crawled back into bed getting a few more hours of sleep. Everyone was flabbergasted that they were up, and I had gone back to sleep until 10am.
Once I joined the world for the second time that day, we ate noodles for breakfast and out of nowhere Ian whipped up some smoked salmon to accompany the ramen. We hung out for a while with the pesky sand flies we had been warned about and then packed up and got on the road to Milford Sound.
We were not in any rush as today was just a travel day and we only had another hour to get to Milford Sound. We made a couple pit stops along the 60km stretch. Our first stop was at the Mirror Lakes which on a calm clear day catches a reflection of the mountains (hence the name). Our day was a smidge breezy which stirred up a few too many ripples in the water.
We continued along New Zealand State Hwy 94 until we got to Lake Gunn where we stopped for a few more photos. An hour drive can easily double in time in New Zealand as you stop and look at everything and want to capture every moment unsure if it's real life or just a dream.
We got to the Homer Tunnel which is a one way pass that we learned much more about later. While we were waiting for our one way to start, we finally saw a Kea! Kea's are large parrot looking birds that have the intelligence of an 8-year old. They are described as very mischievous and can pretty much break into and destroy anything. Kea's are known to like shiny things and will pick apart cars and undo zippers on bags if there is something they want. I'm sure I could someday have a bad run in with one, but until then, I was loving the Kea.
Through the tunnel, we continued stopping at every waterfall and lookout possible capturing it all. Our next official stop was at the Chasm which is a little hiking loop that takes you through green mossy overhangs to a crazy waterfall. If you have ever been to the Climatron at the Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, this walk felt very similar to that. I kept looking for that mechanical tree that asks you for a drink of water. (Alright - if you're from St. Louis, you get it. If you aren't just read over that part - I'm not making things up.)
Once booked, we chilled for a bit and then went back down to the sound to get some sunset photos. The reflection of the mountains off the water was unreal and got us really hyped for our excursion the next day. Unable to withstand the bites of the sandflies any longer, we made our way back to camp to cook dinner. Tonight was steak, potatoes, beans, corn, salad and soup - none of which made by Ashley - I may have helped snap the ends of the beans at one point.
It was a fairly chill night - other than me having a little mental breakdown thinking about what the heck I'm doing at this point in my life (sorry Andrew for having to tolerate that). We cleaned up the dishes inside the common area and then decided we may as well take showers while we have the facilities. Jason wanted to get some Milky Way pictures down at the Sound so Andrew and I chilled with Ian and Lauren telling them about Auburn traditions (no clue how this came up) until Emily and Jason returned with the RV.
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