High expectations

The further south we go, the windier it gets. We forego the numerous viewing points and only stop at one where, theoretically, dolphins can be seen. There we drink a coffee, enjoy the view from the car and unfortunately don't see any dolphins. We then continue our south curve and stay in a big city for the night. We have to prepare well for the next few days, which we spend away from civilization. We write a shopping list and use the last evening with internet and running water. In the morning we do the bulk shopping and drive to the Milford Sounds with our great expectations. On the way we stop at the most overpriced campsite and book a night there and continue the route to the end. The ride is crazy. The mountains stretch out next to and in front of us and we repeatedly see waterfalls running down the rocks. Then we go through a 1.2 km long tunnel and Maren gets very nervous. The road then winds further to the TouriDorf. There is a boat terminal, kayak providers, a tourist center, an airport and an emergency gas station. It's already after 4 p.m. and the entire parking lot is empty. We search in vain for the diving center and only see all the staff in such a small personal village enjoying the end of the day. We don't dare ask people and think that the diving center is definitely in one of the containers and we can't see it right now. So we drive an hour back to the campsite and want to find out more about it. This time at the tunnel we have to stand and wait at the traffic lights and are glad that the cheeky kea parrots don't scratch our Willi. For the next day we plan to drive straight back to the tourist village in the morning, try to refuel and book a tour. Since everything depends on each other in such a complicated way, it's a bit annoying for us to plan. We refuel successfully, search unsuccessfully for the diving center and then decide to go on a kayak tour tomorrow. When everything is finally done, we go on one of an incredible number of hikes. The views leave us speechless. It's incredibly beautiful. We go to bed early because the planned kayak tour starts at 7:30 in the morning and we have an hour to drive and find a parking space. Surprisingly, we get out of bed very easily and arrive in the village on time. We have breakfast there and go to the terminal. First we take a large boat to the kayak camp. This is located in an art museum, with a 10 meter deep underwater observatory. We are handed the equipment and then sit in the single kayaks and are lowered into the water with the platform. We paddle for a disappointingly short time and only stay in a small bay. The landscape is beautiful and our guide tells us a lot, but we wished we could paddle a little further and see more. It felt more like a leisurely float around than an actual kayak tour. Afterwards we get to look at the observatory and I'm really happy. Somehow this is my little diving set and I'm not quite as sad because I was able to have a brief look into the underwater world. We leave the Milford Sounds with a disappointed aftertaste. We imagined it all a little differently, had high expectations and Maren was way too cold here all day. We try to see the best in it, after all it was really nice, even if everything didn't go quite as we would have liked. I would have liked to go diving, we would have liked to go kayaking and see more of the fjord, Maren would have preferred it to be a little warmer and actually it is supposed to be much nicer here when it rains because then the waterfalls are more impressive... and us have bright blue skies and sunshine. It was terrible here. Complaining at a very high level. ;) So quickly on to Queenstown. We desperately need some action.