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Milford Sound:
You see Mother Nature at its best and its worst on the trip from Queenstown to Milford Sound.
The prelude for the best starts as the plane is preparing to land in this holiday resort in the South Island of New Zealand.
At the prompting of the pilot, we looked out the window and were greeted with a spectacular view.
There's nothing like an aerial view of a beautiful terrain. What can compare to the splendour of a mountain range covered with lakes, valleys and snow-capped peaks?
I love Queenstown, which is popular for adventure tourism such as hiking, fishing, skiing, paragliding and bungy jumping.
I do none of these strenuous activities but it still fits my bill for a perfect getaway.
Nearly all the buildings are two storeys high and all the places for shopping, eating and gambling are within walking distance.
More important, you can just enjoy the environment -- take a stroll along the lake, sit in the park and relax while basking in nature's glory. In short, enjoying yourself while doing nothing.
Credit should go to my brother James for picking the ideal apartment for our 3-day stay.
Imagine a place facing a beautiful glacial lake and in the distance, tall trees and a mountain range with snow covered peaks.
Our two-bedroom apartment faces Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables mountain range.
The lake covers 290 sq km, making it the third largest in the country. However it also stretches over 80 km, making it the country's longest lake.
We spent the first day in Queenstown up at Bob's Peak. It cost us NZ$59 each for the cable car ride and lunch at the Stratosfare Restaurant.
Up here, you can just eat and enjoy the view. The more daring ones can attempt bungy jumping and para gliding.
The highlight of our visit to Queenstown is the visit to Milford Sound on the second day. For that we had to get up very, very early. The tour bus picked us up at 6.48am.
The tour, by coach and ferry, cost us NZ$139 each. The journey by coach takes 5 hours and the ferry ride lasts 90 minutes.
If you are in a hurry, you can go for the more expensive package of NZ$599. You will be flown back after the ferry ride and it is only 40 minutes by air to Queenstown.
We made a number of stops along the way, the longest being at Te Anau for 30 minutes.
Along the journey, we saw the great masterpiece of nature -- the high mountain ranges and the great glacial lakes.
We are told that much of New Zealand is the result of glacier movement and the coming together of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates.
There is also ugly side of Mother Nature -- its destructive force. We saw the signs of landslides all along the road to Milford Sound.
In one case, the boulders were so huge and numerous that the path could not be cleared. So a new road had to be built going around the boulders.
We also saw signs of the destructive power of strong winds. Big trees were snapped as if they were twigs.
Of course, there is the ongoing threat of earthquakes which threaten the whole of New Zealand. Every year, over a thousand earthquakes are recorded.
However the greater threat still comes from man. We passed a stretch of forest and the guide asked us to listen for the sound of birds.
There was none. That's because the early settlers had brought along rats, possums and other predators which wiped out the bird population and destroyed the ecological balance over time.
It was easy going all the way until we reached Homer Tunnel.
Here the weather turned nasty. We had reached an altitude of 945 metres and we had our first encounter with snow.
There was also a delay here as the tunnel allows only one-way traffic. We had to wait our turn.
We are told that no mechanical equipment were used in the digging of this tunnel. The workers just used dynamite to blast their way through 1.2km of sheer rock.
Work on this tunnel started during the Depression in the 1930s and was finally opened to the public in 1953.
It was a very low and narrow tunnel, so we had to make our way through it very slowly. Lighting was very poor and we had only the coach's headlights to guide us.
The weather did not improve when we reached the ferry. It was raining and temperature continued to drop.
That really spoiled the mood for me. I was looking forward to this 90-minute ferry trip as this fiord is truly a wonder of nature.
"It always rains in Milford Sound," said a local resident.
Yes, what did I expect?
The ferry started its journey at 1pm. It would sail out towards the Tasman Sea and turn back after passing Dale Point, the mouth of the fiord.
Captain John Grono, the first European who landed here in 1812, named this fiord Milford Haven as it reminded him of his homeland in Wales.
It was later renamed Milford Sound by fellow Welshman John Stokes who was reported to have said that it looked nothing like Milford Haven back home.
As we could not go topside because of the rain, we decided to keep warm. And eat.
Lunch on board the ferry is optional. We picked the cheap picnic pack at NZ$17. The more exotic lunch packs range from NZ$27 to NZ$33.
Coffee or tea is free throughout the journey.
From inside the cabin, we listened to the commentary of the places we were passing through -- in English, Japanese and, of course, Chinese.
Tourists from China made up the bulk of the ferry passengers. And they were not put off by the rain. They were outside snapping away at the sights and, yes, some posing with arms outstretched, Titanic style, at the bow of the ferry.
As the journey progressed, it did not look like the skies would clear. I darted in and out trying to capture on video the magnificent waterfalls on both sides of the ferry.
Then came the announcement that we were approaching Lady Bowen Falls, "the mother of all waterfalls." The captain said he would steer the ferry as close to the waterfall as possible. And stay there as long as possible.
There was a rush by everyone to get outside and see this waterfall up close.
It was a magnificent sight, the water tumbling down 160 metres.
The Lady Bowen Falls is named after the wife of George Bowen, the fifth Governor of New Zealand.
Why anyone would name a waterfall after his wife is beyond me.
This is one of two permanent waterfalls but after a heavy rainfall, hundreds of temporary waterfalls can be seen on both sides of the fiord.
Nature at its best!
I was drenched but I was there to see it.
This trip was not what I had wished for but I have learnt to accept the good with the bad.
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