We drove 3 hours to the town of TeAnau, the gateway to Fiordland National Park which borders the Southern Alps. Our lodging here was quite unique: a former convent named TeAnau Lodge. It sits on a 10 acre parcel of land where the eccentric owner has placed interesting structures that he obtained from former disbanded Circuses. The convent was so fun. The confessional has been turned into a luggage elevator. The sitting room offers wine & wafers to the guests. The Chapel with beautiful stain glass windows and an organ is the breakfast room. Each bedroom has been named with decor to match. Cheryl was in her element, so we placed she & Craig in "The Mother Superior" room. It came equipped with a nun's habit and all the accessories. There were no bugs, no air conditioning, and luckily a very comfortable temperature. The former circus structures we saw, were an old train car, a carousel, and a circus trailer all turned into lodging. As we walked around the grounds, we also found a piano, large chess set, swings, & large animated characters. 
We walked into town, to find souvenirs and dinner. We finally found some nice items. We also found Red Cliff, a great restaurant for dinner where we sat on their patio. We ended our evening relaxing and reading in the library. Jan did some laundry which was out in a shed in the parking lot. As usual, she was up late, so when she went out to get her laundry, the stars were amazing in the clear dark sky. The Southern Cross was beautifully visible. Jan had to enjoy it all by herself because everyone else was sound asleep. Jan even tried knocking on Mother superior's door but no one answered; they must have been in deep meditation.
The next morning, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast in the Chapel where the group discovered and fell in love with Crumpets. Crumpets are a bread which is a cross between an English Muffin and a pancake. Since then, we have found that Trader Joe's sells them. Our departure time for the bus/boat tour had been delayed so the girls walked into town to shop a bit more and the guys drove in and met us. Our walk took us by a branch of the beautiful Lake TeAnau with a view of the lower Alps in the background. 
Our tour was with the Southern Discovery Tour Co. They picked us up in town, in a bus with a glass ceiling and large clean windows. The bus tour was 3 hours with scenic stops along the way. We drove alongside Lake TeAnau into the heart of Fiordland National Park. The scenery was stunning with views of the majestic Alps, babbling creeks, glaciers and surrounding rain forest. While on the bus, the weather was sunny with beautiful big white clouds.
The bus dropped us off at the dock in Milford Sound. Milford Sound is a Fiord in the southwest area of New Zealand's South Island. It is known for its spectacular waterfalls, sheer cliffs and amazing water. We then boarded a multi level excursion boat for a 2 hour cruise of the sound. We were able to grab seats on the bridge with open visibility and lots of wind. We were already bundled up but we were in fear of being blown over board. We eventually moved down to the open bow of the boat which still afforded great views but blocked some of the wind. The views were an amazing showcase of sheer mountains, towering cliffs, native rainforest and rugged valleys surrounded by teeming high waterfalls and azure glacial waters. We experienced 3 seasons in one tour: very warm temperatures, sunshine, rain, wind & cold temps. 
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