Sheer walls rising more than a kilometre from black water, waterfalls pouring off the cliffs, and one of the world's great mountain roads to get there.
Milford Sound, Piopiotahi in Māori, is really a fiord, carved by glaciers in the heart of Fiordland National Park. Its walls rise straight out of the water to over 1,200 metres, and Mitre Peak stands at its mouth like a spire.
Around seven metres of rain fall here a year. Far from spoiling the trip, a wet day turns every cliff into a curtain of temporary waterfalls; the permanent ones, Lady Bowen and Stirling, thunder whatever the weather.
A cruise takes you the length of the sound to the Tasman Sea and back, past fur seals hauled out on the rocks and, often, dolphins. Kayaks and an underwater observatory are popular add-ons.
Many people say the best part is the drive: the Milford Road from Te Anau runs through the beech forests and mirror lakes of the Eglinton Valley, then climbs through the granite Homer Tunnel into the Southern Alps.
Stops worth making on the Milford Road.
Fill the tank: there's no petrol between Te Anau and Milford.
Stop at the open tussock flats of the Eglinton Valley and the boardwalk at Mirror Lakes for the reflections.
Wait at the lights for your turn through the tunnel, watching for cheeky kea in the car park.
A short forest walk to where the river has scoured strange hollows in the stone.
Board at the terminal and sail out to the Tasman Sea, close under the waterfalls.
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Drive yourself, join a coach-cruise-coach day, or fly over the mountains in a small plane and cruise in between. Staying a night in Te Anau breaks up the drive.
The road can close for avalanches or flooding; check before leaving, and in winter carry snow chains.
There's no mobile signal for much of the road. Don't feed the kea; they're endangered and very curious about car aerials.
Queenstown practical notes →Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences.
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