We parked the van at 10.55 and hurried to the ticket offices. Although the information said we needed to be there 20 mins before departure we got tickets for the 11.10 boat.

The boat takes 75 people but there were only 23 on board so we had plenty of room. It was a small boat which was able to get close in to various things which were pointed out. The staff were really friendly and well informed.

Milford Sound (a sound is a river valley) is really a fiord which is carved out by a glacier. Captain Cook failed to notice the sea entrance into the fiord on two occasions and it was eventually discovered by a Welsh man. He didn't know about fiords so called it a sound and named it after his home town of Milford Haven. The only true sound in NZ is Marlborough Sound, the ferry entrance to South Island.

This area has a huge amount of rain - 257" pa, the countries highest. We were told that the most rain in one day was 20". If there is no rain for 3 days the waterfalls dry up. We had a gloriously sunny day and the waterfalls were flowing.

Although there are a lot of trees growing on the sides of the mountains there is almost no soil, their roots attach to crevices and intertwine with each other. Consequently if one tree comes down it causes a tree avalanche and can take 75-100 years to re-establish again.