Milford Sound, a nature cruise on the wild side

Although it cannot be overstated enough that any visit to Milford Sound is as much about the drive as it is about the destination, please don’t underestimate the destination. Milford Sound was claimed to be the 8th wonder of the world and after any visit it’s very difficult to argue with this. I’ve been to this incredible place three times now and still feel overwhelmed by its splendour on every visit.

Magnificent, yet moody, Milford Sound is an epic experience

At first glance on arrival, after you have ventured through so much epic scenery on the road, it is easy to feel a little underwhelmed. The village at Milford has little to show for it, with a few buildings and an oversized car park. There is also the boat terminal which is on the large side to accommodate all the tours that depart from here. But if you take a moment and peer out towards the water your breath can be quite literally taken from you – Mitre Peak rising out of any lingering cloud dominates the scene and is the picture postcard image for Milford Sound.

If you journey all the way to Milford you must head out on the water. A boat trip is a necessity to grasp the sheer length of the sound itself but there is also a great kayaking trip to experience. I will come to this option in a later blog as the sunrise kayak is a special day out. This blog will focus only on the cruise. With several options to choose from (all largely following the same route) I joined a Nature Cruise with Southern Discoveries onboard one of their catamarans. I decided on this as the cruise left at 10.30am before any of the day trips and coach parties travelling down from Queenstown could arrive. It had been raining hard that morning but was only drizzling once we boarded the boat itself which was a good thing – you need water at Milford to get a glimpse of all those majestic waterfalls that plunge down from the huge cliff faces all around, but it’s not too much fun getting soaked to the skin as you try to photograph them. You also don’t want too much low cloud hanging around as this obscures the tops of the mighty peaks and prevents you from grasping the sheer scale of the place.

Trying to grasp this size is so difficult until you spot another tour boat out on the water (there was a grand total of three throughout the whole Sound on my visit) and can take that magical shot of the boat looking so small up against the waterfall and the mountain – nature is mega here.

The Milford Mariner just below Sterling Falls, one of the waterfalls at Milford Sound

The journey out through the length of the Sound enabled us to absorb it’s length and awe inspiring beauty. In some parts trees and shrubs grow out of the sheer rock face and there are a couple of waterfalls that continue to plunge down even when it hasn’t rained. The Sound is home to a pod of bottlenose dolphins that we didn’t spot on my cruise, but we were fortunate to spy some New Zealand fur seals – young males who hang out on the rocks and peer at you with mild curiosity. I also witnessed a very rare Fiordland penguin leaping through the glassy smooth waters surface. At Harrison Cove, the site for the first ever settlement in these parts, and now the spot for the overnight trips to berth, we paused for a moment to appreciate the peace – a place hardly touch by humanity, with little sound except the ripple of the water and the breath of wind through the trees.

As our boat made it’s slow journey back to the Milford Sound terminal I took one last look around – there are some special places out there, to be left as nature intended.

Coming shortly, the amazing drive to Milford Sound…….