8th Wonder of the World

Tuesday, 15 December

We hit the road early, leaving three hours to drive the 2+ from Te Anau to Milford Sound along the spectacular 120km Milford Highway. Ned got gas in town, using his new “Smart Fuel” card – saving $3.36NZ (almost 10% and enough to pay for ½ a beer!).

Gotta love the Kiwis' sense of humor!

First stop was Mirror Lakes (56 km from Te Anau). As there was no wind (yet!), we got to see the mirror effect for which the lakes are named.

Tarns reflecting the Earl Mountains

This is a temperate rainforest and rivals anything we have ever seen!  

We arrived Milford Sound at 9:50, in plenty of time (10-minute walk from car park) for our 10:30 Nature Cruise. We boarded the Milford Mariner, one of the many ships operated by Real Journeys, the company we traveled Lake Wakatipu in Queensland the day before. (Note: It is a family owned business, founded in 1954 by tourism and conservation pioneers Les and Olive Hutchins.) 

Unfortunately, as was the case when Ned was here in 1982, the cloud ceiling was low and it was raining. It is, after all, a rain forest! In fact, the Milford Sound is the wettest inhabited place in New Zealand and one of the wettest in the world. Unlike Santa Barbara, Milford Sound gets 10 meters of rainfall annually, and over 200 rain days per year. Rainfall can reach 250mm during a span of 24 hours. Along the 13 kms of the Milford Sound, there are two permanent water falls (actually cascades). However, because of the rain, we saw at least twenty in the 2+ hours we were on the ship. Below are a few... 

                 

 

With little soil, the trees interlock roots and cling to sheer rock walls, relying on moss and lichen for nutrients. Tree avalanches are posted on the website, as they are not infrequent. Like forest fires, these tree avalanches are important in the regeneration cycle. 

Rudyard Kipling supposedly claimed the Milford Sound to be the 8th wonder of the world. On the other hand, Captain Cook sailed right past it in 1770, as it was most likely hidden in the fog (a la Mists of Avalon...). Fiordlands National Park (Te Wahipournamu) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site - more on that in the next post.