Last Days in New Zealand

On Thursday we took a tour bus ride to Milford Sound, a four hour drive one-way from Queenstown. It was raining heavily when we left Queenstown at 7:45 am. Milford Sound is on the west coast of the south island and was formed by glaciers. It rains there 200 days a year, so our chances of having a clear day were looking slim. But as we drove, the weather began to clear, and we stopped along with way to take pictures of the beautiful scenery. By the time we got to the sound at 1:15 pm, it was clearing with just a few clouds clinging around the mountain peaks. It was a breathtaking day. It had rained there in the morning, so there were so many waterfalls coming down all over the shear mountain walls.

We made it out to the Tasmin Sea at the mouth of the sound and then turned around. It was a good thing, because it was quite rough on the sea.
Along the way we saw seals sunning themselves on a rock and a pod of dolphins chasing a school of fish.

On Friday, we took a 30 minute steam ship ride from Queenstown to a sheep ranch called Walter Peak, which was just across the lake from Queenstown. It was a "postcard" day while we were there. It was absolutely beautiful and we enjoyed an outdoor BBQ lunch. We ate lunch with a couple from Australia and a lady from the UK.

We saw a sheep dog and sheep shearing demonstration at Walter Peak.