Milford Sound

  Milford Sound, New Zealand
Friday, November 4, 2005

As you may have guessed already, New Zealand has an amazing and diverse landscape/seascape, and Milford Sound is no exception. Many say it is the best that New Zealand has to offer and we wouldn't argue. Milford Sound is special in a number of ways. In fact it's not a Sound at all, it's actually a Fjord. It was carved out by a huge glacier and then flooded by the rising sea level. It was a four hour journey from Queenstown to Milford and here are just a few photos of the journey there!!!







Jack has been getting a little lonely lately so we introduced him to a nice looking bird.



This update is really more about the photos but we will try to inform you of the various points of interest. We parked up at Milford Lodge just 2 minutes from the tiny town of Milford and booked to take a boat cruise the next day. We had been warned about sand flies here and they weren't kidding! If you stayed still for about 30 seconds a swarm of tiny black biting flies would surround you. They were not nice at all and we had to dash between the van and the lodge because they were so horrible. We had planned to stay a few days but the flies put a stop to this.



The day of the cruise was glorious and as the final few clouds burnt off we set off.

Here are the photos of the boat ride.



This is Mitre Peak, the tallest sea cliff in the world at about 1 mile high (or so we were told). It's amazing how you lose a sense of perspective here as giant mountains dwarf you.



This is Fairy Falls, the third highest in Milford Sound.





As you can see from the above picture the Sound has a concealed entrance. In fact Captain Cook sailed passed three times but it was a Welsh captain (John Grono) who whilst in a storm was blown towards the rocks and was sure they would sink. As they got closer he saw the opening and took refuge in the Sound. He named the bay Milford Haven after his homeport in Wales.

Here's another picture!!!



This is Stirling Falls the second highest.



And just for perspective!!!



Another shot of Mitre Peak.



Milford has up to 9 metres of rain a year and because of this a layer of fresh water sometimes up to 8 metres deep floats on top of the salt water. As the fresh water flows over the mountains it is stained brown and has a filtering effect for organisms.

There is an underwater observatory that we visited. The station is there because something happens here that happens nowhere else in the world, Deep Water Emergence.

What this means is, due to the conditions in the Sound creatures that would live in deep (40m+) water can been seen at only 10m. Things such as Black Coral are found here which is extremely rare!!! The reason it looks white is a colony of white anemone-type creatures cover the black skeleton.




Here is a picture of a tube anemone.



If you look carefully you can see the change in the water color as you go from fresh water to salt water.



Just a couple more pics to go and we are done.



The last one is of Lady Bowen Falls, 160 metres high and the highest in Milford.



You really can't appreciate the magnitude of this place from the photos but it is spectacular.

So there ends today's lesson, our apologies for any inaccuracies but you now how I have a tendency to make stuff up. Well it sounds about right!!!!!

Lots more pictures at the top...take a look!!!

Bye for now and take care!!!