Tuesday 24th Nov.
Yup still raining and still windy but not as bad as it has been.
According to the coach driver the boat trip around Milford Sound is going to be all the better for the rain. But we would have to see it to believe it. There was only 5 of us on the coach, we stopped off on route for a few pics here and there and the rain was intermittent not a full on down pour, still very cold though. Chris the coach driver was also a biker and chating with him made the coach trip seem a lot less than two hours. Most of the road was well sheltered by trees and despite the rain I was beginning to wish I was on the bike as the road was yet again fantastic. Chris seemed to think that this was one of the most dangerous roads in New Zealand due to tourists and reiterated what many have told me about how they drive on the wrong side of the road and also stop in the middle of the road to take photos, shortly after telling me this he stopped on a narrow bridge just around a blind bend so we could all take photos of a waterfall.So not just the tourists I need to worry about then. Once at the dock we were on probably the smallest of the many boats that offer trips out of Milford Sound and there was not that many people on the cruise either. It had stopped raining by the time we were aboard the boat but it was still very windy and the water looked nothing like the pictures from all the advertising and come to think of it nothing looked like any of the advertisements. The tops of all the mountains were covered in cloud but the effect that caused was pretty stunning as there were hundreds of waterfalls from small to large, the sides of every mountain had water cascading down them.

 The smaller boats although they felt very unstable and at times it was impossible to stand up without holding on to something they were able to get closer to the shoreline for better photo opportunities and also they would poke the bow right in to the falls. One guy with his GoPro decided to stay at the bow and got soaked. 
 He was later seen shivering holding a cup of hot coffee. The sort of stupid thing I would of done but thankfully I had not brought my GoPro with me today.

 i'm not convinced about Chris's statement of wetter is better I can hear him saying the complete opposite if the sun was out and the waters calm. Apparently a couple of hours after the rain has stopped all but 2 of the waterfalls dry up. Still it was a good day out, we stopped in a few different places on the way back also stopping for a cuppa at a riverside campsite that would have been a good place to stay if I had come down on the bike. 

Once back at the holiday camp I went to the fridge to get what was left over from last nights dinner, half a pack of ham a couple of tomatoes and some bread rolls only to find it was frozen solid. So I decided to take a walk across the road for a beer or two while it defrosted and ended up drinking there till nearly 11 O'clock. Got talking to a guy called Johnny who worked at both the bar and the place where I was staying, also some of the other staff from the holiday camp and before i knew it I had drunk my way through 5 pints and was feeling the need for food so headed back to the holiday park for my dinner.