First we woke up early and did a weather check and we were good to go for our flight to Milford Sound! We headed to the airport and boarded a 7 passenger plane to go to Milford. We were lucky with the weather because both the weather in Queenstown and at Milford have to be perfect for the flights to go on and it rains 70% of the time in Milford. The flight to Milford was just beautiful. It is crazy how the terrain changes. It really only takes about 25 minutes but since it was a scenic flight, it took about 45 minutes. We passed snow covered mountains and then suddenly crossed over to the rainforest and everything was lush and green. It was beautiful!
After getting there, we took a short bus ride to board our cruise on Milford Sound (which is actually a fjord). It was 1 1/2 hours cruise that included lunch and commentary. It was pretty cold out on the deck of the boat but the view was beautiful and we were so lucky that it didn't rain! We even saw some adorable seals while we were on the cruise.
On the way back, I got to sit in the front next to the pilot. It was an awesome view and it was neat getting to see all of the pilot's controls. I even had a steering wheel in front of me that moved in sync with the pilot's but I was a good girl and didn't touch it. :) It was neat to be able to see the landing too!
After getting back, we got dropped off at the bottom of the Gondola and headed straight up to the top of the mountain to paraglide! No break here. Once we got to the top, we quickly met up with the paragliding instructors/pros and walked a short way to get ready to take off. However, after the two pros quickly looked around and assessed the wind by sticking their hand up in the air (what?!), they decided that it wasn't the best conditions and that it was a little too windy. Therefore, we were going to hike up to higher ground where we could take off in a different direction. Boy, that hike was STEEP though. YIKES! I guess that at least meant that we were going to have a longer descent down. Once we were at the top, we quickly got strapped into the gear and it was time to take off. Again, the pros quickly assessed the wind and then basically said, "Ok, now start walking and when I say run, RUN!" and then we were off!! It was literally like 4 steps and we were off the side of the mountain and into the air! It wasn't scary at all and was just fun and relaxing on the way down. They even did some crazy turns and twists which was fun. Then we landed easily and safely in the athletic field of a primary school.
After that, we headed down into town and had dinner and made a quick stop at an Ice Bar. I've always wanted to go to one and we had coupons for free admission. We went in for a quick drink and then headed home for bed. We had a long day!
For our last dinner in New Zealand, I had to make sure I got lamb chops. :)
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