Milford Fjord

---

Milford Sound

If you do not like the sound of the name ‘sound’ for an arm of the sea, you can call it by a few other names like inlet, estuary, channel, branch, strait. I checked on the Net. “The Oxford Pocket Thesaurus of Current English; 2006” says so.

However, the New Zealand brochure uses the word “fjordland” to describe the area with arms of the sea extending in the land.

But, then, why not call it a bay or a creek or a backwater? Yes, there is a reason for that. According to the definition, a ‘fjord’ is a long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea between steep slopes.

Milford fjord fits the definition. Anyway, it sounds much better than Milford sound. The Maori word “Piopiotahi” sounds even better, but has limited circulation.

With great trepidation, I answer Shakespeare’s query “What's in a name?” “A lot” I would say. Not for nothing, Edgar Rice Burrows conducted deep research for macho-sounding names before he decided upon ‘Tarzan’. Milford fjord’s beauty will not be lessened if you call it Milford Sound’s pulchritude, but it will sound awful.

Our one-day trip to Milford fjord started quite early in the morning. We were ready and waiting for the bus at 6:45. It was cold and dark. The bus came a bit late but we were apprehensive that the bus had already left for Milford fjord. The New Zealand tour buses are generally very punctual and do not wait for the late tourists. (No, no, I mean the tourists who are late.)

The sight of the spectacular sunrise over the snow peaks was our compensation for getting up early and suffering the cold of a winter morning. The ground was frosted over and the grass looked white instead of green. Even the smallest blade of grass was hung with beads of frozen dewdrops. The tiny sound(fjord? Oh, no, it is ‘sound’) of crunching crisp frost under our shoes exhilarated us. (I was actually jumping on the frost whenever I got the chance to do it)

The road to Milford fjord passes through such diverse gentle settings like open grassy valley, deep dark rainforest with trees meeting overhead in a canopy and lakes mirroring the gentle snow peaks. However, beyond Homer Tunnel the scene changes abruptly to sharp craggy snow-covered cliffs hemming in a narrow strip of the road. The mountains are scarred with signs of past avalanches, and you are afraid to breathe, lest it may bring an avalanche crashing down and burying your bus in the snow.

The driver told us that Edmund Hillary, who was a New Zealander, had practiced mountaineering on these mountains before his conquest of the Everest. “Everest must have seemed like a breeze to Edmund Hillary after this baby here” he said proudly.

I beg to differ. Our driver had not probably seen Everest. We have. It is not exactly a piece of cake for anyone, though it DOES look like a Black Forest Gateau from far away. It is black because not much snow can accumulate over its steep sides. Lhotse and Nupse have more snow cover compared to it. Though tall mountains in their own right, they become totally dwarfed before this Black Diamond. All of this is a first-hand account, mind you, because we had taken a flight from Kathmandu that took us within five miles of the Everest on a clear day. We were lucky.

This part of NZ reminded us of Nepal in more ways than one. There was a ‘Chasm’ in which a river just went underground to emerge somewhere else. Before vanishing into the ground, it had sculpted the surrounding rocks in fantastic shapes. We had seen a similar chasm in Nepal.

Even before we had exhaled the breath that we were holding for fear of an avalanche, we were looking at the snowcapped Mitre Peak of the Milford fjord looking like the Paramount Pictures’ icon without the stars. It again took our breath away.

We were always short of breath in this part of NZ.

The Milford cruise takes you through the fjord to the Tasman Sea. The cruise would have been a tranquil experience but for three hundred tourists milling around in our boat, and there were four or five boats on the fjord. This is the condition in the off-season. During the peak season, there would be even more tourists on the fjord.

It was a very enjoyable cruise all the same. The steep green slopes and snow peaks were reflected in the deep blue of the water. The green, snowcapped sides of the fjord sported lovely waterfalls fringed with rainbows. Even the white wake of the boat looked beautiful. In this paradise, a baby seal climbed onto a rock ledge, adjusted itself in the most comfortable position and went to sleep. Near the mouth of the fjord, where it meets the Tasman Sea, the deep blue-green color of the fjord became pale blue of the open sea. A ship with all its sails billowing in the wind and looking like a pirate ship added a sense of adventure to the whole scene. (This is the effect of seeing ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie ten times, silly me)

We came back to Queenstown through a glorious sunset and a glorious full moonrise. The full moon seen through a tracery of lacy leafless Poplar trees was another unforgettable sight.

Thanks to the off-season, we saw the Mitre Peak with its snow intact. The next day in town, we saw some photos taken during summer, which showed the same Mitre Peak, totally devoid of snow and looking like any of a number of green hills surrounding lakes in Mumbai.

Needless to say, that the lakes and the green hills do not impress us much. We are from the tropical belt and unfamiliar with snow. So, it is the snow that attracts us, though I wish sometimes that the snow wouldn’t be quite so cold.

One Australian fellow traveler appeared to be particularly critical of New Zealand. New Zealand has practically no predators. So the sheep, cattle and deer are out in the open grassy plots surrounded by fences.

“That is because you do not have snakes or crocodiles or dingos like we have.” The Australian said truculently to our New Zealander guide, who meekly acknowledged this deficiency on the part of his country.

One wild Kea bird was feeding near our bus. It was totally unafraid of the tourists. “That is because you do not have any predators” accused the Australian. The New Zealander squirmed.

Even the baby seal sleeping peacefully on its rock brought forth the comment from the Australian “See the seal? It wouldn’t be sleeping so carelessly if you had crocodiles.”
The New Zealander was helpless against this injustice of the God that did not bless his country with creatures like snakes, crocodiles and dingos.

[Don’t worry, my fair New Zealand! The Australian has thrown down the gauntlet, and here comes your knight in the shining armor, galloping on her white charger to take up the challenge on your behalf, Charu the Invincible, The Champion of the Downtrodden, of the House of the Natus. Notice the heraldic device on the pennant of her lance? It is the Tiger, of the House of the Felines]

I turned my lance, er, I mean, my glance towards the Australian and sweetly said “But you do not have any tigers or panthers or pythons or rhinos or bears - other than the cute, cuddly Koala bears, of course. We have all these in addition to the snakes, crocodiles and dingos that you have in Australia.”

The Australian was vanquished. The New Zealander rejoiced.

So, we bade farewell to the predator-less New Zealand and came back bursting with pride that our country that has all these predators and more.

---

Photos

Homer Tunnel
The Homer tunnel covered with snow here is an engineering marvel

The Chasm
The Chasm where a river is vanishing into the ground

The Kea bird
The Kea was totally tame though wild

The Mitre Peak
The 'most photographed' Mitre Peak

The wake of our boat
The white wake also looks beautiful

The 'pirate ship'
The "Pirate ship" of the Tasman sea

Spot the baby seal
The baby seal is so well camouflaged that it is difficult to see it. It is on the left side in the middle

One waterfall
Of the several waterfalls, this was the most beautiful

One more waterfall
This one is also very lovely