Fiordland & Milford Sound

Even in a country renowned for its magnificent natural scenery, Fiordland National Park on the South Island in New Zealand’s far southwest corner is something else. Dubbed the ‘8th wonder of the world’ by Rudyard Kipling after a visit in 1891, Fiordland is a staggeringly beautiful, confoundingly remote wilderness. Of 15 glacier carved fiords in the park, only one –Milford Sound – can be easily reached by road, while only four of them can be explored on foot.

In wet weather – and it rains on average around 200 days of the year in Fiordland – dozens of waterfalls cascade down the valley sides. The Sutherland Falls near Milford Sound are reckoned to be among the highest in the world. Dense beech forest clings to the rock, and ‘tree avalanches’ are common, where great swathes of vegetation tear away and tumble down to the water.

The glacier-carving process has resulted in pristine glacial lakes and islands, around which bottlenose dolphins, fur seals and crested penguins can be found, while the park is also a safe haven for many species of endangered birds. Most people choose to explore Fiordland and Milford Sound by boat tours, and the sheer scale of the region, dominated by snowcapped mountains, is awe inspiring. This is one of those rare places that seems to always out-do your expectations.