On Friday 4th January, it was a ridiculously early start (6.15am breakfast) to head down to Milford Sound. Most people see the Milford Sound from the deck of a cruise ship, but we had a better way of doing it - gliding along in a sea kayak (in tandem), which causes minimum disruption to the various wildlife you can find on the sound. The trip is run by specialist kayakers. Milford Sound is the only fiord which can be accessedby road and is rated the 8th Natural Wonder of the World by Rudyard Kipling and you can see why. The views are breathtaking. The Sound runs 16km inland from the Tasman Sea and is surrounded by sheer rock walls which rise 1200 metres or more on either side - the fiord is dominated by the mile high Mitre Peak (1695m) which rises vertically upwards from the waters below (see photo). Lush rainforests cling to the cliffs and tree avalanches are common. There are numerous waterfalls which cascade down the cliff faces, some reaching a thousand metres in length. Small propeller planes arrive every five or so minutes in the landing strip between two of the mountains.
We kayaked for about 12km and saw some sea lion sunning themselves on the rocks. We also nearly got attacked by some sea gulls as we came too close to their nest and their chicks. The weather was perfect for kayaking - blue cloudless skies and very little wind, although we were wearing our thermals, as it was a bit chilly at 7 in the morning. We also tried some hote berry juice, which only grow in the South Island behind waterfalls. I don't know which mug volunteers to pick those! Luckily none of our group capsized (there had been 4 in the last 3 months).
In Maori legends the fiords were created not by rivers but by Tute Rakiwhanoa, a godly figure who came wielding a magical adze and uttering incantations. In 1823, the first European sailed into the Sound. John Grono was a famous sealer and named it after his birthplace, Milford Haven in Wales. The first settler, Donald Sutherland arrived in 1877 and named his collection of huts "The City of Milford". He eventually built a hotel and people have been arriving there ever since (it is apparently New Zealand's most visited natural attraction).
Early explorers wrongly named the fiords "Sounds". Sounds are caused by river erosion, whereas fiords are gouged out by glaciers (and New Zealand was full of glacial activity thousands of years ago). Milford Sound is over 400m deep and receives up to 7m of rain a year (falls of 24 inches in 24 hours have been recorded).
After the kayaking, we continued onto Queenstown where I would have a free day on the Saturday for my activities. You will have to wait until I get back to Christchurch to read about them I'm afraid.
We kayaked for about 12km and saw some sea lion sunning themselves on the rocks. We also nearly got attacked by some sea gulls as we came too close to their nest and their chicks. The weather was perfect for kayaking - blue cloudless skies and very little wind, although we were wearing our thermals, as it was a bit chilly at 7 in the morning. We also tried some hote berry juice, which only grow in the South Island behind waterfalls. I don't know which mug volunteers to pick those! Luckily none of our group capsized (there had been 4 in the last 3 months).
In Maori legends the fiords were created not by rivers but by Tute Rakiwhanoa, a godly figure who came wielding a magical adze and uttering incantations. In 1823, the first European sailed into the Sound. John Grono was a famous sealer and named it after his birthplace, Milford Haven in Wales. The first settler, Donald Sutherland arrived in 1877 and named his collection of huts "The City of Milford". He eventually built a hotel and people have been arriving there ever since (it is apparently New Zealand's most visited natural attraction).
Early explorers wrongly named the fiords "Sounds". Sounds are caused by river erosion, whereas fiords are gouged out by glaciers (and New Zealand was full of glacial activity thousands of years ago). Milford Sound is over 400m deep and receives up to 7m of rain a year (falls of 24 inches in 24 hours have been recorded).
After the kayaking, we continued onto Queenstown where I would have a free day on the Saturday for my activities. You will have to wait until I get back to Christchurch to read about them I'm afraid.
No comments:
Post a Comment