After the luxury and scenic journey from Te Anau to Milford Sound, it's time for a 2 hours 30 minutes Nature cruise with Real Journeys.
I embark for a very comfortable cruise on a large vessel: the Milford Mariner.
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Today is very sunny and that's a lot of luck knowing that it has been raining a lot around here a few days ago (46cm in 24h).
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I got a 14NZ$ picnic box and directly go on a front deck' bench to enjoy the sun, the scenary and my lunch.
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Our guide gives very detailed commentary on the geology, flora, fauna and minerals of the Milford Sound area.
Geology facts: Milford Sound was wrongly called a sound. It's a fiord. The difference is that a fiord is the result of glacier erosion and a sound is the result of river erosion.
Minerals: there are minerals indicating that there is gold around here. About 130 years ago, one Englishman tried to find some for 5 years but didn't found any. Anyway, it's now a National Park and the gold will then remain where it is. The DOC devise is take only pictures and leave only footprints!
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Animals:
Now it's time to see some wild dolphins: they come to play and jump next to the boat.
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And what about those cute seals?
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Everything is so spectacular: we get a very close look to the highest cliff in the world, the Tasman Sea a huge waterfall (we even got under it ). My advice: Bring your fisheye for amazing pictures!