We are definitely getting used to traveling by bus. Today will be a long day but we know an exciting one as we are heading out to the fiords and Milford Sound - a do not miss of the south island.

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Leaving Queenstown we drove around Lake Waktipu, the second largest lake on the south island. We were surrounded by the snow covered Remarkable Mountains. This seemed pretty amazing since this is after all late summer here. The highest peak in this picturesque range is Double Cone at about 13,000 feet. It evidently snowed at the higher elevations last night after we turned in for the night. Beautiful!

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There are some incredibly spectacular falls due to the recent precipitation. It still amazes us that the waterfalls dry up so quickly here.

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We went through Kingston and then up over the remains of a glacial moraine. It is so strange to see glaciers in such a temperate area.

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Along the way we made a stop at this stream to fill our water bottles. It still continues to amaze us that the water in the streams here in New Zealand is pure enough to drink. We've all sampled it and to my knowledge, no one has had any side effects.

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Homer Tunnel was constructed from 1935-1953. It is an unlined tunnel which was hand dug and has a gradient of 1 in 10. It is about 1 mile long. Although we were told two buses can fit side by side, in the summer it is made into a one way road. Needless to say, if you hit it wrong, you can have a long wait to pass.

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The kea, with it's hook shaped beak, is a menace. It can successfully peck away the rubber around a car windshield making it fall out - and it does do this given the chance! They have also been know to steal jewelry and money. Why they do it, no one knows!

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Bowen Falls or "waterfall of the girl of the stream" drop from a hanging valley some 500 feet.

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Mitre Peak was so named because of its resemblance to a Bishop's Mitre. This spectacular 5000+ foot mountain is believed to be one of the world's highest to rise directly out of the sea.

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On the cliffs up to 900 feet above the waterline are large horizontal gouge marks or striations, the result of the glacier pushing boulders along its perimeter nearly 14,000 years ago.

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While known as Milford Sound, the correct name for this waterway is fiord. A fiord is an ice-carved valley, typically narrow and steep sided, that has been flooded by the sea after the glacier's retreat. In contrast, a sound is a river valley flooded by the sea following a rise in sea levels or depression of the land.

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I'm afraid I had trouble choosing which photos to use on the web site and which to hold back. Milford Sound with its clear blue water and spectacular waterfalls is a photographers dream. Add to that a beautiful day with blue sky and puffy clouds and a pod of porpoises playing in our wake and you have to ask yourself 'What more could I ask for?'

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Our journey took us to the mouth of the fiord at the Tasman Sea...

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...and then back...

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...passing sunning seals and getting up close and personal with huge waterfalls.

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Our last day in New Zealand was spent touring the Queenstown area by bus.

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Mount Cook is New Zealand's highest mountain (about 12,000 feet). It was named after Captain James Cook by Captain Stokes of the survey ship HMS Acheron in 1851. It is know to the Maori as Aoraki which means cloud piercer.

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We can't begin to explain how beautiful this country is but we do know that if ever the occasion arises, we will return.

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This quaint little church on Lake Tekapo is a tribute to the shepherds and a place, in the middle of nowhere, that they could come and worship.

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Here is the whole wonderful group,...

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...our guide extraordinaire Jules and driver Darryl.

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To celebrate our incredible days in New Zealand, we all ate dinner together in the hotel dining room. Since it was Al's birthday, Richard, who is a professional singer, sang one of the most beautiful renditions of Happy Birthday that I've ever heard.

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