Milford Sound, Fiordland...speechless

the real big bird

Since I wouldn't have enough time to walk the Great Walks in Fiordland (and the fact that avalanches were still occurring in the mountains) I decided on a cruise, my 'actual holiday' portion of the trip.

Turns out that very day there was a special from Queenstown, I booked on the spot. An overnight cruise on Milford Sound, transportation provided to and from Queenstown, sweet as.


There's nothing I can really say; neither will my pics/videos do Fiordland justice. So I'm going to keep this short.

Fiordland is a majestic place, I was hoping to see a dinosaur run through the forest and across the road; it wouldn't have been surprising.

The Milford Road is beautiful, you go through so many different environments until you reach Milford Sound.

From Valley's, Beech forests, snow capped peaks, beautiful glacial formed waterfalls, rivers flowing as they did thousands of years ago.

The wildlife is diverse too with the Kea (the world's only alpine parrot) always willing to climb on top, under, or even into your car for its curiousity gets the better of it. Attention: DON'T FEED THE WILDLIFE!

Our guide showed us what a Kea could do (he had some sweet scars); but reality check, wildlife doesn't eat bread and crackers (its not natural and actually kills the birds!)

The Milford Road is the most expensive Road to maintain in all of NZ, with its own budget set aside by the government, around $10 mill a year is spent clearing snow, avalanche watch and actual detonation of timed charges to create avalanches (crazy job!)

Getting into the wharf at Milford Sound, you know that you are in for a treat.

After boarding our ship the Milford Wanderer, we had a meeting with the captain and first mate, it was to go over safety and our itenery. The Food was AMAZING!!!

As we departed into the Sound, I couldn't eat b/c I just had to be outside, so the rest of the time until our water activities I was taking pictures and videos. The captain even navigated the boat under one of the waterfalls, what an experience!

It didn't seem real, seeing these mountains, many snowcapped, in the Sea, with beautiful forests and glaciers surrounding them. How can words really describe the landscape, I do it no justice.

Our water activities included either going on a nature cruise, kayaking, or swimming (i.e. jumping off the boat); now which do you think I chose?



Suprsingly the water wasn't too bad, refreshing as I've put it throughout the entire trip.

I got to see PENGUINS! FIORDLAND CRESTED TO BE CORRECT (NOT YELLOW EYED), EXTREMELY RARE!


Night time on Milford Sound after dinner (did I mention delicous, lambshanks and all!)


Morning light



Unbelievable, enough said, only thing you can say... sigh

wish you all could have been there to experience it too; if you get the chance to go to NZ, don't miss out on Fiordland (whether it be tramping, driving, or cruising through it, you just can't beat the experience of standing there and knowing it is a special place)



Cheers,
Ty

P.S.
I'm going to have to disagree with T.L.C. this time, I'm all for chasing waterfalls in Fiordland ;)