Fiordland National Park, New Zealand

Today was a day of scenic cruising in Fiordland National Park. It consists of 4,600 sq miles in the south west corner of New Zealand. It was put aside as a reserve in 1904, then turned into a National Park in 1952. We cruised into 2 sounds, Dusky Sound then Doubtful Sound. I had thought we would go in then turn around to go out. Instead these channels were between the mainland and large islands. Going thru the first one, the narrator spotted one seal. So much for a lot of wildlife! The scenery was beautiful though, dense rain forest mixed with dramatic cliffs. People were running all over the bow and stern of the ship taking pictures. It was pretty overcast, but no rain. Apparently they get 25 FEET of rain a year!

Later in the afternoon we entered Milford Sound, the most dramatic and accessible. Our morning cruising was in areas only reachable by boat. There is a small town of Milford Sound that you can drive to. We saw kayaks and several small excursion boats while in the area. There were many waterfalls and high mountains, the tallest being almost 7k feet high. We saw several glaciers as well as a rock covered with fur seals enjoying the sun. By that time it was a beautiful sunny day. Several people mentioned that they'd been to the national park several times before but had never seen the sun. We were very lucky as it rains 180 days a year. The aquatic life there in interesting also. Because of all the fresh water runoff, there is a layer of tea colored water on the surface. That makes the sea water beneath very dark, so creatures that usually live in great depths in the ocean can be found here in shallower water. We came upon one of the largest falls and the Capt did a 360 so people on the other side of the ship could see it also. I think he was just showing off, but by stirring up the water like that, you could see the tea color, and near the ship, a deep green. It was a beautiful area and a relief to have an easy day on the ship after so many days of running around.

 

I forgot to mention in my Stewart Island post that on our way back to the main island on the ferry, we saw a Little Blue Penguin in the water! It was great to see one in the wild. They are usually at sea all day, so hard to spot on land. 

 

Sea day, I spotted 3 whales off the side of the ship while doing my daily 2 mile walk. Was hoping one would dive, but they were just swimming along in the same direction as the ship.