Well, we've quite simply run out of descriptive words. We've used beautiful and stunning, spectacular and breath-taking, gorgeous, awesome and even paradise. And they were all used sincerely and without exageration. But they were all used before we saw Milford Sound. Or correction, travelled the Milford Road and Milford Sound. The 119km drive is filled with mountains so high that you loose your sense of perspective, cheeky keas - the
Alpine parrots intent on entertaining visitors and wrecking hire cars, rainforest so green that even the rocks are moss-covered and waterfalls so wonderfully clear and dramatic that they have sculpted the rocks into formations that only nature could achieve. And the silence. You really could be the only people in the world there. But that all sounds so 2 dimensional and inadequate. So easy to write but with no words to explain. The sights are a feeling, they leave you emotional and spell-bound. Maybe that's the way to describe them - magical.
Despite the 7-9m of rainfall (yes, that's metres!) that Milford Sound gets in a year (making it one of the wettest places on earth), we had a wonderfully sunny day for our cruise and without a cloud in the sky. As we left the jetty, in the
'Lady of the Sounds' catamaran, we were dazzled by the brilliant sunshine rebounding off the snowcapped mountains surrounding the Milford Sound and fragmenting the light until it shimmered and shone off the surface of the water. We felt priviliged to see such a special place and felt so insignificant amongst mountains over 1692m tall including the famous Mitre Peak. We opted for the cruise which stops at the
underwater observatory, the closest you can get to the marine life without diving. Unlike Kelly Tarlton's in Auckland, it is not an Aquarium and the week before, some visitors had seen a 5m thresher shark circling the underwater observation area menacingly.
After hearing that story, we put a good metre between us and the glass! Milford is actually a fjord (incorrectly named a sound) which means it is glacier-formed and unique as the fresh water flowing from the snow forms a 4m layer over the sea water, encouraging unusual conditions and marine life. We loved it and could have watched the fish swimming past the window all day. Returning to the boat, we sailed back to the jetty but first passing the spectacular Bowen Falls, so powerful, they charge an electricity dynamo and at 160m drop, an amazing sight. We were so sad to leave a place that lives up to all the photographs you will ever see in a glossy book but which can't quite do justice to the perspective, silence and crisp fresh air that makes Milford Sound one of the most moving experiences of our life and a very special place.
Milford Road itself offers a myriad of walks for seasoned trampers including the famous 4 day Kepler track and Milford track. After the Inca trail, we are done with 4 day tramps thank you very much but we took advantage of the shorter ones and after a night of 'free camping' in a layby, started on the 3 hour walk to Lake Marian the next day. Stumbling through rainforest we had immense fun clambouring over tree trunks, climbing up rocks and cutting our way through bush to reach the beautiful turquoise Lake Marian set in a hanging valley, totally enclosed by mountains and with a glacier thrown in for good measure. The silence was incredible with only the sounds of birds and water cascading from the mountains to disturb us. That is until an avalance started and was deafening, literally like gun shots, with snow and rocks tumbling down the mountain side. Fortunately nowhere near us as we watched from the safety of a rock we were perched on, happily chomping away on our picnic.
To finish our visit to the area, we 'free camped' over night in the Henry Creek DOC campsite on the banks of Te Anau Lake with views into Middle Fjord. Perfect.
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