Milford Sound

Hmm, I'm really behind with this blog... Milford might be a bit abridged...

So the first 10 days, I was settling in and trying to learn the ropes to working in the Blue Duck bar. It was a change and I didnt like it and felt pretty low and alone. Milford is a long way away from everywhere else and youve only got your colleagues as company. It was also hard making friends as I worked opposite shifts to everyone else and had my spare time when everyone else was at work. But I did go kayaking in my first 10 days, had a beautiful day for it! We started off getting a boat out from Deepwater Basin to Stirling falls, about 9k down the fiord, then we paddled back. It was a gorgeous day and we saw penguins, had seals playing next to us and saw some dolphins too so it was a great day! Its a much more personal way to see the sounds I think. We also tried paddling into Stirling falls. Its really hard with the wind and the water, but great fun! And we did a bit of Kayak surfing in the wake of one of the boats :)

As the 10 days progressed, I started to get to know some more of the regulars and settling in a bit more.

My first 4 days off, I met Michelle in Te Anau. We had a nice time together. I took a crayfish with me from Milford that Garry had cooked for me the day before, so we had a lovely tea of crayfish pasta salad and a glass of wine :)

The next day we hired bikes and cycled 20k to Lake Manapouri. It was a lovely bike ride in the sunshine. The rest of the day we spent chilling out in the sunshine at the hostel, drinking a load of tui beer that was very conveniently left in the fridge by some very nice backpackers!

Michelle came to Milford for 4 days after Te Anau. The cloud was down for most of the time which was a shame. The last day, though, was sunny and we went on a cruise which was really nice, we also went to the underwater observatory to look at the fishes and starfish.

My next days off I headed to queenstown and did some of the walks around there I hadn't done before. I climbed queenstown hill which was a really nice walk through the trees until you come out above the tree line and there's a sculpture there called the basket of dreams that you can sit in and look at the view, it was lovely up there. In the afternoon I went to lie on the beach and read my book - very nice and relaxing :) I also climbed the hill up to the top of the gondola. That was steep! And I got a bit lost on the way down which was frustrating! Mind you, lots of other people were getting lost on the way down as well so it wasn't just me which was reassuring!

Work started getting a bit better and I went to a couple of bonfires after work which was cool. One of the bonfires we had on the foreshore was lovely, it was a cloudless night and you could see the milky way and loads of shooting stars in the sky, it was beautiful. It was a lovely way to spend an evening, beer, bonfire, guitar & the milky way!

So the longer I stayed in Milford, the more I began to settle in which was good and I agreed to stay a little longer, until just after new year.

Christmas party season was fun, we did a load of themed evenings in the pub for each of the different companies working in Milford. Some of the nights, people made a real effort for which was brilliant. And some of the party games went down a treat too :) I was very good at the cardboard box game (you have to pick up a cereal box with your teeth, but cant put your knees or hands on the floor. It starts off a complete cereal box and more and more gets ripped off, so you need to bend down lower to the floor each time. I managed to get it when it was just the bottom part of the cereal box - yay)

I went out kayaking again with my friend Anna who worked at Milford Sound Lodge - the backpackers in Milford. It was lovely to see Anna again as I first met her briefly in Taupo in June and got on well with her so it was great to meet up with her again and get to know her better!

I had days off again just before christmas and went into queenstown for a couple of days to catch up on a few bits and bobs. When I came back, I wasnt' sure if I'd be able to get back in that day as the road was closed overnight due to the heavy rain. The road opened at 9am that morning so I was lucky and the drive in was amazing! So many waterfalls everywhere, it took my breath away. As soon as I got to Milford, I hopped on a boat to go out on the Sound to see the rest of the waterfalls!

Christmas eve I was working in the pub. We had to shut early , well at 12 anyway becuase of licensing laws. It was pretty quiet until about 10.30 when a load of people came in and made it a really good evening. Russell from Cruize Milford had found a Santa outfit so was running round the pub ho ho ho-ing everywhere. By the time we finished, people were still about which makes a nice change for me, usually everyones in bed by the time I finish work, so I went and had a few beers with people in the kitchen.

Christmas day, the bar staff went out for brunch in the pub which was nice. We had some bucksfizz too but as Kat wasn't drinking and Tai was hungover, it was pretty much just me drinking it :)

The companies at Milford put on a big Christmas dinner each year for all the staff working there and not with their families. This year it was the turn for RJ's to host the party and it was on one of their big boats called the Sovreign.

I don't have any nice clothes with me so I had to borrow a dress off my friend Klara. The party started around 6.30ish with lots of free alcohol and a really nice dinner. There was so much food! It was a really cool night and everyone seemed to have a good time. The party on the boat finished around midnight and we headed off to the kitchen to carry on the party there. It was a great night!

New Years was a pretty good party too, but I was working. It was a really good atmosphere and everyone seemed to have a really good time, but I was the wrong side of the bar! I finished work on 2 January and had a brilliant last night with loads of cool people in the pub, chatting, playing pool and generally getting drunk!

I stayed in Milford an extra day before heading out. The following morning I was pretty hungover and then we climbed up the cliff face behind the accommodation block to a lookout. It was awesome views from the top of the ridge, but was hard going with a hangover! The next day, I didnt leave until the afternoon so I met my friend Anna for the morning and we had a lovely time going to the bottom of Bowen Falls and round the foreshore.

I met some fab people from Milford and will miss it a lot, it took me a while to settle in, but I ended up having a great time there :) a great experience.