RSSMilford Sound
July 8th, 2004 Posted in Activities, Scenery, TravelThey say Milford Sound is one of the most scenic places in the world. I left Queenstown early in the morning to find out. Unlike most people, I stayed overnight in Milford Lodge, the only traveler’s accomodation in Milford. On the way, our bus passed some incredible alpine scenery, complete with lakes and green rolling hills in the foreground. The Mirror Lakes on the side of the road reflected the mountains beautifully. After a cold night, I took the morning cruise.
First of all, a few things need explained. Milford Sound, and the other “sounds” in Fiordland National Park are actually fiords, not sounds. A fiord in a waterway that opens into the ocean created by a glacier. Because of the glaciers, the mountains are steep as they climb out of the water. The other thing you need to know, Milford gets 6 meters of rain a year. My bus ride there was sunny.
I set out for my cruise on Friday morning, on a sunny day with few clouds and a bright blue sky. It was a photographer’s dream. Snow-capped mountain peaks reflecting out of the crystal clear still water. Cool wind blew across the bow as we sailed past the waterfalls. Met a Spanish couple that I chatted with quite a bit. I will forever remember the girl’s eyes, as they were the most incredibly stunning eyes I have ever seen. Oh, I was talking about Milford Sound, right. Anyway, it was great, as my slides will confirm. There is a sad part of the story though. About 2/3 through the journey, I realized the shutter on my camera broke, and that it’s likely the roll of film didn’t take. It was a painful blow, with photography being my main goal on this trip, and the weather at Milford is not often so wonderful. It really made me think a lot about how I would cope, and that I would find a way to creatively solve the dilemna.
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