Wet and wild

 
Friday 13th November

We had all been looking forward to a morning kayaking on Milford Sound, but there was a definite sense of foreboding when we woke to the sound of rain, and realised it was Friday 13th. But Paul, our ever optimistic guide, said we should be ready to leave at 7.10 and when we arrived at the beach our kayak guide was kitted up and ready to go, the rain had stopped and a few rays of sun were peeking through the cloud.

It took 45 minutes for us to suit up with more underlayers, outerlayers, topped by a neoprene kayak skirt and life jacket, then waddle down to the kayaks for paddling instruction and a safety briefing. We were in two-man kayaks and, as I’ve never been in one before, I opted to go with the instructor, Ben from Leicester. Although he’d only been in NZ for a year, and Milford Sound for less than a month, Ben was extremely knowledgeable about the area and was an excellent guide. And with his expert tuition my paddling skills quickly rose from zero to pretty good – though I suspect Ben did most of the work.

Milford Sound is technically a fjord – created by a glacier – and is the only one in New Zealand accessible by road. Even so, there were relatively few visitors to disturb the peace and quiet. Apart from our kayaks, we saw around only five or six tour boats on the water during our four hours of paddling. As the sun rose, the weather was perfect, with flat calm water, blue sky and wispy white clouds over the black peaks – which had been dusted with snow overnight. The mountains are so high and steep that all sense of perspective is completely distorted. Waterfalls hundreds of metres high were dwarfed by the height of the peaks above them. The tour boats looked like toys in the bath, and landmarks you guessed were two kilometres away, were actually 10km distant.

The water is crystal clear, but so deep in the middle of the channel – 400m – that it looks black. And although it is sea water, there is so much rainfall (about 18m a year) that the top 2-3m is freshwater. And despite the sheer black granite faces of the mountains rising from the water, somehow plant life clings to them, with a temperate rainforest of beech and other non-deciduous trees covering much of the lower slopes. This provides an ideal nesting site for yellow crested penguins. We spotted one on the rocks, and several fishing in the water. New Zealand fur seals are another common sight. They are nocturnal so the ones we saw were basking on the rocks. Dolphins also visit, but we didn’t see any today.

After four hours on the water, we reluctantly made our way back to shore. Over lunch, we found out that conditions were perfect for a helicopter trip over the black peaks to land on a snowfield at the top. When I discovered that the pilot was ex-airforce and inclined to manoeuvre through narrow rocky gaps and swoop down into the valley, I couldn’t resist. This was an adrenalin rush I could cope with!

Milford Sound was a true highlight of this trip – and the contrast between the mountains of doom that greeted us yesterday, and today’s sparkling peaks will ensure that it remain a dramatic wilderness.