16. Milford Sound (Hike) Track

The Milford Sound Track (trail) is a popular 33 mile track located in the tropical forest of the Fjordlands in the southwest part of South Island. The scenic, rugged landscape is known for its natural beauty, making it a very popular sight-seeing and filming location. We did an 8 mile out and back portion of the trail from Sandfly Point.

(As an fyi to those who are interested - Milford Sound and areas of Fiordland National Park were used to depict the Misty Mountains during filming of The Lord of the Rings, and the area again used extensively in The Hobbit Trilogy. )

The trail was pretty easy, nothing like our Mt.Cook hike, offering views of pristine, unadultered nature. While the focus was on the flowing river, waterfalls, flora & fauna, one of the birds we saw was a NZ pigeon, also known as the drunk pigeon. I couldn't snap the photo fast enough, but added an online pic to this post. The pigeon is frugivorous, preferring fruit from native trees. After gorging, they sun themselves to help with digestion. This in turn causes the fruit to ferment into alcohol, intoxicating the bird. They then exhibit corresponding behavior like falling out of trees and flying into things. I kid you not! Our tour guide actually got hit in the head by one!

A beautiful way to spend the morning on a beautiful day.Read more