I really wanted to do a piece for this issue of LFB focusing on travel and destination, but it was hard to think of a place to write about; I didn’t want write about a place that has already had its fair share of features in the blogging world. Finally, I found inspiration from my New Zealand road trip in 2014, in particular, my favourite place that we visited - Milford Sound.
Milford Sound is one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand – allow me to remind you that Lord of the Rings was filmed here, so it’s up against pretty stiff competition. It’s a fjord on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island, its Maori name is Piopiotahi, and it’s got some of the best natural scenery I’ve ever seen.
You know it’s going to be good before you even get there, because the road trip there from the nearest town, Te Anau, is the second most beautiful thing in New Zealand. It takes you past glittering rivers, fields of snow during winter and through mountain tunnels only wide enough for one car. You’ll want to stop every five minutes for pictures, so don’t rush it. Some people drive all the way from Queenstown, but I’d recommend doing what we did and staying at Te Anau the night before. If you really want to immerse yourself, I hear there’s a track you can hike if you enjoy physical exertion more than I do.
After the very scenic drive, we took a cruise on the fjord. It was overcast, but Milford Sound is one of the wettest places on earth, so we were lucky it wasn’t pouring down. The grey skies made the mountain faces even more imposing and recent rainfall meant some waterfalls for us. It was cold and windy, our fingers were frozen and our hair a mess, but we couldn’t bring ourselves to retreat inside with the other holidaymakers and miss the views. It’s almost impossible to convey through photos the scale and beauty of this place. Although we were only there for a day, I’m still wishing we’d hung around for longer to explore the surrounds and some of the other activities there on offer, maybe even kayak on the Sound (It would be just my luck to capsize and take my camera down with me though!) Rumour has it you can also find dolphins there; unfortunately we weren’t lucky enough to spot any.
Milford Sound is just a tiny slice of how beautiful New Zealand is, which on a global scale is seriously underrated as a destination. If you have a travel bucket list, be sure to put NZ on it!
Photography: Jane
