"Milford Sound" Milford Sound by worldkiwi

Milford Sound is the only one of the fiords (fjords) in Southland, that is accessible by car. Because of that it is visited by hundreds of tourists. Don't let that put you off going though. The scenery is magical and quite stunning. A cruise on the "sound" (it's technically not a sound), is a must do for any visitor to this part of the country.
Milford Sound is in Fiordland National Park and a world heritage area, so please don't litter or damage the environment.

Cleddau Valley - road to Milford.

I drove to Milford, very early one morning. The drive takes just under two hours if you don't stop to take photos. As it was dark for most of my journey, that wasn't a problem. The road is well marked and lightly trafficked at off-peak times of the day. Later, there are lots of tourist coaches on the road. I believe the journey by coach from Te Anau is about twice as long, with lots of stops at scenic points along the way. You can fly to Milford from Queenstown or Te Anau. If you are driving, please remember to stay on the left side of the road. The speed limit is 100km/h, but because the road is not straight, you should not try to drive at that speed.
It is possible to take a coach trip from Queenstown that will return you there at the end of the day. It is a very long day trip and it wouldn't be my cup of tea.

Most tourists visit Milford Sound for a cruise and leave again afterwards. I chose to do an early morning cruise on a smaller boat. It was cold (and I ended up with a cold by the end of the day), but it was worth the dark drive through misty landscapes and the chilly deck for the glorious views and the lack of crowds. My cruise left at 0900 and returned to the harbour at about 1045. The cruise took me the legnth of the fiord and provided commentary on what we were seeing. Free tea and coffee were available. A bonus was seeing the rising sun light up Mitre Peak and we also saw a rare Fiordland Crested Penguin, which apparently shouldn't have really been there. The boat stopped beside cute NZ Fur Seals that were resting on a rock and some of them were jumping around in the water.

• Pros:Awesome, stunning, magical, imposing scenery.
• Cons:It's cold and can rain a lot.
• In a nutshell:Right at the top of the must see list for any visit to NZ.