In our edition of the book 1000 Places to See Before you Die, ten of those places are in New Zealand. We were able to check off another spot after our trip to Milford Sound. According to Rudyard Kipling, Milford Sound is the Eighth Wonder of the World, and despite a supremely rainy day, we understand why.
From Queenstown, we booked a daylong coach/cruise/air tour of the Fiord-intensive region. The alpine drive from Queenstown took nearly 4 hours and included interesting commentary and a pass through the 1.2 kilometer Homer Tunnel. Enroute to Milford Sound, we crossed the 45º south latitude, and I realized this is the farthest south I've ever been. (Interestingly, Coeur d'Alene is 47.677º north.)
The 2-hour cruise was wet but stunning! Normally four permanent waterfalls drop from the steep rocky walls surrounding the Sound, but the non-stop rain produced countless, spectacular "temporary" waterfalls. With annual rainfall exceeding 7.5 metres (300+ inches), I suspect those temporary waterfalls are semi-permanent.
Unfortunately our aerial tour was cancelled due to weather, so we stayed on the bus for our return to Queenstown. When night fell, our driver played an excellent New Zealand-produced film, "The World's Fastest Indian," starring Anthony Hopkins. I highly recommend this movie - IMDB gives it a rating of 8.0, AND our bus driver was in it!
Holy cow! These pictures really took my breath away. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteWow! The Milford Sound sure looks beautiful! And, it is so different than everything on the North Island. It was SO great to Skype with you today!!! Glad you're having fun with Phil and Teri!
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