I didn't have a shower this morning because I object to going outside to a bathroom when the ground is frozen. And we'd be in Invercargill by about 4pm, and they're bound to have plumbing and heating and proper indoor loos there. It was absolutely pouring with rain. Someone told me, when I said that we'd only had sunshine so far, that Milford Sound was better in the rain because of all the waterfalls. I hoped they were right!

Mikey gave me the great news that the road out of town was closed and they wouldn't have any sort of update on its condition until 3pm. That, along with running out of milk for breakfast and butter for sandwiches, and being cold and unshowered and aching from being cold all night didn't really make me feel any better!

We drove to the dock and left in a tiny boat. There were only a handful of people on board, and it was quite warm. The small boat could get quite close to the mountains surrounding the inlets, so it didn't really matter how low the cloud was, we still saw some impressive sights. And the captain was excellent, realising that we'd not see much unless he got really close, and put the boat under waterfalls or right up against rocks. It was too dark to take any photos, and there were no beautiful views, but the water was stunning green and there were hundreds of waterfalls and awesome mountains and cliffs (some even looked like the Cliffs of Insanity from 'The Princess Bride' as they were a mile high. Inconceivable. The captain had decided to extend the two-hour cruise as we were all stuck in Milford with nowhere to go, which seemed like a really good idea, until he took us out to see. After the boad was throwing us around a bit he said that we might feel a bit of movement in a minute. Mikey and I were not doing too well at this point, and I was a little too close to revisiting my sugar puffs for comfort, but then the captain swung the boat round (after pointing out Tasmania 900 miles away and some other things I was in no fit state to appreciate) and it all became a little nicer again.

We went close to some rocks to see if there were any baby seals around - there weren't, but a school of five little dophins saw the boat and wanted to play with it. They swam around and under the boat, and then the captain said he was going to take them for a bit of a ride, and sped through the water. All five of the dolphins rode the bow wave in a sort of dolphin-surfing game, jumping out of the sea every now and then to breathe and then joining the others.We all crowded round the front of the boat in the rain, watching them play. It was quite incredible. Once they'd left, I had a cup of tea to get some feeling back into my limbs, and we headed back to shore. And then the dolphins came out again, leading us to the port for about twenty minutes. It was fantastic to see them.

We went back to the hostel because it was warmer than the boat place, and had our lunch, and then I went to sleep. It was great to have a nap in the middle of the day, and after Mikey put his duvet on me as well, I was almost warm. I think I slept for about two hours, and when I woke up I braved the showers (which were actually quite nice, except walking through the blinding rain and icy gales to get to them) and I felt all cosy and warm as I joined Mikey in the sitting room, by the radiator, to write diaries and have pizza for supper. They don't know if the road is going to be open tomorrow (the chance of avalanches is moderate now) but for now we'll just sit in the warm and relax.