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, and you should want it to – rain creates hundreds of temporary waterfalls that cascade down the cliff faces when they would otherwise be dry, and the mist that lifts from the peaks after rain produces better photographs than any clear day.

The permanent waterfalls – Stirling Falls (155 metres) and Bowen Falls (162 metres) – are at full volume throughout the year regardless of weather. 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 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 relief workers during the Depression and took 17 years to complete; the atmosphere inside is intentionally unrefined.

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. If you skip the Chasm, you have missed one of the quieter pleasures of the drive.

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

Cruises

A boat cruise on the fiord is the main activity. Real NZ (formerly Real Journeys) and Cruise Milford both operate regular departures; the standard cruise runs 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours, long enough to reach the open Tasman Sea at the fiord mouth and return. Current standard cruise prices run around NZD 165-175 per adult for the basic cruise. 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.

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 NZD 300-500 and need advance booking. If you are choosing between a day cruise and an overnight cruise, the overnight is significantly better.

Kayaking on the fiord is available from 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 NZD 120-150.

The Milford Track

The Milford Track is a 53.5-kilometre, 4-day walk from the end of Lake Te Anau to Milford Sound, 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 experience of why the rainfall statistics are what they are.

Guided walk places and independent hut bookings are released through the Department of Conservation booking system and sell out within hours on release day. Season runs October through April. Independent hut bookings cost approximately NZD 70 per night; the guided walk is approximately NZD 2,000-2,500 per person all-inclusive.

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 NZD 60-200). 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 requiring a half-day expedition. If you have two days available for Fiordland rather than one, Doubtful Sound offers a more remote and in some ways more affecting experience – fewer people, longer trip, deeper into the Fiordland wilderness.