Trip South and arrival in Milford Sound

Trip South
We started the trip sailing into light South westerlies with a good sail to begin with around the top of the North Island and then a motor as the wind died. Picked up a nice NW for a while, at least a whole 12h, before it was back around to the SW. We had a couple of NW changes after that but we blinked and missed them. Saw dolphins and sea birds but only one ship once we were on the west coast. A nice full moon during the passage. In general not exactly a pleasant trip. The last morning saw us motorsailing
into a freshening SW with stunning views of the Southern Alps (sorry forgot to take photos). The SW 'freshened' into a good 30-40 knots with us taking green water over the decks leaving the wind generator dripping. A long day spent bashing into it before we reached the entrance to Milford Sound in the late afternoon.

Arrival
We were very glad to make the sound and hit the calm water inside. Blue skies and snow capped mountains and seals playing. Almost made the trip down worthwhile! We had a lovely motor up the sound in the late afternoon and tied up at the fishing boat pile moorings in Deep Water Cove. After a very welcome shower we managed to make it to the pub before the kitchen closed. The next day was just as fine which was just as well as we discovered several leaks (including into one of the book lockers) where
the chain plates had been working. Spent the day drying things out, cleaning and tightening bolts. Moral of the story is not to make your shakedown cruise after a major refit an 8 day trip down the west coast into the roaring forties! Started raining last night and there is fresh snow on the tops and more rain and mist today and a few more waterfalls than there were yesterday. Was hoping to post some photos with this update but while we found internet access it was very very slow. This evening we
moved across the bay to anchor (15m of water and we are practically on the beach). We edged up to a cliff face on the way getting so close you could (and I did) reach out and touch the rock. The skies are clearing and it looks like tomorrow is going to be sunny.