Wow, Wow, Wow! Today we spent the day sailing through Fjordland National Park in New Zealand. We sailed through three sounds, Doubtful, Dusky and Milford Sound. My friends in the entertainment department on the ship advised me last night that I had to get up by 8 AM or I would regret missing some of the national park. It was tough but I did get up on time. When I opened my drapes, I found myself looking at a thick layer of fog with some shadowy formations peeking through. Fortunately the weather gods once again smiled on us and as the day progressed the fog lifted and we ended with another one of those days with a Carolina blue sky and white puffy clouds.
Fjordland is the largest national park in New Zealand and one of the largest in the world. It encompasses approximately 3.1 million acres, nearly 5% of the total area of New Zealand, and was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1986. The area was well known to the Maori and according to their legends the fjords were carved by a demi-god whose name I can’t remember (Maori names are very long). Captain Cook during his travels in the Pacific came here in 1773 and stayed in one of the harbors for 5 weeks. He didn’t sail into most of the fjords because he was afraid that if they sailed in they might not be able to get out again because of the steep walls around them since they were relying on wind to move them. That’s how one of the fjords we sailed through, Doubtful, got its name, He called the bodies of water “sounds” but technically they are fjords carved eons ago by glaciers.
As the fog lifted we were surrounded by steep walls of rock mostly covered with lush trees and bushes. The southern ranges of the Southern Alps of the South Island cover most of Fjordland and account for the very high walls around us. Most of the national park is inaccessible by main roads. Milford Sound, the last one we visited, is the exception. There is a discovery center at the head of that fjord and people can take boat trips and kayaks in that area. The other fjords are only accessible via dirt and gravel tracks.
As we sailed to the head of the most spectacular one, Milford Sound (named after a place in Wales called Milford Haven) the walls around us rose 3900 feet or more. The end of the fjord is nearly 9.5 miles inland from the Tasman Sea. Along the way we passed two peaks, the Elephant at almost 5000 feet and the Lion at nearly 4300 feet high. After rainfall there are many temporary waterfalls which dry up after only a couple of days but there are two permanent ones. Lady Bowen Falls and Stirling Falls. As we moved along we had a school of 6 or 8 dolphins who played alongside the ship occasionally breaching. I don’t think any of us managed to catch a picture of that because it was so fast. I’m not sure what species they were but they were smaller than the ones I’ve seen in aquariums.
I really can’t express in words how absolutely beautiful this place is. The sheer majesty of the rocks and the colors were breathtaking. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit fjords in several countries and these were about the most impressive ones I can remember seeing. I don’t think my photos do them justice but they’ll give some sense of how beautiful they are.
 |
| This is how the morning started. I was thinking I could have slept longer. |
 |
| Things started to lighten up a little. These were in Doubtful and Dusky Sounds. |
 |
| Then the sun appeared as we sailed toward the star of the show. |
 |
| Heading up Milford Sound |
1 comment:
So beautiful! Thanks for photos and enjoy your 3 days!
Post a Comment