Milford Sound

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Milford Sound

Milford Sound / Piopiotahi is a fiord in the south west of New Zealand's South Island within Fiordland National Park, Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) Marine Reserve, and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. It has been judged the world's top travel destination in an international survey (the 2008 Travelers' Choice Destinations Awards by TripAdvisor) and is acclaimed as New Zealand's most famous tourist destination. Rudyard Kipling had previously called it the eighth Wonder of the World.

Milford Sound is named after Milford Haven in Wales, while the Cleddau River which flows into the sound is also named for its Welsh namesake. The Māori named the sound Piopiotahi after the thrush-like piopio bird, now extinct. Piopiotahi means "a single piopio", harking back to the legend of Māui trying to win immortality for mankind—when Maui died in the attempt, a piopio was said to have flown here in mourning

Seals, penguins, and southernmost population of bottlenose dolphins frequent the waters, and whales especially humpback whales and southern right whales are increasingly observed due to recoveries of each species.

The sound has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it is a breeding site for Fiordland penguins.

Milford Sound attracts between 550,000 and 1 million visitors per year. This makes the sound one of New Zealand's most-visited tourist spots even with its remote location and long journey times from the nearest population centres.

Many tourists take one of the boat tours which usually last one to two hours. They are offered by several companies, departing from the Milford Sound Visitors' Centre. Milford Sound is also a scenic cruise destination for cruise ships.

Getting There

By road, Milford Sound is 291 km (181 mi) from Queenstown and 278 km (173 mi) from Invercargill (about four hours' drive), with most of the tour buses to the sound departing from Queenstown. Some tourists also arrive from the smaller tourism centre of Te Anau, 121 km (75 mi) away. There are also scenic flights by light aircraft and helicopter tours to and from Milford Sound Airport.

The drive to Milford Sound itself passes through unspoiled mountain landscapes before entering the 1.2 km (0.75 mi) Homer Tunnel which emerges into rain-forest-carpeted canyons that descend to the sound. The winding mountain road, while of high standards, is very prone to avalanches and closures during the winter half of the year.

The long distance to the sound means that tourist operators from Queenstown all depart very early in the day, arriving back only late in the evening. This ensures that most tourists visit Milford Sound within a few hours around midday, leading to some congestion on the roads and at the tourist facilities during the main season. The peak-time demand is also the reason for the large number of tour boats active in the sound at much the same time.

Over the years, various options of shortening the distance to Milford Sound from Queenstown have been mooted, including a gondola route, a new tunnel from Queenstown, or a monorail from near Lake Wakatipu to Te Anau Downs. All would reduce the current round-trip duration (which has to travel via Te Anau), thus allowing tourism to be spread out over more of the day. While a gondola is considered to be out of the running after the DOC declined approval for environmental reasons, the tunnel and the monorail proposals have applied to the Department of Conservation for concessions for land access.

There are a variety of plane charter companies that fly to Milford Sound. Most of the companies fly out of Queenstown International Airport. These companies include: True South Flights, Glenorchy Air, Air Milford, and Milford Sound Scenic Flights.