A day of firsts.



This picture says it all:  today was a day for new experiences!  and for a looking at the world from high up in the sky.....

When planning this trip, I had hesitated about taking a helicopter ride to Milford sound....  I am really glad we went for it!  this was a first for both Joe and I and it is a really great way to go and to look at the world from above....  And to get very close to what you want to look at - along the way to  and from Milford sound, we saw:  

snow capped mountains,

 Glaciers, full of crevasses and beautiful blue ice carvings - normal for this time of the year - they prevented us from landing on top of the glacier though, because it is too dangerous.

 Green lakes (from the glacier sediment).

 Turquoise waters at the edge of the lake on which Queenstown is built - where the river from the mountain brings in both clear water and glacier sediments.

Then we landed on top of a hill overlooking the lake.  

Don't we look cool with "our" helicopter??

And had a light lunch overlooking the lake.....

 

We stopped on the way to take a boat ride up Milford sound - which is not a sound, but a true fjord.  It is too grand to capture on pictures, here are just a few - but they do not do it justice.

We landed before the sun had a chance to burn off the clouds, given the whole area a mysterious look

and then the boat ride  took us along the length of the fjord, and its many water falls.

As I said, it does not do it justice.....

and then, in the afternoon, I did something radical!  I went (tandem) paragliding!  I did not even know that was on my bucket list....  but it was there  just up the gondola, which is just steps from our hotel...  and the weather was so magnificent...  so I pre-paid for it, and, as everyone knows, I'm just too cheap to back out once I've paid for it!  It was in fact not that scary - just the first few seconds, when you have to run down a steep hill, until the wind catches the sail and lifts you up the ground - after that, it is really exhilarating, and beautiful!  Joe stayed on the ground, either because he is too smart to try such foolish things, or because someone had to take pictures - you pick....

 After that, it was time for a well deserved drink, and dinner in town, looking at the sunset coloring the lake and sky. 

After that, it was time for a well deserved drink, and dinner in town, looking at the sunset coloring th lake and sky.