sheep gone wild

so, new zealand is the land of sheep. this i knew before i came here. but until you actually experience and see how many sheep there really are, you will never fully grasp it. here is a country where sheep out number people 10 to 1. yes, there are 40 million sheep here, and about 4 million people. we literally see thousands of sheep daily. but nothing, NOTHING, compares to the first time (and hopefully not last, b/c i can't imagine it ever getting old) we were stuck in the middle of a sea of sheep.

we were on our way to te anau to get some petrol and food before heading to milford sound - one of the candidates for the 7 new natural wonders of the world. got into town earlier than anything really opened, so hung out a while until the gas station owner decided he felt like opening. the weather was yucky, but by that point we were expecting it. after getting our petrol, we continued our drive out to milford and at one point became surrounded by hundreds - and i mean HUNDREDS of sheep. a true 'southern man' (ha. inside joke.) was herding his sheep literally up the middle of the road. sheep aren't the brightest of creatures, but most knew to stay to their left and out of the cars way, however a few were nearly suicidal and leaped in front of us. at one point we had to just stop b/c we were laughing so hard we were crying. theresa was smart enough to get it on video, as pictures could not do it justice. i really hope i can put it on here, or at least a link on you tube. they took up the entire road once they passed the cars! oh, so classic and definitely a highlight of the trip.

the remainder of the drive to milford was not nearly as eventful. made a few stops (at mckay creek and knobs flat) along the way to get our first glances at the mountains through the hazy fog and clouds. took a short walk around cascade creek and saw the red beech trees. hit the divide - the lowest pass on the southern alps where the foliage was supposed to change, though i didn't notice anything as drastic as i was expecting. made a detour to gunns camp & museum where we were reassured by the shop owner that once we crossed the tunnel the weather would be 100% better. it wasn't. ah well. last stops included humboldt falls and a chasm, where we got our first real taste of the tourist traps.

at the sound itself, the parking lot was nearly full. thank goodness we arrived a bit later, since most of the tourist cruises leave around noon. we booked a small boat for around 1500 and only had about 15 people on it, plus it was longer and cheaper! whoo hoo. in the mean time, we ate lunch, walked around a bit and hung out at a cafe reading and writing until time for our tour. brrr it was cold, but the 3 of us were the only ones to stay on the top deck for the entire 1st half! even the tour guide lady was impressed. but again, we were determined to fight the cold temps and relentless wind. warmed up inside with a cup of tea for the 2nd half, and saw some stunning scenery even though it was cloudy. waterfalls, fur seals, tree slides & plenty of birds. what a nice ride. and no motion sickness!

still managed to get a nice sunburn despite 30spf and clouds and long sleeves/pants. boo for mega fair skin. ha. oh, and i have a new title. "allison, the eradicator of bugs". never would have guessed that one, would you? we had opened a bag of fruit and it just exploded (gross, i know) with fruit flies. as we fought them off, they were joined by their nasty, evil cousins the sandflies. so the entire ride in the car i spent killing bugs.

back at the deer park without deer, made up our dinner and settled in. we all needed a good night's sleep and kept our fingers crossed for no farting this time!!