Thursday January 13, 2000- Milford Sound, NZ

Hello there sailors,

During the few hours after publishing the website last night and going to bed, we were at war; war with the sand flies. Trevor found us a nice anchorage; unfortunately the seaweed covered mud bottom didn’t offer much holding. So at the worst possible time, dusk, when the sand flies rule supreme, we were out setting the anchor, throwing lines to shore, swatting at a cloud of the black bugs. Monika and Enrico were lucky enough to be stuck inside putting together the daily journal for the German website. James was also safe inside the boat sorting out computer server issues. Caroline, Trevor and I barely made it back alive. But the entire crew was out at dawn, the sand flies second most favorite time to hunt, getting STARSHIP ready for today’s passage.

1500 metres high, 400 metres deep. [photo Anne-Lise Breuning]

This morning we motored into Milford Sound, the eighth wonder of the world. Pretty spectacular and the view kept getting better the farther up the sound we traveled. Trevor spotted snow at Mills Peak, 1824m, and we all watched in wonder at how we could be so close to these immense mountains. There were a few waterfalls scattered here and there, namely, Stirling Falls and Bowen Falls. The Fiordlands is one of the wettest places in the world, after a good rain the mountains turn into a plethora of waterfalls, cascading hundreds of meters into the sound. New Zealand’s largest National Park consists of 15 different fiords, totaling 1872 km of coastline. We will be here for the next couple of weeks exploring as much as we can.

James, Enrico and I went into “town” to see if we could buy some provisions. After trying the cafe, the hotel and the port we were directed up to the youth hostel, which had a small shop. When we arrived we were disappointed to find that they didn’t sell fresh veggies or fruit. Then we really felt like we were off the beaten track when we realized we had to have food shipped in. Monika has arranged for Enrico’s list of provisions to be sent in tomorrow. [photo James Frankham]

DJ met us here at Milford Sound. We are all happy to have her back onboard. Papa DJ is now on his way back to Germany after spending an action packed week with his daughter. While in Auckland they met up with Ulli, our STERN magazine reporter, for a drink. Evidently she just went bungee jumping and screamed her lungs out.

That’s the scoop from STARSHIP,

Anne-Lise