Dust on My Feet: The Many Moods of Milford Sound

Milford Sound is, perhaps, the most iconic sight to see in New Zealand. In the summer tens of thousands of tourists flock to this southern fjord hoping to get that picture-perfect photograph of Mitre Peak, ideally reflected in the surrounding placid waters. Milford Sound is accessed by a 120 kilometre road through spectacular mountain scenery from Te Anau. It is in Fiordland National Park, which forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage area known as Te Wahi Pounamu and, with an annual rainfall of over 7 metres, is one of the wettest places on earth. It is the most northerly of the New Zealand's fjords, and the smallest. The traveller crosses the 45th parallel on the road journey from Te Anau, which makes this natural wonder closer to the Equator that the South Pole.

The iconic view of Mitre Peak, Milford Sound

But does the weather have to be pristine to get the best of Milford Sound? I have probably been into Milford Sound with tour groups around 100 times and I can categorically answer NO to that common question I often get from apprehensive tourists. Despite the area's heavy annual rainfall, Fiordland is, more often than not, rain free and clear. When it rains, it rains. From my experience the worst, and most disappointing, weather to experience in the fjords is misty, drizzly rain which fortunately does not occur very often.

Mitre Peak & Mt Pembroke, Milford Sound

To see the best of Milford Sound is to take one of the overnight boats operated by Real Journeys of Queenstown. In this way you can get the best of both worlds. Ideally, it will be pouring with rain on the evening of arrival, clearing overnight to a bright crisp morning of cloudless skies with mists wreathing the trees of the dense rainforest. What better time for an early morning kayak?

Mt Pembroke in the early morning from Harrison Cove, Milford Sound

But when the rain comes, it can come with a vengeance. Heavy rain overnight, or for a day or two, leads to a plethora of waterfalls with water pouring down every bare rockface, every tiny watercourse becomes a plunging, raging torrent. Water pours over the cliff-overhangs to be whipped away in the winds which can reach gale force in the fjord. I experienced one particularly fierce Tasman storm one morning in Milford Sound. The rain had been torrential all night, squalls of gale-force winds whipped up the surface of the waters and in the distance, through the murk, the wind-blown waters of Bowen Falls swirled well into the fjord. The 19th century Austrian taxidermist, Andreas Reischek described one such Fiordland storm as: "... one of the most sublime things I ever experienced."

A wild storm with Bowen Falls, Milford Sound

Waterfalls during such heavy rain are an unforgettable sight. Torrents plunge over every overhang, crashing down through the trees and occasionally set off what are commonly known as 'tree avalanches', or 'travalanches', when large mats of trees and other vegetation, with intertwined roots, lose their grip on the sheer rock slopes and plunge into the tannin-brown waters of the fjord. The scars last for dozens of years.

A temporary waterfall during heavy rain, Milford Sound

But when the rain finishes and the sun comes out, a rainbow arcs over Milford Sound, a reminder that all weather, particulalrly adverse weather, is ephemeral. Such is the beauty of Milford Sound and its larger neighbour, Doubtful Sound.