Coming into Milford sound there were hundreds of waterfalls with shear cliffs and lots of cloud and fog. The atmosphere through the valley is incredible like you expected dinosaurs to pop out somewhere.
Bowen falls was pumping due to all the rain.
The famous Mitre Peak with Sinbads valley to the left.
This hanging valley was formed by a huge glacier.
Stirling falls
They put some trays of glasses on the front of the boat and filled them up under a waterfall to show us how clean and fresh the water is
There were plenty of seals showing off to the boat
We drove right underneath stirling falls. I stood on the front deck and got completely wet through
We stopped off at the underwater observatory.
Because it rains so much in fiordland the first 5m of water is all fresh and full of tannin. Thus, the seawater underneath is really dark and this causes species such as black coral to grow at 6m instead of their usual 300m in the open ocean. This picture shows the dividing layer between salt and fresh as you walk down the steps of the observatory.
Bottom of the observatory with black coral and fish
The black coral is white and only turns black when it dies
There were plenty of fish and marine life at the artifical gardens.
On the way out of Milford Sound we stopped at the Chasm a big waterfall where the rock has been eroded away in big holes.
The homer tunnel: one of the most rugged tunnels I have been through, probably the longest in New Zealand. The tunnel is one way with a wait of up to 15 minutes. It really funny watching all the keas go attack the cars and campervans while they wait.
20 November 2010
We finally got out to Milford Sound and had a cruise. It was incredible!!!
We went with a smaller boat so we could get out on the decks and get up close to the waterfalls and seals. We didnt manage to see any crested penguins or dolphins so hopefully we will when we do doubtful sound.
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