The World Heli Challenge adventure camp for adreneline junkies is over and most everyone has gone home or back to South America.  I’ve still got a few days so decided to go on a mini trip South to Te Anue and Milford Sound.  I found a great travel partner, Margrit, from Holland who’d been kidnapped by one of the judges.  I thought for sure skydiving and bungee jumping was the most I could scare myself but taking a drive with Margrit topped all of that.  Her lead foot got us there and back in record time averaging 120km/hour over winding mountain passes. Did I mention New Zealand loves putting one lane bridges around blind curves?

We checked out the glow worm caves of Te Aneu, accessed via small water craft deep inside the mountain side.  Next was Milford Sound with dramatic cliff faces shooting straight out of the water and littered with cascading falls.  I saw my first penguin in the wild. Too bad he was the height of a milk carton and 100 feet away.

The drive home was twice as exciting as the drive there because now it’s raining and Margrit REALLY wants to go home.

I even manage to squeeze in a climbing day at the local craig with a couple of patrollers from The Remarkables before I headed home to the U.S. of A.

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Overall kick ass adventure.

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