I have mentioned the wonders of Fergburger before, and it truly was an amazing place. Because it was open until 5am, in theory, and we were leaving Queenstown at 5:30am, in theory, it only seemed right that Fergburger would become the breakfast of choice, n’est pas? Andria and I were the only people awake enough at that magical hour to walk over and retrieve the coveted burgers, though people were plenty awake to put in requests.
Unfortunately, we left later than we had intended to and scrambled, ran, jumped fences, and otherwise made heroic efforts to make it to the promised land before close. Alas; we arrived at 5:03 and much to our disappointment, a friendly fry cook informed us that they had just turned off the fryers and we were out of luck. We returned to our vacation flat, sad and broken shells of who we once were.
It was then that we realized that the before mentioned cat had spent the night snuggled on the couch with Dan, a co-traveler. I reached for my small camera to take a picture of them as well as of a sign on the bat
hroom door that read, “Ablutions” (incidentally, my new favorite euphemism for evacuating myself), and realized that I had lost the camera, and we were leaving in approximately 10 minutes! I borrowed a flashlight, pardon, torch, and headed back out to the school yard where we had jumped the fence. Well, not really jumped, it was only about hip high and there was a gate, we just couldn’t find it in the dark. I searched and searched and shuffled my feet around, but to no avail. As I turned to head back, I stepped on something. I nearly took it to be a soda can, but it was my camera! Hurray! I ran back, boarded the bus, and wasn’t even the last one aboard, and off we were to Milford Sound.
On the way, we had many photo stops, including stops at the Mirror Lakes and a really pretty view of a valley in the Southern Alps.
Videos were also introduced on the bus ride for the first time. We watched, “The World’s Fastest India
n”—a heart-warming tale about an elderly man (Anthony Hopkins) from 
Invercargill (southern tip of NZ) with an old Indian motorcycle who has altered it and wants to race it at Speed Week in Utah. We also watched, “Once were Warriors”—not heartwarming at all semi-documentary about Maori life in Auckland. It was very, very violent (and I like Quentin Tarintino movies) and often very hard to watch because of uncomfortable themes expressed graphically (domestic abuse, rape, etc). I do highly recommend it, though, and it is highly thought of in Maori communities, so I am told.
In order to get to Milford Sound, we passed under the Southern Alps through a one-ish lane tunnel that people lost their lives to build. During the winter, there is a very real danger of avalanches and there are restrictions about where and when vehicles can stop along that entire highway.
We were also lucky enough to see a Kea. Kea are the world’s only alpine parrot and are highly intelligent. I have read and heard anecdotes that when they are bored, they have a tendency to strip cars of their windshield wipers and other little bits, as well as damage other property. They have even been known to land on the backs of sick sheep at night and pick through their backs in order to eat them. They are now officially my favorite parrot—not that there has ever really been a competition.
Unfortunately, we left later than we had intended to and scrambled, ran, jumped fences, and otherwise made heroic efforts to make it to the promised land before close. Alas; we arrived at 5:03 and much to our disappointment, a friendly fry cook informed us that they had just turned off the fryers and we were out of luck. We returned to our vacation flat, sad and broken shells of who we once were.
It was then that we realized that the before mentioned cat had spent the night snuggled on the couch with Dan, a co-traveler. I reached for my small camera to take a picture of them as well as of a sign on the bat
hroom door that read, “Ablutions” (incidentally, my new favorite euphemism for evacuating myself), and realized that I had lost the camera, and we were leaving in approximately 10 minutes! I borrowed a flashlight, pardon, torch, and headed back out to the school yard where we had jumped the fence. Well, not really jumped, it was only about hip high and there was a gate, we just couldn’t find it in the dark. I searched and searched and shuffled my feet around, but to no avail. As I turned to head back, I stepped on something. I nearly took it to be a soda can, but it was my camera! Hurray! I ran back, boarded the bus, and wasn’t even the last one aboard, and off we were to Milford Sound.On the way, we had many photo stops, including stops at the Mirror Lakes and a really pretty view of a valley in the Southern Alps.
Videos were also introduced on the bus ride for the first time. We watched, “The World’s Fastest India
n”—a heart-warming tale about an elderly man (Anthony Hopkins) from 
Invercargill (southern tip of NZ) with an old Indian motorcycle who has altered it and wants to race it at Speed Week in Utah. We also watched, “Once were Warriors”—not heartwarming at all semi-documentary about Maori life in Auckland. It was very, very violent (and I like Quentin Tarintino movies) and often very hard to watch because of uncomfortable themes expressed graphically (domestic abuse, rape, etc). I do highly recommend it, though, and it is highly thought of in Maori communities, so I am told.In order to get to Milford Sound, we passed under the Southern Alps through a one-ish lane tunnel that people lost their lives to build. During the winter, there is a very real danger of avalanches and there are restrictions about where and when vehicles can stop along that entire highway.
We were also lucky enough to see a Kea. Kea are the world’s only alpine parrot and are highly intelligent. I have read and heard anecdotes that when they are bored, they have a tendency to strip cars of their windshield wipers and other little bits, as well as damage other property. They have even been known to land on the backs of sick sheep at night and pick through their backs in order to eat them. They are now officially my favorite parrot—not that there has ever really been a competition.
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