A Red Boats trip on Milford Sound gives a true sense of the majesty of
the incomparable scenery.
Experiencing Milford Sound
You will be awed by the view however you arrive - by car, by bus, by
plane or on foot.
Mitre Peak dominates the scene.
Most of us have seen Mitre Peak numerous times on stamps, on calendars,
on
postcards or even on biscuit tins.
We feel as though we know it, but for a full appreciation of Mitre Peak
I recommend taking a cruise and finding yourself alongside its sheer
face.
To read that its height is 1,695m (5,560 ft) is impressive, but I wasn't
really able to comprehend what that meant until we cruised along beside
it.
Be prepared. Take raincoats and insect repellent.
However you travel remember to take a waterproof coat, hat and footwear.
Milford has a rainfall of 7-9 metres a year. The record falls are 50cm
(20
inches) in 24 hours and 19cm (7.5 inches) in four hours.
We have travelled to Milford in fine and wet weather and can assure you
that if the weather is wet the extra waterfalls cascading down mountain
slopes all around you are an awesome replacement for the loss of views
of
the tops of the moutains.
The sandflies can be a nuisance if you aren't prepared, so bring your
repellent. I don't recommend wearing sandals or thongs without socks as
they give you little protection from sandfly bites. Most people have
little trouble from their bites, and they are a small price to pay for
the
wonders of Milford.
First stop - the Red Boat booking office
Park your car in the parking area. Do remember that waterproof coat and
hat as it may be raining as you walk to the Milford Visitor Centre to
book
your place on a cruise. We went with the Red Boats and found the
service
excellent. Make sure that the cruise you choose includes a stop at the
Milford Deep Underwater Observatory.
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Red Boats at the wharf beside the Milford Visitor Centre
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There are eight Red Boat trips a day departing from the wharf in
Freshwater
Bay in the summer schedule (October to April) and three a day in winter.
You can choose a cruise lasting 1 hour 45 minutes, or a 2 hour 30 minute
cruise which includes a visit to the Underwater Observatory, or a three
hour trip which not only visits the Observatory but also takes you out
into
the Tasman Sea and lets you see a remote part of the west coast. I
strongly recommend that you choose the three hour trip which under
current
timetabling leaves at 12.25 p.m. However, if you take the 3 p.m. trip
you
may be dropped off at the Underwater Observatory and returned to
Freshwater
Basin by water taxi.
Services on board
Boarding the Red Boat is easy even for the least confident passenger.
The
twin-hulled catamaran, 24 metres (75 feet) long, is stable and provides
comfortable cruising.
Once on board you will find that the friendly crew is ready to make your
trip enjoyable and educational. There is a full commentary in English
but
you will also be supplied with an information sheet with a map and notes
on
the features seen on the trip. This is available in English, Japanese,
Chinese and Korean.
You will need an ample supply of film for your camera, so Red Boats have
films available for purchase.
There is a licensed bar and a full buffet lunch is offered on some
midday
cruises. The menu includes six types of salads, hot vegetables, beef
curry, pork, chicken drumsticks, fish, rice, noodles, and Japanese
spring
rolls.
Soft drinks, snacks and confectionery may be purchased at any time.
Out into Milford Sound
Milford Sound is actually a large fiord. At its widest part it is 2
kilometres (1.25 miles) across and the distance from the wharf to the
open
sea is 7.25 nautical miles. The tide rises and falls by 2.4m (94.5
inches)
and the high tide mark is visible on the side of Mitre Peak.
In the mornings the breeze blows off the mountains, and in the
afternoons
it blows in from the sea, which caused trouble for the sailing ships.
The Bowen Falls
As the boat glides away from the wharf the skipper's voice can be heard
welcoming passengers and pointing out the first feature on the starboard
side - the Bowen Falls, (actually named the Lady Bowen Falls).
These fall 160 metres (526 ft) from a hanging valley. A hanging
valley
is one which has been formed by a glacier which joined the main glacier
in
what is now the fiord. When the branch glacier thawed and the level of
the
main glacier lowered, the side valley remained open high above the
fiord.
Below the falls is Cemetery Point, so called because the debris
from
the falls resembles the mounds of graves. There are also three graves
of
sealers or whalers from the earliest years of European visitors to
Milford.
You can take a short walk for a closer view of the Bowen Falls and
Cemetery
Point after your cruise.
On the port side you can see Sinbad Gully, another hanging valley,
between
Mt Phillips on the left and Mitre Peak on the right. It drains the
northern side of Llawrenny Peaks at the head of the valley and the
southern
faces of Mitre Peak.
