This one is especially exciting, because I was lucky enough to have my grandparents visit and escort me to the Milford Sound!
After a busy week of school work (for real this time, two papers and an exam), G & G drove in on Friday afternoon, and, after checking out my flat and getting settled into a motel, we walked downtown to the Octagon and found a delicious steakhouse for dinner. Realistically, I could write an entire post about how well we ate, but for the sake of your jealousy, I'll spare you (most) of the details. Needless to say, G & G know how to spoil their grandson. Grandpa and I did our best to help Dad out by collecting new beer bottle caps, too. And, of course, we ended all of our meals with a delicious dessert.
The next morning, we met for breakfast at my favorite breakfast place, Capers, where Grandpa and I shared their famous blueberry pancakes. Then we went to the Dunedin Visitors Center to plan our weekend, and we were off!
We arrived in Te Anu in the late afternoon, checked into a motel, and explore the fun little city. We checked out a few shops and finally made our way to the movie theatre to see the highly anticipated Fjordland on Film (watch the trailer, do it), an awesome 30 minute movie of helicopter footage of Fjordland National Park. Then we found a delicious seafood restaurant, complete with salmon, great beer, homemade sorbet, and a hot fudge sundae (for Grandpa, obviously).
Our tour bus picked us up early the next morning for the two and a half hour drive to the Sound. We stopped at all of the cool sites along the way, including the Mirror Lakes (where one bird detracted slightly from the mirror-like effects) and the Homer Tunnel. We got to the Sound just in time to board our boat, and well, I'll let the pictures do most of the talking:
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| Our boat for the afternoon! |
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| Nope, not a postcard. |
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| Seals! |
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| Some perspective... |
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| More seals! |
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| We got within a meter of the wall, not bad for a boat that big. |
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| Perfect timing! This weather was following us our way back to the dock. |
Not bad, huh?! We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, and I taught G & G some basic rugby rules during a game on TV. We went to a delicious Italian restaurant for dinner, where Grandpa and I shared some pizzas (including a seafood pizza that was a step-up from the legendary seafood pizza at Coop's we ordered in Hayward ~ten years ago), and Grandma and I were able to convince him to pass on dessert for the first time all trip.
The next morning we went for a 11k hike to the campsite I had previously stayed at on the Milford Track. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful hike! I was entertained (not just on this hike, but the whole weekend) by hearing stories of Grandma and Grandpa's travels, medical school, and Grandma's mom, Kitty!
We drove back to Dunedin that afternoon just in time to meet Josh, Claire, and Sherry for dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant. The next morning, we took a stroll through the Botanical Gardens, saw the parrots and other birds, and grabbed a cup of coffee while loosely planning out the next few days of their trip. We were both very sad to part ways (me for their company and the good food, them for my driving assistance and carrying their big suitcase up the stairs to their motel room), but it was such a blast to have them visit for a long weekend.
As you can see, it was incredible - the cruise had probably the most beautiful views I've seen in NZ. And to have Grandma and Grandpa there made it even better!
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