Milford Sound is not, in fact, a sound at all. 'Sounds' are valleys that lead to the sea cut by rivers whereas the Milford valley was cut by a glacier making it a true fjord (does that mean anything to anyone or did I just say "blah, blah, blah"?!). The result is massive vertical valley sides dropping into a really deep narrow channel, which weaves between cliff faces before reaching the open (Tasman) sea. I don't think I'm explaining myself very well and hopefully the pictures will save me again. Anyway, we went on a cruise (oh yes we are very posh - didn't you know?!) as the only way to see the fjord is from the water (and we woosed out of kayaking as it's SO cold).
Fiordland (that's the name of the region as there are lots of fjords, Milford is just the most well known as it's the most accessible i.e. there are no roads to the others) has about eight metres of rainfall a year (that's a lot) and it hasn't rained for the last six days which officially makes it a drought (mad!). So because it's so wet there are hundreds of waterfalls which flow down the faces of the valley sides making it look absolutely magical. Stirling Falls is 155m tall, which is actually three times as high as Niagra Falls, but you'd never know it from looking at it as it is dwarfed by the mountains either side of it which are 1700m (or a mile) high!
Even though the valley sides are almost vertical they're covered with trees in what seems to be the most impossible way. It's called 'catastrophe forest' (apparently) and only about a quarter of the trees actually touch the rock-face. They're held in place by a complex system of roots which all cling to one and other. So when one tree falls it has a "catastrophic" domino effect and whole swathes of them fall into the sea (see how much I've learned? I even took notes - what a swot!!).
The person to discover the place was a Welsh fella (Cook sailed right passed it as you can't see that there's an opening from out at sea. The Welsh guy - yeah sorry I didn't write his name down, had some sort of problems with his ship so came ashore only to discover the place by accident. Of course the Maoris had known about it for generations and had been visiting regularly, despite it being so inhospitable, in search of jade, which has huge spiritual significance in their culture, and can be found on the near-by beaches). So the Welsh fella named the place Milford, after his home town, and all the mountains and rivers surrounding it have Welsh names too.
Ben:
There are more pictures here!
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