Milford Cruise

Hey Everyone,

I have been working at Milford Sound Lodge for a week now and have gotten pretty settled in and am starting to become a well-trained, helpful employee. My current shift is called "reception night," which means that I start working reception at 2pm, help check in all the guests for the night, drive the shuttle (which, for the time being, is the first model of Toyota Rav4 and is about to both run out of gas and fall apart) to and from the cafe and boat terminal, take an hour break from 9 to 10pm, and then clean and close. I like this shift much better than the last one; making beds has always been one of my least favorite things to do. Having to make somewhere around 70 beds in a 5-hour span leaves me both in a bad mood, and in great amounts of pain. Working reception can have busy bouts of stress, but all in all, it is better than the latter (which also included cleaning the bathrooms. Yay!)

On Tuesday, three of my coworkers and I took a cruise down Milford Sound and back. It is one of the many cruises we book from the Lodge (giving our guests a great discount in the process), so it is always a good idea to experience your product yourself so you can better answer any questions the guests might have.

This is the ship we took. It is bigger than it looks in this picture. It has four levels. The basement is where the buffet is. There are two decks with tables and booths and big windows to look out of, and the roof is the observation deck. It is called the Milford Sovereign, but there are many other boats.


Here's a picture of me standing awkwardly on the back of the ship.


The fur seals were some of the wildlife we saw on the cruise. We also saw a penguin, but it was too far away to take a picture. We also saw a dragon, but it flew by too fast for me to get my camera out... or it ate my camera or something. The seals were fighting over the rock on which they were laying. Apparently, the one at the top of the rock is the meanest one so it has no friends.


This is called a "waterfall." In New Zealand, they refer to them as "waterfalls." They occur when water falls. This particular "waterfall" is called Stirling Falls. The boat drives right up to it and you can stand on the prow of the ship and get wet if you want. I did it in my rain coat. It was fun :)


This is Bowen Falls. It is located just around the corner from the terminal (part of which you can see in the lower right hand corner).


This is Jamie (from the UK) and Hanna (from Germany) who work with me. Nina (also from the UK) is in the background hiding. She is WWOOFing at the Lodge: she works four hours a day for room and board, but no pay.

That's all for now.