We left Gunns Camp after a good little exploration of their museum and grounds, it is full of quirks this place and we most definitely recommend staying here in terms of value for money and facilities. So onwards to Milford Sound it was, which was a pretty epic journey. We stopped as we passed by huge waterfalls bursting out of the rock and close to the road-side before gradually reaching the famous Homer Tunnel. Up until this point we were faced with low cloud, rain and a very grey landscape but as soon as passed through the tunnel we could see the cloud lifting on the other side. The Homer Tunnel is a good little adventure in itself, it’s narrow, dark and very much feels like it’s just been dug out of the rock. It’s one way traffic and you may have to wait a little while at either end for the red light to turn green.

On the other side we kept stopping to take more and more photos aswell as stopping at a few more landmarks along the way. We spotted a few Kea’s getting very close to people’s cars and vans in search of food as bus loads of tourists started to be shipped in. We guess this is the main downside of visiting such a place as Milford Sound…the tourists!! But if you can cope with crowds it’s beauty does manage to distract! Waterfalls come down the walls of the mountains like sheets of ice, it’s difficult to tell at firs that all the white bits on the rock are waterfalls pouring down.

We were surprised that the cloud lifted from this point on and we were faced with sunshine. We later learned that it hadn’t rained for the past 10 days which is very unusual for this area which boasts to receive around 220 days of rainfall per year! We took advantage of the good weather though and photographed from the Milford Sound pier and village. You can only go further than this point by boat.

Unfortunately for us we’d booked to stay at the Milford Sound Lodge as we were heading out at 6am the next morning for our kayak tour. The reason is was unfortunate was the cost of staying in a carpark at $36, and pay for wifi…nothing is free nowadays! Anyway it did the job and we found time to work on the blog. Later on we revisited the path leading out from the road to a reserve on the water-front, as the tide was low we were able to go quite far and did a few long exposures during sunset.

So up early the next day we were picked up by Skirts (our tour guide) from Rosco’s Kayaks, you can see why we chose that company? He was a good guy with plenty of banter and good instruction with it. Our group was made up of 8 including Skrits and it was 2 to a kayak which suited us just fine. So all donned in our thermals, water-proof gear, gloves and hats from the lost property box we were good to go. Dave steered from the back whilst Helen mumbled instructions to Dave which wasn’t heard over the waves and wind, but we managed to get out facing the current into the open water.

As it was so windy we had to raft together a few times with the most laughable part being when a cruise liner came into the Sound, passed us and came back past us again as it did a u-turn. This was a little embarrassing for us; 4 kayaks rafted together in a huge basin with a massive ship going past, but the spectators loved it.

We got as far as Sterling Falls and had to raft up again. We couldn’t go any further which was disappointing but necessary as Skrits didn’t want to risk taking us into 40-50 knot winds. He managed to entertain us as we bobbed up and down with Kiwiana tales and poems lovingly recited with some hot orange. This managed to do the trick for a while but we had around a 45 minute wait for our pick up which didn’t help as it was pretty cold out of the sun.

Eventually though we got the pick up and were taken back to where we started. This is part of the Morning Glory tour but the pick up would usually be at the end of the Milford Sound upon meeting the Tasman Sea. So we didn’t get that far but we did learn that we are pretty good kayakers together which is always nice to know. We do feel that the tour was pricey for what we got out of it at $185 each, it promised so much but just didn’t quite deliver. Still we were at the base of the mountains as they jutt over 1000 meters out of sea. That’s not bad at all. We didn’t take any photos during the kayak as we were worried about the Leica and the waves and stupidly we didn’t take our waterproof camera with us! Doh!

Afterwards we managed to get back into the hostel without having to pay a further $5 each to use the facilities and went back down the wonderful Milford Road past Te Anau and onwards to a free DOC campground at Monowai Lake. We were ready for sleep that night.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

After our first night at Jill and Joe’s house in Cambria we had breakfast and headed out for a morning stroll. This took us over an old ranch that has become a preservation area and is a great route through grasslands, forest and coast. We even spotted our first scarecrow in someones front garden taking part in the local competition. San Luis Obispo was our destination for today which took around 60 minutes drive from Cambria.

We stopped along the way at Morro Bay with the plan to kayak around the bay exploring the islands that divide the mainland and the ocean. We hired a two person kayak from kayak horizons for $18 1st hour / $10 per hour afterwards. We spotted some sea otters in the bay as well as seals sunning themselves on the wooden decks. Rain arrived and we called it time on the kayak adventure and met Barbara in a coffee shop.

The Mission in San Luis Obispo is one of the main attractions here and the church was very nice with some interesting painted wall art. The Mission itself wasn’t really that great, more of a local museum which needed some TLC. A walk around the town and a beer/wine got us in the mood for the farmers market which started at 6pm. The street market was more of a food market than anything but they had a decent selection of food on offer, mainly meat based as this is America. Chewing gum alley might not go that great with your Tri-tip sandwich or vegan Thai curry, but its a sight worth seeing.

