Caution – Julie wrote this post
Milford Sound was next on the list. Here we were able to kayak the sound. They loaded us and the kayaks on a boat, drove us out to where the sound meets the ocean (Tasman Sea), dropped us off (with a guide), and let us paddle our way back home. This took us about five hours and we were surrounded by beautiful scenery the whole way! Also, it tends to be a bit windy in these parts. We faced some treacherous white capped waves that were rocking our kayaks back and forth almost to a point of toppling us over. Thankfully, our mad kayaking skills kept us afloat. As far as wildlife goes, we saw some seals sunbathing on rocks; and at one point, we were surrounded by a group of sharks that wanted dinner…just kidding, no sharks were seen, thankfully. There were beautiful waterfalls as well. One of them was made famous when Hugh Jackman jumped off of it in X-men Origins: Wolverine. That same waterfall is three times as tall as Niagara Falls and we ventured under it! We were able to paddle over to the bottom, get sprayed by the tons and tons of water tumbling down, and paddle our way back out. The only bad part of the trip were the sand flies that inhabit the area. Since the winds were blowing they weren’t too bad until the very end when the wind calmed down. These sand flies love human flesh. Their razor sharp teeth can bite through clothes and their bite looks much like a mosquito bite, itchy too!
