Milford Sound

We visited the South Island of New Zealand in January 2025 for Charlotte to take a mountain flying course.

Milford Sound is a 330m-deep glacier-carved fjord in southwest New Zealand's South Island within Fiordlands National Park, 15km long from the Tasman Sea at Dale Point. The surface of the fjord is fresh water full of tannins from the surrounding rainforest. We took a two-hour cruise on Milford Sound with Pure Milford. The clear sunny weather we had is very atypical. In the usual wet weather there are waterfalls everywhere.

At the head of the fjord Mitre Peak (Rahotu) is 1692m high.

The fjord is surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise 1200m (3500') or more on either side.

There are two permanent waterfalls, Lady Bowen Falls and Stirling Falls. In rainy weather, which is the expected weather here, transient waterfalls pour off of every rock face. However, when we visited, it uncharacteristically had not rained in ten days.

As part of the mountain flying class, I flew to Milford Sound on the third day of the course.

Milford Sound by air

Last modified 16 February 2025