Milford Sound

Milford Sound: The Drive Is Half the Point

Milford Sound is a fiord (not a sound – it was misidentified by an early European surveyor) on the southwest coast of New Zealand’s South Island, inside Fiordland National Park, 290 kilometres southwest of Queenstown. The fiord is 15 kilometres long, 2 kilometres wide at its widest point, and 290 metres deep. Mitre Peak, the most-photographed feature, rises 1,683 metres directly from the water. The annual rainfall is approximately 7 metres. On about 200 days of the year it rains.

The rainfall is not a problem and is often an advantage. Rain creates temporary waterfalls that appear all over the cliff faces when they would otherwise be dry. The permanent waterfalls – Stirling Falls (155 metres) and Bowen Falls (162 metres) – are at full volume throughout the year. Mist over the peaks in the aftermath of rain, when the cloud breaks and light comes through, is the most dramatic condition for photography. The tour boats that position under the falls to let passengers get sprayed are doing this rain or shine.

The Drive from Te Anau

The Milford Road (State Highway 94) runs 119 kilometres from Te Anau to Milford Sound and is classified as one of the most scenic alpine roads in the world. It genuinely earns the description. The road passes through beech forest, across the floor of river valleys with views of glaciated peaks, and through the Homer Tunnel, a 1.2-kilometre unlit tunnel bored through the solid rock of the Darran Range. The tunnel was started in 1935 by hand labour during the Depression as a relief work project and took 17 years to complete.

Above the tunnel on the Milford side, the road descends through a U-shaped glacial valley with waterfalls coming off the walls above and the Cleddau River below. The Chasm walk, 10 minutes from a roadside car park, follows the Cleddau through carved rock formations where the river passes through narrow channels. It takes 30 minutes return and is worth stopping for.

Allow at least 2 hours each way for the drive, not counting stops. The road is single-lane in some sections and has traffic control at busy periods. Driving it at dawn gets you to Milford before the tour coach convoys arrive.

Cruises

A boat cruise on the fiord is the main activity. Real Journeys and Cruise Milford both operate regular departures; trips run 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours for the standard cruise, long enough to reach the open Tasman Sea at the fiord mouth and return. In good conditions, Mitre Peak reflects in the water and the scale of the cliffs is comprehensible at water level in a way it is not from the road. In rain, the falls are better.

Standard cruise tickets cost approximately $75-90 NZD per adult. Overnight cruises with berths aboard the vessel allow you to be on the fiord at dawn and dusk, which are the best light conditions. These cost $300-500 NZD and need advance booking.

Kayaking on the fiord is available from a launch point near the wharf. A guided half-day kayak takes you along the base of the cliffs into sections the tour boats cannot reach, with stops at Stirling Falls. Cost is approximately $120-150 NZD.

The Milford Track

The Milford Track is a 53.5-kilometre, 4-day guided or independent walk from the end of Lake Te Anau to Milford Sound, widely described as “the finest walk in the world” in a phrase that dates to 1908. The walk crosses the Main Divide through Mackinnon Pass (1,154 metres) and descends through rainforest to the fiord. The pass section in good weather gives panoramic views across Fiordland; in rain it gives a direct understanding of why the rainfall statistics are what they are.

Guided walk places and independent hut bookings are limited and released through the Department of Conservation booking system at a specific date each year. Both sell out within hours. Season runs from October through April. Independent hut bookings cost approximately $70 NZD per night; the guided walk is approximately $2,000-2,500 NZD per person for the full experience including accommodation and meals.

Staying Near the Fiord

Accommodation at Milford Sound itself is limited: the Milford Sound Lodge is the only option at the fiord (dormitory and private rooms, from around $60-200 NZD). Most visitors stay in Te Anau, which has a full range of hotels, motels, and backpacker hostels at lower prices than Queenstown.

Doubtful Sound, accessible from Manapouri 22 kilometres south of Te Anau, is a larger and considerably less visited fiord that requires a longer trip (half-day boat crossing of Lake Manapouri, a bus over Wilmot Pass, then a boat on the fiord). If you have two days available for Fiordland rather than one, Doubtful Sound is the more remote and more affecting experience.