Milford Sound, 2014

In 2009, we did the Milford Tramp, stayed in Milford a couple days, then did a morning's kayaking on Milford Sound, certainly New Zealand's best known fiord and one of its several World Heritage icons. (See http://roadeveron.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/milford-sound-2009-we-return-you-now-to.html for some of our 2009 visit.) Anyhow, as we noted at the time, amateur kayaking really does not get you very far down/up the fiord, so we resolved this time to take the 2-hour day cruise. Although more famous and, some would say, more spectacular, Milford is much smaller than Doubtful Sound. Anyhow, here are some pix of the cruise, featuring, most notably, Mitre Peak, the aforementioned icon.

Standard view

Standard artsy-fartsy view

Heavy traffic on Milford Sound

Our ship, the Milford Haven; $49 including breakfast

Night before, we stayed at the Milford Sound Lodge campground

Serenaded by cicadian rhythms

Next morning we were underway, cruising close by Mitre Peak

And finding ourselves joined by one of those giant floating hotels, the Maid of the Sea or
somesuch

Which made a quick U-turn opposite Mitre Peak and then hastened back out...
"Milford Sound, check!"

Meanwhile, we are chugging along, past Copper Point, numerous waterfalls,
fault-lines, fur seals, kayaks, birds, etc., out onto the Tasman Sea; Milford Sound,
however, spectacular as it is in other ways, is rather featureless at its mouth

Looking back in

More seals; later, we saw a couple hunting, but the pix were not so good

More Sound scenery

Vicki, before the Seven Sisters...wait, no, that was Geirangerfjord

Another attempt at a panoramic shot

Us, there; Milford Sound, check!