Le Soleal has arrived in Milford Sound overnight, which is disappointing for those leaving for Queenstown airport at 6.30am from the ship. The Queenstown transfers are leaving at 9am, for a 5 hour bus ride, so at least there is some time for photos from the ship.
The Fiordland component of the expedition is arguably the lowlight of the trip, whereas it really should be aiming to finish on a high note. It all feels rushed, poorly thought through and seems to have the sole objective of motivating the passengers to want to get off the ship as quickly as possible. Milford Sound should have been an absolute highlight, but arriving in darkness doesn’t allow any visibility of the area beyond the local boat wharf. We have only had one zodiac cruise in the morning of the penultimate day, so what should have been a final adventure in Fiordland has fallen quite flat.
The Golden Princess cruise ship, which was in Akaroa Harbour with Le Soleal two weeks ago, makes a final appearance in Milford Sound as a closing note. Apparently all it has done since we last saw it was to go around the bottom of the South Island, head back to Sydney, and now return directly to Milford Sound.
The weather hasn’t helped over the last few days. Dusky Sound was briefly sunny, and full of biting black flies, which I’ve turned out to be allergic to. Thankfully only my hands were exposed two days ago, and the flies didn’t seem to like the sunscreen on my face, so it’s only my hands that are covered in red angry bites, and have swelled up like an arthritic old lady. Doubtful Sound was raining, with no zodiac cruising, so pretty much 24 hours has passed without getting off the ship in what should be the most scenic area of the trip.
The bus transfer to Queenstown is a game of two halves. The first two hours is scenic to Te Anau with a 30 minute comfort stop, with farmland for the final 2.5 hours to Queenstown, which will be my base for the next two nights.
