The Sounds

We reached the southwest coast of New Zealand today. We cruised through the fjord land or “The Sounds”, taking in the beautiful, green mountain scenery. Fjord land is one of the wettest places in New Zealand. We were fortunate to have a half cloudy/sunny day, so that we could see the mountains. The clouds just sit atop the mountains and appear to be rolling over them. Also, the clouds vary in color from white to blue to grey.

The first sound of the day was Milford Sound. We arrived about 7:00 a.m. in the morning and Todd was able to catch the sun coming up over the mountains. There were some clouds, but a pretty blue sky emerged for some great photos.

We entered into Milford Sound continued to the end and then the ship had to turn around and go back out to sea. This is a great opportunity for us to get some good views. Our room is on the back of the ship…so when we are heading outbound, we get a 180 degree view.

The second sound was Doubtful Sound. This time we drove through the sound. The clouds had settled a bit more and the sky was grey. This Sound had more rock out-croppings, but still contained the lush mountains along both sides.

The last sound we went through was Dusky Sound. This is the longest of the three, at about 41 km. It was late afternoon and we decided to go up top and get a different view. This passage area reminded us more of the San Juans with much taller mountains, and lush vegetation. It did get pretty windy as we continued along…but the weather held and no rain.