Snowflakes on the Sound
Prior to this trip, I had never been overseas before. Then, one night when we were hanging out and have some drinks, one of my best friends and I started playing around with the idea of going on a vacation together. It quickly spiralled (as all drunk conversations do) into a wildly exciting concept. And surprisingly, it ended up becoming a reality. She and I went to New Zealand for three weeks. As my first time overseas, I was excited and overwhelmed and so ready to dive into the whole experience.
This first part is probably my favourite place that we went, and that is why it is first up. It was one of the first places that we went. Two days into our road trip of the South Island, we left Dunedin and went to Te Anau. We were only there one night, but it was a definitive highlight for me and I wish that we had stayed longer. We drove our rental pulsar from our accommodation in Te Anau to Milford Sound.
I have only one regret of the day: that we didn’t think ahead and go in the early morning to do a boat tour. By the time that we got there, it was late afternoon and we just got to watch seals speed around in the shallows trying to catch fish. It was still a surreal time. I love Milford Sound for a lot of reasons, but it reminded me of Jurassic Park, and I fell in love.
One thing to keep in mind is that yes, the landscape is flawless throughout the year, but you will see on tourism websites and the like that the skies are blue and it’s all jade greens and sapphire blues — it is like this even in Winter (when we went), but it is overcast most of the cold season, apparently. Snow will cover the mountain peaks and everything will be shaded in darker tones…it is still 150% worth going to.
The only thing that I remember clearly about that day was the feeling that I got when I first saw the snow falling in soft little flakes all around us. I had never been overseas before. We were driving along this winding road, with a full view of the ice caps on either side of us. The drive into Milford Sound is a scenic one, with extraordinary blue lakes and emerald trees, and mountains capped with snow white crests.
While everything was new and elating, it was not until we drove out from the tunnel under the mountain that my excitement got the better of me. Driving through that tunnel and out into a world entirely white and stone mountain sides is still one of my favourite moments. It is like entering an entirely new universe. With the entry into the sound being under a giant land mass, you drive through and as soon as you leave the underside of the mountain, the snow starts to fall rapidly around you.
I remember literally standing and looking straight up, and the mountains were so monumental that even looking straight above me, I could still see their peaks framing the infinite white sky. At that vantage point, it looked like the sky was falling down…the flakes of snow falling from the endless white and propelling themselves into my face. Everything was cold. But it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that the sky was falling down, because everything was so beautiful.
And even though I remember all of this, that feeling stands out more than anything else. The feeling of watching the snow fall to the ground and coat the car, the trees, our clothes. I honestly didn’t think that I would miss travelling so much so quickly, but I do understand now how once people come back home, they yearn for more of the places that they have never been before. Is this what global travel always feels like? Because I am hooked, already dreaming up my next trip..and excited to explore more of Australia, too.
'I’m wearying to escape into that glorious world, and to be always there....really with it, and in it.'
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights