Milford Sound, the fiord that is not a sound

In geography, a sound is a valley carved by a river and then drowned by the sea. A fiord is a valley carved by a glacier, then flooded when the ice melted. The early European sailors who named the inlets of New Zealand's south-west coast didn't make the distinction. A Welsh-born sealer named this one after Milford Haven in his home country, and Milford Sound it has stayed, even though it is, strictly, a fiord. The region around it is called Fiordland, and its Māori name, Piopiotahi, refers to a native bird.

The fiord

Milford Sound runs inland from the Tasman Sea for about fifteen kilometres, between sheer walls of rock that rise straight from the water for more than a thousand metres. The glaciers that carved it left behind a deep, steep-sided trough, with hanging valleys high on its sides from which waterfalls drop into the fiord. Mitre Peak, a sharp pinnacle rising almost seventeen hundred metres from the water's edge, is the emblem of the fiord and one of the most photographed mountains in New Zealand. Stirling Falls and Lady Bowen Falls are the two great permanent waterfalls, pouring down the cliffs into the sea.

The fiord's waters are home to bottlenose dolphins, New Zealand fur seals, which bask on the rocks, and, in season, the rare Fiordland crested penguin. A layer of fresh water from the rain floats on top of the salt water, darkened by tannins from the forest. That allows some deep-water corals to grow unusually close to the surface.

Rain, and why it helps

Fiordland is one of the wettest places on earth. Milford Sound receives more than six metres of rain a year, falling on well over half the days. Visitors who arrive to find it pouring are often disappointed, but they shouldn't be. When it rains heavily, the cliffs come alive with hundreds of temporary waterfalls, cascading down from every ledge and gully, appearing within minutes of the rain starting and vanishing soon after it stops. A boat trip on the fiord in the rain, with the mist hanging on the peaks and the cliffs streaming with water, can be even more memorable than one in sunshine.

The fiord's best-known landmark is Mitre Peak, a sharp pyramid of rock rising almost seventeen hundred metres straight from the water, its shape said to resemble a bishop's mitre. Two waterfalls flow all year round, whatever the weather. Stirling Falls drops into the fiord from a hanging valley, and boats nose in close enough for passengers on deck to feel the spray. Lady Bowen Falls, near the wharf, supplies the small settlement with its water and power.

The Milford Track, which ends at the head of the fiord, is a walk of four days through the mountains and rainforest of Fiordland, and has long been called one of the finest walks in the world. Places on it are limited and need booking well ahead.

Getting there

The road to Milford Sound, from the lakeside town of Te Anau, is one of the most scenic drives in New Zealand, about a hundred and twenty kilometres through beech forest, past lakes and mirror pools and up through the mountains. It passes through the Homer Tunnel, a single-lane tunnel cut through the rock and opened in the 1950s, before descending in steep hairpins to the fiord. In winter and spring the road can be closed by snow or avalanche risk. Boat cruises on the fiord, lasting a couple of hours, are the usual way to see it. The Milford Track, a multi-day walk through the mountains to the head of the fiord, was described early in the twentieth century as the finest walk in the world. It must be booked well in advance.

The sandflies, small biting insects, are famous and ferocious, and insect repellent is essential.

Travelsphere's Discover New Zealand, twenty-one nights, includes Milford Sound and Te Anau, along with Queenstown, Franz Josef Glacier, Arthur's Pass, Christchurch, Dunedin and the North Island.

Just You's seventeen-night New Zealand tour for solo travellers includes Milford Sound and Te Anau with Queenstown, Franz Josef Glacier, Christchurch and the North Island. Explore Worldwide's New Zealand Explorer, eighteen nights, covers much of both islands, including the glaciers of the West Coast at Fox Glacier. Milford Sound is not among its listed places, so it is worth checking the itinerary if the fiord matters to you.

Whatever the weather, go. In sunshine Milford Sound is magnificent. In the rain, it is something else again.