Day 4 New Zealand - Milford Sound

July 07, 2010

Day 4 New Zealand - Milford Sound

Where was I? Oh yes, I was trying to finish up telling and showing pictures of my New Zealand trip that ended about 4 months ago now! It's taken me a while to get through all the pictures, but has been fun going back through them and remembering the trip as I go along.

On our 4th day in New Zealand, we visited Milford Sound, a fjord off the southwest side of the South Island. We traveled by bus from Queenstown, through the Fjordland National Park to get to our boat that would take us around the towering mountains and all the way out to the Tasman Sea. As far as I am concerned, this is one of the most strikingly beautiful places on earth. With so much to see and absorb in New Zealand, it is surely hard to pick a favorite place. After returning from Milford Sound, however, I remarked to Karen how all the other mountains seemed so tiny after that place! :)

What really struck me about this area when looking about the sheer cliffs as we drove through the park were the dozens and dozens of trickling waterfalls we saw (see pic above). At first, I didn't realize they were waterfalls because from a distance they appeared to be just cracks or dark lines in the cliffs, but as I opened my eyes I was just astounded by the beauty all around us. Out at Milford Sound was the most incredible waterfall, Stirling Falls. Though we were prepared for rain- it rains two-thirds of the days of the year out here- we luckily had a rain-free day, great for viewing and photographing the sights of this magnificent place. Another neat thing we saw were some seals sunning themselves on a rock (picture below). More pictures at my photo website as well. Click here for the next post in this journey :)