Fiordland National Park

Today it was time to leave and there were only 200 km ahead of us. The travel companion then pointed out very energetically that she finally wanted to go to the mountains and especially with the nice weather and that the weather was nice today and why we hadn't left yet etc. etc. etc.

This entire scenario was fully intentional on the part of the driver, as it was the driver's actual intention in combination with the travel companion's well-known impatience to create time pressure. The route was also prepared accordingly in the navigation device and with an unsuspecting travel companion we set off at 10 a.m. towards the mountains that could already be seen far away on the horizon. But unfortunately, unfortunately the route then led along smaller country roads. The clock was ticking and the travel companion became more and more restless in the passenger seat. There was also no complaining that I was driving at a top speed of 100 km/h, which was just about okay on the roads. Well, maybe more yellow. At some point the road surface changed to gravel. That was the goal, that was what I was working towards. The passenger's expression darkened while the driver thought of Collin McRea and grinned every time the car went into a slight drift in the corners. He had sat in front of the PC and practiced for hundreds of hours. Today was the day. He felt like a sniper after years of training before his first killshoot. Don't brake, just countersteer a little if the car threatened to go backwards. It went through the curves like in front of the screen at home - only much better. It was clear that these minutes would be the best of the entire trip. And yes, the car is fully insured. No deductible with full reimbursement of rescue costs.

But we didn't need it. Completely covered in dust, the fun eventually came to an end and we continued on the well-developed country road. Boring.

We got there around 2 p.m. and I'm looking forward to something delicious to eat in the restaurant.

But then the travel companion hit back with hard facts. This is the rainiest area in New Zealand with 7.5 meters of rainfall and today the weather was good and so she decided that after unloading she would immediately continue on to Milford Sound. "We'll never get a chance like that again" and after briefly checking the weather forecast, there was actually a lot of rain forecast for tomorrow. So off we go again and the 120 km north to deep into the national park.

Yes, the national park was beautiful too.