Battling elements

Over five weeks after our first visit to Milford Sound, we are now returning. You may remember me saying how we wanted to see it from the land, and to experience the drive down the Milford Road from Te Anau - and today’s the day! 

We start our journey in bright sunshine, but increasingly the rain sets in - and boy, when it rains here, it really rains! But there are moments when the dark clouds clear, and rays of sunlight produce magical rainbows, almost fluorescent against the dark skies. Besides, the low clouds clinging to the imposing hills and mountains add to a sense of majesty and mystery. Of course in current conditions, the Mirror Lakes cannot live up to their name, but the waterfalls are just amazing!  

We’re following an audio guide which provides information on the geophysical features, fauna and flora and the history of this road itself - not completed until 1954, the whole story one of determination and hard work from both teams and individuals. To be honest, we’re surprised at just how good this road is - but then it carries over half a million people along it’s 117 km each year. 

We’re held at lights outside the Homer Tunnel, one way traffic operating all year but for the winter month when avalanche threats mean queuing traffic is at risk. We wait our turn, then trundle through the final stage of our journey which has been punctuated by regular stops to admire the wet and misty views, watching the ever changing landscape as different peaks emerge from or disappear into cloud. 

We’re cruising the sound once more this afternoon, in one of the many small excursion boats that ply this stunning stretch of water. Part of me feels we were wrong to make this return visit - especially as by now visibility is virtually zero - but once we set off on the water, I realise that this is exactly what we need. We need to see Milford in an entirely different mood  - and this is certainly a total contrast to our December visit. 

There are only two permanent water falls at Milford - Stirling and Bowen. Today there are quite literally thousands. Everywhere you look, water streams down the almost sheer sides, line after line of white streaking the dark rock and vegetation. Many are like fine strands of hair - from a distance at least, but others join together to form significant cascades of water, sprays of a more diffuse white rising from the rocks as they crash down to the sea. And then we notice something strange; some cascades have been stopped in their tracks, water seemingly held stationary, frozen into jagged forms. These are ‘reverse waterfalls’, cascades of water held by the power of the wind, the spray swept swirling upwards. Some of these swirls appear to twist and dance, forming ethereal shapes like some kind of fiord spirit. It’s just mesmerising to watch. 

Of course, not only do we see Milford in a very different mood, but we’re in a smaller boat, closer to the water so its sheer magnitude is even greater. And we can get closer to the rocks, enabling us to watch some young fur seals just ‘hanging out’. It also means the skipper can take the boat in close to Stirling Falls - at 151m, three times the height of Niagra, and today fed by such extraordinary forces that the water thunders into towering spray. Of course, I’m standing at the front, taking photographs of this natural wonder, mindful of the warning that we’re likely to get wet. Foolishly, I imagine a fairly gentle spray, but I’m not expecting the sensation of someone throwing a giant bucket of glacial water right into my face. Judging by the response of others, they’re as surprised as I am, and we struggle to get back inside the cabin as the doors are held tight shut by the power of the wind. I’m completely drenched despite my rain jacket - and I didn’t even manage to get a shot! Of course, we’re all more amused than distressed by the event, and as usual, I’m more worried about my camera than myself; even though I wasn’t using it at the time, it’s pretty wet - but it seems superficial and is quickly dried which is more that can be said of me! 

We have a slightly tedious visit to the underwater viewing gallery at the Discovery Centre. Illustrating the unique marine environment created by a top layer of darker fresh water over the far deeper layer of seawater and how this enables species like rare black coral to thrive, it is interesting but just a tad too long …..

Returned to land, it’s time to check in to our accommodation for the next two nights- the lovely Milford Sound Lodge. It’s a bit of an indulgence, this one, but our riverside chalet is gorgeous as is the food. 

But then, as bed time approaches, I become more and more uneasy about the following morning when for some bizarre reason, we’ve booked a sunrise kayak trip out on the sound …. 

Today’s star just has to be a reverse waterfall - much better large in black if you have time - the cascade held in midair by the wind, with extras giving a wider view of the conditions. And just to show how differently things started, there are rainbows and sunshine from the journey start!