The drive to Milford Sound is a long one and a one way route so as you make your way through the forests you hope that what’s at the end is worth the 200Km round trip. Along the way you can’t just park up for the night, there are designated campsites dotted along the road. They are supposed to cost $6 per person, a night, but when all that there is,is a toilet that hasn’t been cleaned since it was first erected and a mossy patch of gravel it’s hard to part with your money. We decided to pretend we were on ‘Four in a Bed’ (A great Channel 4 afternoon show for those not in the know!) because on that program B&B owners judge other owners by paying them what they think a night in their establishment is worth. So we chose to pay just $6. And perhaps we would have a felt a little guilty but we couldn’t even use the toilet so really $6 was pretty good considering we were paying for the privilege of nothing! It was super windy and rain battered against the van. A branch even fell onto the roof in the middle of the night and made Ollie panic! I was just hoping the weather would clear up for our trip up the fiord in the morning. I’d seen the pictures and knew it would be a complete let down if our cruise was through heaps of cloud and drizzle that covered everything.
Unfortunately the bad weather was still hanging around when we woke and our journey to Milford was a foggy, twisting mystery drive. At one point we did have to go through a tunnel that was literally just a roughly carved hole through a huge mountain and there weren’t even any lights. It was too scary to even play the ‘holding your breath’ game. But eventually we reached the fiord and by then the rain had stopped and the cloud had thankfully begun to lift. We were early, so grabbing a coffee, we took our time walking down to the little dock. Cruises on Milford Sound can usually cost up to $100 each but due to my amazing internet skills, I had got our tickets for just $20 each. Lurking at the back of my mind was the idea that the grey was the price we were paying for our lucky tickets. We soon learned however that although all the postcards and posters show the fiord set against a blazing blue sky, in reality it rains two out of three days every week and has the highest rainfall for the whole of New Zealand. So our day’s weather was actually distinctly normal!
Out on to the deck we set off as the Captain said ‘Hi’ and gave us a few details to start us off. He told us what we already knew, that Milford Sound is not a sound but a fiord. Sounds are formed by rivers but fiords are formed by glaciers and the inlets around these parts are glacial hence this part of the country is known as The Fiordlands. So why they didn’t change it to Milford Fiord when they realised, I have no idea! It is impossible to take in what you are seeing as you pass up the river. Almighty forest covered rocks rising from the water to tower above you. No flats, just continuous peaks of mini mountains lining the path out to sea. Absorbing their height is too difficult. They are hundreds of meters high and yet they don’t seem it. One I remember, nicknamed the Crouching Lion (it seriously looked like that too!), was just over 600m high and the equivalent of over two Empire State Buildings on top of each other. I just couldn’t imagine that!
Waterfalls appeared at random points and gushed into the water below. They were ridiculously high too but like I said, for some reason it was really hard to get a gauge on anything’s height. Maybe because everything was so massive it all just overcrowded my mind into confusion. The sky was murky but it didn’t take away any of the beauty. O.k. so the pictures won’t be spectacular but what we saw certainly was and that’s all that matters. Milford Sound is one of those places, like the Grand Canyon, that is so beyond all words and comprehension that in order to really understand you have to see it for yourself. It is practically make believe.
At one point the other guy standing near us squealed at Ollie in a childish excitement and then Ollie did exactly the same to me. Around the stern of the boat we could see four or five dolphins playing in our wake and doing all sorts of jumps and flips, as if they were used to showing off. It was a dream come true for me as I’m sure it would be for many. And even better they were Bottlenose Dolphins. These had been my favourite type when I was about eleven and obsessed with all things Dolphin! Suddenly our surroundings were shunted into less importance as we giggled and pointed at our new friends. Ollie ran to tell the Captain so he could let everyone else know and soon the outer decks filled with cameras. The dolphins stayed with us all the way out to sea until they dramatically vanished. They’re only around once or twice a week so we were pretty lucky to see them.
As we journeyed back, the wind picked up to the point where I could barely stand. Ollie had to hold on to me tight so I didn’t fly over the side. Obviously not everyone was having quite the same difficulty as me but I’m not the most stable on my feet even in normal circumstances. Seals were sleeping on the rocks beneath the largest waterfall and some of the pups were so tiny. They’re much smaller seals than I’ve seen at home before. Nowhere near as big as the one that almost capsized our boat in Falmouth Harbour one time! I could had stayed and pottered about the waters all day but our cruise finally came to an end and we had to leave that very remarkable place. I’ve already said in a previous blog about the mountains feeling alive and I felt that even more whilst floating through the fiord. I think the silence and extreme naturalness is the reason. Nothing but nature can survive in The Fiordlands and it’s only the mountains that know the true secrets of that amazing place. That’s the way it always has been and hopefully, always will be.
31/7/12
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