this year.

We arrived in Milford Sound just shy of 9am with enough time to book onto a boat tour for 9:30am. Off the top let me share a well known fact from the Milford Sound tour circuit: it is not technically a Sound, it’s a fjord (fiord). A fjord is a glacially carved valley that is filled by rising sea water levels while a Sound is filled by river waters. Either way Milford Sound is a land lost in time with scenic panoramic views, dark waters, and cliffs so sheer they could only have been carved that way. ‘The Maori were the first to attribute the creation of the fjords to a ‘titanic mason’, Tute Rakiwhanoa who hued out the steep sided valleys with keen edged adzes.’

We boarded the Friendship (the only ship I ever want to be on) we steamed into the blue skies of the fjord with Mitre Peak towering ahead. At 1695 meters tall it’s one of the highest mountains in the world to ascend straight from the ocean. As we made our way west out to the mouth of the fjord and the Tasman Sea we passed numerous waterfalls as well as a sunning group of fur seals. Many animals call this fjord home as it provides relative safety from larger predators. Under its surface it provides a unique habitat. With rainfall in the 6m range Milford Sound develops a distinct layer saturated in minerals and plant particulate that greatly reduces light penetration. Because of this low light many species that live in the deep ocean call the fjord home at a shallower depth, with the best example being black coral. With mountain names like The Elephant and The Lion and spectacular waterfalls called Bowen Falls and Stirling Falls, Milford Sound has it all.

The walls are lined with lush rain forest, but due to the steep walls and their incestuous growth to remain on such cliffs they, from time to time, tumble to the water in a tree avalanche. We liked to call them a treevalanche. With the low rainfall received in Milford Sound over the few weeks before our arrival the waterfalls were flowing a little slower then usual, but I think I’d accept that in exchange for the calm waters and the impossibly blue skies we experienced.

Milford Sound is one of the crown jewels of New Zealand. It is highly visited by tourists and rightly so. If you have time to make the trek it will make your day, rain or shine.