To answer your question - yes there was a guy in the dorm and he was a LOUD snorer. I went to bed before him and got a good 2 hours of sleep before he woke me up, but once I was up there was no going back. So I headed to the van for some sleep. Guess that means I ultimately paid $30 for a good car park.
This morning I was up at 6:30 (which is probably earlier than I have see in many years), but it was for a good cause...to go kayaking!! Met my tour guide and the group that would be along with me. They gave us some thermals to put on, our spray skirt and jacket, and a life jacket. A quick demonstration of how to paddle and the workings of the kayak (all in all about 20 minutes). The singles all hooked up, as they were double kayaks, and we were out on the Fiord.
I was paired with a fiery red head, 22 year old, girl from Israel. I'm pretty sure her name was Karen, but it also could have been Kate. I thought this was a great paring as she was telling me how her and her dad just finished the Routeburn Track a few days ago (perfect she'll be athletic). Then we go in our kayak and it seemed as though I was doing most of the paddling (which was confirmed as I sat in the back and watched her not paddle...a lot), but we never capsized so I guess I can't really complain.
The actual tour was quite long. We first stopped just inside the Fiord, where our guide, Trish, told us how Milford Sound is incorrectly named. It turns out that a sound is made when rivers cut through rocks and then fill the valley with the river water. A fiord is created from glaciers cutting through the mountains and is then back filled by water from the ocean (or other large source). I had no idea what either of them were five minutes ago, so I was pretty satisfied with the tour from that point on.
Next up with the waterfall - Lady Bowen
We stopped and took some pictures and then traveled into the "splash zone" but had to maneuver through some large rocks (good thing my partner wasn't paddling too much). The Lady, supplies all the power to Milford Sound, so the natives tend to give it much respect (which it deserves). Not sure if you can tell from the picture, but the waterfall is as tall as a 50 story building, indicating that the mountain it is coming from is ginormous. We came out of the splash zone and our guide showed us this trick where she made us stare oat one point in the waterfall for about a minute. Then as our eyes moved towards the trees and rocks they start to move and become distorted...a crazy thing the mind is (and how you can trick it).
We then moved on around the bend - and right when you get on the other side, not even 60 meters from the waterfall, the sound just disappears. We kept to the outside and saw two gray seals. Trish mentioned that Milford attracts young male seals who have recently been "kicked out" of their group. The come to the fiord and hang out until they get big and strong and then return to the pack to fight all the males attempting to take control. I think it is kind of like high school - people are ignored, grow up, get super rich and shove it in everyone's face at the next reunion.
I'm not going to lie, I was pretty tired at this point in the trip and we were probably at our furthest point from where we began. Luckily, we paddled to the middle and sat in our make shift boat (when all the kayaks come together and hold onto each other). We had a snack - mine again was peanut butter and honey tortilla, which I was despising at this point). After our snack we had a long, long, long leisurely paddle back to home base. Did I mention it was long - especially considering that my partner was not paddling...
We did make it back and after a quick change and goodbye to Karen/Kate, I was in the car driving. About 10 minutes in I started to realise how tired I was and headed straight back to Henry's Creek. I got a great spot, secluded from everyone else and slept. I'm not sure how long I slept but I didn't get up until 6:00pm - so maybe 3 or 4 hours...like I said I was really tired (someone had to do all the paddling).
Then it was cleaning time in the van - I can't believe how messy I let it get! Took inventory of what cloths I had left, washed out a few things in the lake and ate dinner. There is something weird hanging in the trees behind my van, so I don't want to think about it too much before going to bed (but I did get a picture of it the next morning - can you tell what it is?).
Now to figure out what to do tomorrow...
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