At last, sun on the Sound

We’re sitting on the steps outside the tour terminal, waiting to board our cruise boat for a trip up the sound. The sin is shining and we are surrounded by the steep-sided walls of the fjord.

I drove in, as this is Paula’s first day in a shoe. It is advertised as one of the great Alpine drives on the world, and I’m not going to argue. We will have the slowest trip home, because I am determined to pull over and photograph everything that I glimpsed and marvelled at momentarily on the way in.

The range of scenery was breathtaking. A cinematographer would have had a field day with the light filtering through the dense forest.

One had to take care: the South Island is actually the land of the Long White Camper Van. Every now and then, someone would pull over suddenly for that must-have photo.

The whole route is quite extraordinary and we would love to do the track and perhaps the overnight cruise and kayak option in the future. A chance to walk into the gorges with those pristine streams, such a turquoise blue…