The beginning of our holiday involved a lot of travelling to get all the way down to Milford Sound. We were going with a purpose. To spend a night on the
Milford Mariner - out in the middle of a fjord. We had such an amazing time that we now want to cruise and spend the night in Doubtful Sound.
I cannot rave enough about the crew we had. They were so amazing with our boys. There was one other younger person - but he was about 13 yrs old. They let our boys eat the evening meal first. They totally looked after them during activities. Told me not to worry and trust Eli (only 7 years old - I did keep saying) and let him Kayak by himself out in a massive fjord. Aaron also went Kayaking and stayed with him. I should not have worried as I was in a tender with Jakob racing around and every once in a while one of the crew would canoe over and check on Eli. He was ecstatic!! It was amazing. He had never Kayaked before and I expected him to stay around the boat but no - he went all over Harrison Inlet.
![Milford Mariner Real Journeys](//1.bp.blogspot.com/-h1Z9l9QoMto/UXzcPNO5fjI/AAAAAAAAKEg/odHbJDamZIk/s320/2013-04-22+16.17.07.jpg) |
First in line to get on board |
There are only two rooms on the boat that have four beds in. We had one with an en-suite Fantastic shower and good clean toilet.
The food was stunning. We were enamoured.
![Milford Mariner Milford Sound Cruising, Real Journeys](//1.bp.blogspot.com/-rp4nqmWaQaY/UXywL-mOKCI/AAAAAAAAKDw/PxU9mEa-Aao/s320/DSCF3544.JPG) |
Waiting to board |
![Stirling Falls, Milford Sound](//3.bp.blogspot.com/-UM6_oOTb1p8/UXzcC9YQqcI/AAAAAAAAKEQ/-Exkm50Kgdg/s320/2013-04-22+16.59.41.jpg) |
Under Stirling Falls |
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Independent Eli in his kayak |
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Aaron and Eli out in the Fjord |
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Gorgeous Food. 5 course evening meal! |
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Aaron swimming after Kayaking - COLD!!! |
![Milford Mariner, Real Journeys Milford Sound overnight cruise](//3.bp.blogspot.com/-GSjryuY4hfE/UXzb94ujWSI/AAAAAAAAKEI/aM2zcaFbdDQ/s320/2013-04-23+07.36.37.jpg) |
Cruising the Fjord the next morning |
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Me taking photos from the Bridge |
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The boys with the Captain |
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Aaron in the morning |
The next morning off the boat we went and stayed at
Milford Lodge. This is the only place you can stay in Milford Sound. What a disappointment. Staff were good but the kitchen was cramped. They have added heaps of extra units etc but no more in the way of facilities - to say that they were pushed is a total understatement. Pathetic showers, no insulation in the walls - you could hear everyone in all the rooms around you. It is such a shame as it could be good. If you spent close to $300 for the night you could get a motel to yourself and that might have been ok.