The following day we decided to stay local and explore Cambria. We first visited the Cambria farmers market which takes place Fridays 2:30pm – 5pm, which had some nice produce on sale. The scarecrow competition was in full swing and had some great entries. A few weeks back we booked our tickets online to visit Hearst Castle (Helen had previously visited but was more than happy to go back) and decided to book the sunset tour which included themed characters wandering the grounds and interacting with each other and the visitors. The castle is pretty amazing and is well worth a visit if you are on the west coast near this area. The tour lasted a couple of hours and ended at the gold leaf roman swimming pool. All three of us loved the tour and the history of the castle.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

Up early and out the door with our baggage we headed to the Ocean Tours office. We were able to leave some bags at the tour office to lighten the load whilst on our trip to Halong bay with our new friends Justin, Jules, her brother John and his wife Lisa. The six of us piled into the tour bus with the other adventurers and began our 4 hour journey to the bay. We arrived at midday after a stop at a service area which sold assorts of tourist paraphernalia including huge tapestries which were made in the shop by a bank of ladies at sewing machines.

Once we arrived we boarded the Junk boat and set sail into the bay which had some nice views if a little cloudy. The boats have accommodation for up to fourteen people so they are nice and cosy. Due to the limited space we were staying on Cat Ba Island for the first night and on the boat on the second.

We were served some very good food on the afternoon which included some fresh seafood which we all loved. After some more sailing and relaxing on the top deck we dropped anchor and a boat arrived with some kayaks for us to venture into the bay under our own power. They were double person kayaks so we both jumped in and paddled around into bays and caves. Even though the weather wasn’t the best we loved the kayaking and the water was a decent temperature, there was even talk about going for a dip in the water at some point!

We boarded another junk boat that had docked with the first boat and the six of us headed off to Cat Ba Island for the evening. The sun poked through the clouds and it made the whole area just that little bit more magical. Our tour guide was chatting to us, supplying us with information on the area and answering any questions, he was very knowledgeable and helpful. Upon docking at the island we headed to our evenings accommodation via push bikes for a few km, maybe taking around 20 minutes to get there (our bags were taken onwards via motorbike). The village is very small and quiet with a new custom built area for the tourists to stay in basic but practical bungalows with en-suite bathroom, hot water and a double bed.

To save some money we purchased a little present from Hanoi in the form of a bottle of Rum priced at 90,000 Dong (£3). Justin and Jules had the same idea, so out came two litres of spirits which got the night off to a good start. Dinner was served and again the food was very good, they even catered well for the vegetarians and also wheat intolerance. We were informed in Hanoi that there would be AC heating in the room, but this was not the case, however more blankets were supplied and this kept us all fairly snug.

Breakfast was served at 8am which included some very good apple pancakes and omelettes. After some relaxation time and packing we all got together and headed off for a hike up the nearby karst peak (around 300m in height). Its quite a climb and you will need some good footwear, boots recommended, to manage the rocks and steep assent, apparently the record is around 35 minutes but we managed it in around 45/50 minutes. At the top there are some great views over the whole bay and down to the village below, however it started to rain so we headed down which was made more difficult by the slippery rocks underfoot.

We also ventured out to a nearby cave before heading back to the village for some lunch and then we jumped on the bikes to ride back to the dock to rendezvous with our evenings watery accommodation. The double rooms on the boat were very well presented, clean and comfortable, with hot water from the showers. The temptation to take a plunge in the water was just too much for some and after stripping down and braving the now chilly air, Justin, Jules, John and Dave all jumped in. It was chilly to say the least, but bearable for a few minutes, in the summer it must be lovely. The boat headed off and dinner was served including seafood and a plate of chips which all went down very well.

You can have a go at Squid fishing from the boats edge, however it was a quiet night in the ocean and nothing was caught, good job we weren’t fishing for our food, otherwise we would have been very hungry. After some card games and an offer for Dave to play some Texas Holdem poker with the Vietnamese boat staff, which we declined when we found out they were playing for money, I’m sure we would have got shafted, we headed to our cabin for a night at sea.

After a good sleep in our cabin, breakfast was served on deck and we were informed that due to bad weather we had to move to a safer bay which took us too far away from the Amazing Caves that we were due to visit. This was unfortunate but out of anyones hands, government orders apparently, so we set sail back to port. Upon arrival at the port we had lunch at 11am, so we were all feeling pretty full after two meals in the space of a few hours. The food wasn’t as good as on the boat but it was ok. Generally speaking the food on the trip was very good indeed, often at times we felt like each meal rolled into the next, you certainly wont go hungry if you book with Ocean Tours!

The journey back to Hanoi was uneventful and we arrived safely back at Ocean Tours at around 4.30pm. We had a sleeper bus booked for that evening so we were glad we had the time to get to the hostel pickup point and grab some food before our departure of Hanoi. Street food was a quickest option and we had some rice dishes. Helen’s vegetarian option was sticky rice and pickled cucumber, which was tasty but basic, Dave’s was a type of salami, a fried boiled egg, rice and sauce which was very tasty, almost like a mini full English breakfast.

At 6pm we were picked up from the Rendezvous hostel via mini bus and taken to the sleeper bus for the journey to Hoi An via Hue, a 13 hour journey to Hue and then 4 hours onwards to Hoi An.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)