Blogs from Milford Sound, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 4

Now That's Saying Something When You're In Fiordland Everything I'd ever read on New Zealand prepared me for the beautiful scenery, the welcoming people, and the abundance of activities available to do in this amazing country. What they didn't mention was that they have their very own Dracula!!! My ankles are not the most desirable thing on the planet usually but to these blood suckers it must be nirvana. I now seem to have my own model of the mountainous terrain that is so famous on the west coast of the South Island. The Black Sand Fly is a scourge on the country... and they seem to congregate in the most beautiful areas. So much so that there are even landmarks named after them. One such landmark in Sandfly Point in Milford Sound. The drive to ... read more

Seeing the Tasman Sea for the first time, I feel elated to realize that we are so far south in the Southern Hemisphere. The vast Fiordland National Park was created in 1952 and is one of New Zealand’s largest untamed wildernesses of which Milford Sound is a part. It was first discovered by a Welshman in 1809 who named it Milford Haven, but in 1851 this was later renamed Milford Sound by another Welshman. The floating Underwater Observatory, along the coast of the Sound, was a fascinating stop on our cruise. It was so interesting to see the fish underground in their natural habitat. The black coral is white while it’s alive and is hard to believe it’s made of such minuscule animals that create these exquisite tree-like branches. Many of the corals, fish, sea urchins, ... read more

I have been looking forward to today since I arrived in Te Anau, and excited about visiting Milford Sound since I first started reading about New Zealand. But first some information for you all – Milford Sound is the smallest of the 14 ‘sounds’ in fiordland. However, the ‘sounds’ aren’t sounds at all, but Fjords – hence the name fiordland. The difference being in the way they are created. Fjords are created by glaciers – the weight of the ice carving out big ‘v’ shaped valleys in the cliffs. Sounds are created by rivers – moving water, which does not have the same power and weight as ice and forms shallower carvings. Therefore the ‘sounds’ in the fiordland were all incorrectly named, when this was realised, to rectify this, the whole area was named ‘fiordland’. You ... read more

I can’t remember whether I was coming or going, or where indeed that somewhere might have been. I’m not even sure if this particular conversation occurred before or after The Lord of the Rings had cast its spells over us all. I do remember I was stood on an Underground platform somewhere beneath the streets of London, with a backpack slung over my shoulder when a man in a suit made eye contact, approached, and proceeded to talk to me. Having lived in London for the first twenty years of my life I was fully conditioned to know that this type of behavior isn’t customary, so it came as no surprise when fellow passengers abruptly stopped what they weren’t really doing, and stared. It was the international backpackers’ frat-code which had enabled this breach of the ... read more

Approaching NewZealand the ship made a very quick stop at Milford Sound at 8 am to drop off some passengers who had paid for an overnight excursion overland along the fiord. We slept through this. However, the scenery we sailed past whilst having breakfast was spectacular. Shul was interesting (?) I made it in time for the Torah reading and then to witness a battle between the leader of Mussaf and some congregants. He wanted to speed along without singing or even time to take a breath whilst the congregants wanted the opposite. This was followed by kiddush and lunch. We had our Christmas turkey a few days early :) Then a Shabbat shluf for 2 1/2 hours. Then our Shabbat treat - ice cream. By this time all we could see was sea and white-capped ... read more