With no generator to wake us, we sleep until the guides pound on our doors. We dress and head down to make our last sack lunches for the bus trip to Queenstown. But before that five hour trip, we have breakfast and prepare for our two hour cruise on Milford Sound.

Before we get on the boat we must give back our backpacks and Mitre Peak Bag. Everything we have is now in a giant pink plastic bag. We have officially transitioned from backpackers to homeless people.

On the cruise we enjoy waterfalls, birds, and fur seals.

We reboard the bus, and begin our long journey back to Queenstown. We wind through the georgous Fiord National Park, passing magically through the mountain wall in a long dark tunnel. 

On this trip we saw endangered short-necked Pateke ducks, cheeky Kea mountain parrots, and endangered Whio blue ducks. Yet the most incredible thing I witnessed was my wife Terri, carrying a backpack on a multi-day trek in the wilderness. It is something I do not expect to ever gaze upon again.