Mitre Peak 1695m (5560 ft)
As we approach the side of Mitre Peak the skipper tells us that the
water
below us is 304m (1000 ft) deep and visiting cruise ships like the QE2
have
been unable to drop anchor because of the depth of the water. The peak
towers about a mile above us, one of the highest mountains in the world
to
rise steeply straight from the water.
The dominant forest on the peak is silver beech with southern rata
growing
on very steep faces. Above the bushline are snowgrass and the mountain
buttercup, gentian and Celmisia flowering in season. On the northern
sides of the peak there is a covering of moss and the vegetation is
rooted
in this. Landslides are frequent and it is possible to view the
regrowth
in various stages.
The southern rata can be seen in flower in summer from before Christmas
for
about a month. At sea level the temperatures are warmer so the rata
flowers there first and as summer advances the flowers come out up the
side of the mountain.
Copper Point
Further along the side of Mitre Peak you come to Copper point, so called
because of the high deposits at this point. Minerals are abundant
around
the Sound - copper, iron, silver, zinc, gold and garnet - and the rocks
are
richly coloured. The copper produces green streaks. There are also
some
streaks of gold coloured quartz which is naturally white but is stained
gold by tannin from the trees above.
Gold was last taken out of the area in the 1930s. Fiordland was
reserved
as a National Park in 1904, and an area of 1,072,667 acres was declared
a
national park in 1952 - the largest in New Zealand.
Windy Point
Here gusts of wind have been recorded in excess of 90 knots. Only very
high wind causes the cancellation of Red Boat cruises and that happens
only
once or twice a year.
Fairy Falls
Here the skipper will pull in close to the shore to let passengers feel
the
spray from the falls.
St Anne's Point
Further out towards the open sea at St Anne's Point is the automatic
lighthouse for Milford Sound. It can be seen from 22 km (14 miles) out
to
sea. The lighthouse is checked annually. It is the third to be built
on
the site. The first two were knocked over by huge waves, one as a
result
of a storm on the Australian coast.
Anita Bay
This bay inside St Anne's Point provides shelter from southwest
conditions.
The Maori came here for greenstone which they carved for weapons and
ornaments. The type of greenstone (jade) found here is bowenite (Maori
tangiwai ), not as strong or as hard as nephrite (Maori pounamu ). In
1842
there was an attempt to quarry bowenite in the hills above the bay but
this
failed. Early in the twentieth century some stone was quarried and made
into ornaments in Dunedin. Now that the area is part of a National Park
such enterprises are no longer permitted.
Out in the open sea
Here there is less wind than inside the Sound, but there are few beaches
along the rugged sheer coastline. Captain Cook is believed to have
sailed
six miles from the coast in March 1770 and did not see Milford Sound.
In
1773 he went to Dusky Sound.
and spent time there to refresh his crew, but again he did not discover
Milford Sound.
The Stirling Falls
The water falls 146m (479 ft) - higher than a 45 storey building.
This
waterfall is one of the permanent falls in the fiord. They look even
more
dramatic after very heavy rain, but when we last viewed them in fine
weather they looked very impressive. Here again the skipper will pull
in
close.
Seal Point
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Fur seals on the rocks at Seal Point
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We saw Southern Fur Seals basking in the sunshine.
Seals were hunted by sealers in the sounds of Fiordland from 1792. A
party
of men would be put ashore and left for a year after which the ship
hopefully came back and picked them up - which didn't always happen.
The
seals were slaughtered so indiscriminately that after about half a
century
the trade ceased. Culling of seals continued until 1946. The New
Zealand
fur seal is now totally protected under the Marine Mammal Protection
Act
1978.
The seals are in Milford Sound all the year. There is a sizable colony
four or five miles up the sea coast. Seal Point is a good vantage point
for seeing the seals as it is one of the few places in the Sound where
they
can lie on the rocks.
Penguins
We saw penguins swimming in the water near the boat and on the shore.
Both the Fiordland crested penguins and little blue penguins are found
in
Fiordland National Park.
Harrison Cove
As the only natural anchorage in the Sound is at Harrison Cove a
township
developed there to supply the boats with extras during the sealing years
in
the eighteenth century. Crews could fill up their supply of fresh
water
from the river and make temporary repairs.
The shelter provided was one reason for choosing this cove as the
location
for the Milford Sound Underwater Observatory.
After a unique experience viewing underwater life we boarded our Red
Boat
once again and returned to the wharf at the Milford Visitor Centre, with
a
further look at the Bowen Falls as we approached the wharf.
Our cruise was a wonderful experience worth including on any itinerary.
We can hardly wait until we can have this experience again.
