Fiordland Landscapes
“Fiordland, a vast tract of mountainous terrain that occupies the southwest corner of South Island is one of the most astonishing pieces of land anywhere on God’s earth, and one’s first impulse, standing on a cliff top surveying it all, is simply to burst into spontaneous applause.”
Douglas Adams
Fiordland is New Zealand’s least explored part, and is one of the greatest wildernesses of the southern hemisphere. The scenery is the result of over 500 million years of sculpting, with the landscape relentlessly ground, split, pressurised and washed down by the elements. Fiordland National Park covers 2.9 million acres and is a region dominated by forest and water. Its 14 fiords and 5 major lakes, the work of ice age glaciers, flanked by steep mountains, clad with thick, temperate rainforest, make the interior virtually impenetrable except along its 310 miles of tracks. Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound and the other sounds are in fact fiords. Sounds are flooded river valleys, like the Marlborough Sounds at the top of the South Island, whereas fiords are valleys carved by the tremendous pressure and power of glaciers during successive ice ages, then later flooded by the sea as the ice melts and sea levels rise.
Doubtful Sound was named by Captain Cook in 1770 when looking at the narrow entrance to the sound, he was doubtful that he could safely get his vessel in and out. The Maori name for the area is Patea, meaning the place of silence. The 25 mile long fiord is Fiordland’s second longest and, at 421 metres, the deepest. Like most of Fiordland, Doubtful Sound receives a high amount of rainfall, ranging from an annual average of 3 to 6 metres. The vegetation on the mountainous landscape surrounding the fiord is dense native rainforest. In comparison with Milford Sound, it is more widespread, with the cliffs not as dramatically tall and near vertical. Unlike the more easily accessible Milford Sound, it is not possible to drive to Doubtful Sound. Getting to Doubtful Sound is an adventure in itself, involving two boat trips and, from Queenstown, two coach trips including one over a mountain pass. Wilmot Pass is a 671 metre high pass on the main divide of the South Island connecting Doubtful Sound to the valley of the west arm of Lake Manapouri. The pass is crossed by a 13 mile gravel road, the only road on the New Zealand mainland which is disconnected from the rest of the road network. These are images from the first day.
And these are images from the second day.
Milford Sound is the most northern of the 14 fiords and the only one accessible by road. The road to Milford, which was completed in 1953, is a spectacular alpine drive, with many points of interest and short nature walks long the 74 miles from Te Anau. It follows a path originally travelled by the Maori people, who journeyed by foot over the mountains to Milford Sound as early as 1,000 years ago to hunt, fish and search for pounamu, a type of greenstone. The road passes through Homer Tunnel, almost a mile long  and completed over 18 years, initially by a 5 man team using only picks and shovels. Construction was started during the depression in the 1930s and the men endured great hardship, working in an area prone to landslides, earthquakes and avalanches. The east portal end is at 945 metre elevation and runs down at approximately a 1 in 10 gradient to the western portal.
Milford Sound holds the distinction of being the wettest inhabited place in New Zealand and indeed one of the wettest places in the world with an average rainfall of 7 metres each year. I have now been there 3 times, twice on this tour and once in 2008, and it hasn’t rained on any of my visits. Milford Sound is named after Milford Haven in Wales. With mountains rising 2,750 metres, sheer rock walls climbing 1,200 metres from deep fiords, and waterfalls tumbling 160 metres, the spectacular landscape attracts visitors from around the world.
This slideshow is a selection of images taken during the day trip I did on this Tiki Tour
I did an overnight cruise on the Milford Sound on this Tiki Tour as I wanted to capture images in the evening and morning light. You arrive at the Sound around 4pm after spending a leisurely day travelling along the Milford Road and stopped off at lots of the viewpoints. These are images from the evening on the Sound.
On the second day there is a tour of the Sound which follows the route of the day tours. As there is less traffic on the Sound at this time in the morning you get to see more of the wildlife within the Sound, and I was also treated to seeing fiordland crested penguins setting off for the day out in the water. We arrived back at the wharf after our tour at 9am. And these are images from the early morning cruise of the Sound.
I treated myself to a flight out of the Sound back to Queenstown rather than the coach option as I wanted to experience Milford Sound from the air. It was worth every penny and I would highly recommend this option as the views are spectacular.
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