As we learned on the cruise, Milford Sound is not a sound at all, but actually a fjord. According to Wikipedia, a fjord is a ‘long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by glacial erosion’, while a sound is a ‘large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight, and wider than a fjord’. Ha ha, clear as mud? The gist is that a fjord is created by a glacier, while a sound is not.

By the lake in Queenstown at our early morning departure point

Pitstop at Mirror Lakes on the drive to Milford Sound

Another pit stop to try nature’s best drinking water, straight from the stream

Stocked up with water bottles full of fresh stream water

Our vessel for the day, shown below, took us through the Milford Sound out to the Tasman sea, before returning us back safely to shore. The snow-capped mountains surrounding the fjord on three sides provided a wonderful backdrop throughout the cruise.
     
      
      
      

Everywhere we looked from the boat, there were beautiful waterfalls due to the rain. However, there are only two permanent waterfalls in Milford Sound, Lady Bowen Falls and Stirling Falls. We got up close and personal with Stirling Falls.

Lady Bowen Falls

Stirling Falls from afar

Stirling Falls up close. The captain actually drove the front of the boat almost into the falls

Besides the amazing scenery, we also spotted some fun wildlife during the day.

Fjordland crested penguins, among the rarest penguins in the world, make their nests in Milford Sound.
     

Fur seals enjoying the sunny weather.
      
     

Keas are very large parrots found in NZ. They are omnivores, and freakily enough, used to target live sheep and eat their kidney fat. Yuck! Luckily, attacking the sheep was a learned trait. A program was put in place to capture all the sheep-attacking keas, and the problem was resolved.

(This blog post approved by Ryan)