Fiordland National Park & Milford Sound

Day 11: Fiordland National Park, Mirror Lakes, Milford Sound, Te Anau, Meeting Reese

Day 11 was one of the days I was looking forward to the most. In typical Marc fashion, I wasn't able to sleep the entire bus ride down from Queenstown to Fiordland National Park on our way to Milford sound. It was quite the ride as our Cheeky Kiwi driver Reese quickly became part of the group as all the tour participants enjoyed his fun facts, cheeky sense of humor, and the fact he looked a little like Obi Wan Kenobi. Safe to say, Reese was a hit.

We stopped several times in our journey to capture photos of the beautiful landscapes of New Zealand including the flat glacial plains leading to dramatic mountain ranges stretching hundreds of miles in each direction, the mirror lakes, rushing waterfalls, and rainforest walks along rushing rapids and rivers.

Milford Sound: it's hard to figure out exactly how to describe it and the photos don't really do it justice. It's really just an absolutely incredible part of nature that deserves its places as one of the many natural wonders of the world. It's one of those places where you don't want the sun to come out, because the clouds and fog only add to the natural beauty and mystery of the fjord. Fun fact, Milford Sound is not actually a sound as a sound is usually formed by the flooding of a river valley, not a glacial valley. However, the first explorers didn't know glaciers formed the landscape at the time and so proclaimed them sounds. It's really one of those places on earth that has to be seen in person to truly enjoy and understand.Read more