The 8th Wonder of The World

March 15

A few hours later in Milford Sound makes a world of difference. We awoke to blue skies, a comfortable temperature and a great breakfast delivery from the lodge kitchen.

The storm had passed as quickly as it arrived. Mother Nature was smiling down on us once again.

In 1891, British author Rudyard Kipling called Milford Sound “the eighth wonder of the world” because of its majestic natural beauty. The mountains grow out of the water and disappear into the clouds. The dark fjord waters glisten and the forest cliffs sparkle with every color of green you can imagine. Waterfalls cascade from the summits straight down the mountainsides.

We got to experience this place from an entirely new angle and perspective from when we were here a week ago at the end of our Milford Track. Then, we cruised around the Sound for 90 minutes.

Rosco’s Milford Kayaks offered a Sunriser kayak tour, which I booked months ago when I made our hotel arrangements, as it’s just up the road from the lodge. We arrived at 8 a.m. and got suited up in long johns, a fleece jacket and a waterproof raincoat, followed by a kayak spray skirt and life jacket. We were ready for the elements.

Nazomi was our water guide and she instructed us about kayak safety before we climbed into our double kayak. As we paddled, she taught us about the birds and sea life and shared Māori legends about the surrounding mountains.

She also told us the Māori word for sandfly – namu – means little devils. Legend has it the Goddess of Death released sandflies into Milford Sound in an attempt to keep people away from such a beautiful place.

We explored the fjord nearly 4 hours and kayaked for almost 7 miles, but it didn’t seem like that much. The water was so calm and there was no wind, which made our job pretty effortless. We saw Pembroke Glacier in the distance, covered in snow. It feeds the permanent Stirling Waterfall, the one we were under in that video on the Milford Cruise.

Mitre Peak was clearly visible today in such good weather. Bowen Falls was ferociously falling after the storm last night.

It’s also the other permanent waterfall in Milford Sound. We paddled and chatted and stopped repeatedly to admire the majestic views.

We saw a fur seal swimming in the water and stopped to watch, as it playfully circled around our group.

This morning’s adventure was another standout experience of our trip.

Back at the lodge, we ordered lunch to be delivered to our room so we could relax and enjoy the views. We ate, napped and worked on the blog.

We decided to skip dinner since we weren’t hungry and went for a drive. Chasm Creek wasn’t far and we were looking forward to a 45 minute walk, but it was closed off after 5 minutes due to trail maintenance. Bummer.

We got back in the car and went to a few other places to check out the mountain vistas.

Then we drove up to Mitre Peak Lodge, our last Milford hike accommodation, as it had the best views for watching the sunset. It wasn’t as impressive as our previous viewing, but still pretty nice.

Once it got dark, we went on a kiwi finding mission that Nazomi told us about. If you quietly walk up the road from our lodge after sunset and listen closely, you may hear rustling in the bushes. Shine a red light, not a flashlight, and the kiwis will come out.

We bundled up against the cold and sandflies and ventured out onto the road. They had closed the tunnel so there was no car traffic in either direction. We walked alongside the bushes and listened. Nothing. We ran into other kiwi hunters, our fellow kayak friends from The Netherlands who we met this morning. We were all on the same expedition.

All we saw were glow worms and some pretty awesome stars.

After half an hour I aborted the mission. Mitch stayed out with the other couple for another hour, but they didn’t find any.

(The following day, our kayak friends hunted again and had great success. Check out the video. It’s too bad we didn’t see them first hand. Nevertheless the video is pretty cool since we were right there on the hunt the night before.)