Bowen Falls

Milford Sound has the reputation to be the best tourist attraction of New Zealand. We're happy that we did save the best till last as we are very close to the end of our New Zealand tour.

So what is the Milford Sound? If I had to guess I'd say its the sound of crashing water and waterfalls 🤭. A Sound is actually a geological term for an area of flooded valleys similar to a Fjord.
The difference being that a Fjord is created by glacier and Sound is carved out by a river. It turns out that Milford Sound is technically a Fjord and not a Sound at all. When the first European explorers arrived the glaciers had all but disappeared so they assumed, incorrectly that the area was formed by rivers, hence the name. By the time they discovered their mistake they had already advertised it as a sound and no one wanted to change the name, so it stuck, confusing tourists and annoying geologists for generations.

Milford Sound is the only Sound in the region that is accessible by road, so we took our wheels and off we went. Just out of town we saw a guy hitch-hiking. We saw quite a lot of hitch hikers while we were in the van, but we didn't have an extra seat so this time we didn't hesitate to pick him up ! There is only one road to go up Milford Sound so we were definitely on the same path. After a brief chat we found out that he is on his way to do a 5 days hike in the region and that he works as a ranger for the DOC (Department Of Conservation). Lucky for us, he has worked in the region for a few months so he was super knowledgeable on which roadside stops are worth doing along the road.

We started by the Eglinton flats. Quite impressive to see the mountains coming up from the flat. It was also a very nice light with clouds in the distance. Second stop is the mirror lake. Less luck on this one as it started raining so not so much of mirror and we had a good gauge of how touristy this bit of road is. A lot of buses coming in from as far as Queenstown, an almost 5h drive! A bit further down the road and we stop to drop our hitch-hiker and on we go to our stop for our little walk, only 3hours. It was a very nice walk, very steep and rocky and muddy but fun! The reward at the top is Marian lake. A glacier lake nestled between high mountains. Very good spot for a picnic even if the bees kept flying around us!

Back in the car for the last stretch of driving until our chalet for the night. We decided that we want to experience the scenery in the evening and morning so this was the best option, however off budget it was... This is the only accomodation available here so they have the monopoly! It was totally worth it though. After relaxing in our room with a view of 8 waterfall (yes we counted) we went for dinner at the lodge restaurant, a very good meal! After a busy day we fall asleep with to sound of rain.
Next morning and we wake up with again this fantastic view, only this time 9 waterfalls! One waterfall probably got created by the rain at night. We get breakfast in our chalet and we're off for our cruise through the Fjord.

Cruising down the Fjord is the most popular way to see the area as you can see all its beauty from within the valley. As we boarded our little boat we saw a huge cruise ship which had come up from the ocean to have a peak at the incredible scenary. The cruise ship really helped to put into perspective just how big some of the waterfalls really are. We sailed down one side of the Fjord, out to the open ocean and then back up the other side, taking in the amazing scenary and all the waterfalls along the way.

One of the tour operators have also opened an Underwater viewing platform to see the odd fish and coral that live here. Because of the mud and grit rich fresh water which flows into the Fjord and sits on top of the sea water flowing in from the sea, it is able to sustain life that would normally need to live a lot deeper in the open ocean. At just 10m depth we could see coral and fish that usually live below 60m where its difficult for humans to go. It was nice to see all the underwater animals while staying dry.

We came back on shore with the rain, a nudge for us to get going on our long drive to Queenstown. It was a magic place and we are glad that we kept it for the end!Read more