Roger's Pictures Te Anau to Milford Sound, November 20

Milford Sound and Homer Pass, November 22

Milford Sound, Fiordlands National Park, New Zealand - November 21, 2009

A few days earlier we checked the weather forecast, which called for rain in the morning but clearing towards evening, so we booked an afternoon cruise on Milford Sound.
We spent the morning sitting in the camper, reading and listening to the constant rain. The rain let up after noon, and we didn't get too wet on the cruise.

One of the hardest aspects to capture is the scale - the mountains are huge. Most of the peaks around the sound are 4,000 - 5,000 feet up, straight out of the water.
When it rains, the water pours off the mountains in hundreds of temporary, unnamed waterfalls - there are only five "permanent" waterfalls. Some get blown apart by the wind before they reach bottom.

We saw a school of bottlenose dolphins, and a few Crested Fiordland Penguins, and some Fur Seals. We stopped at the Milford Sound Deep Observatory, a floating platform with windows into the water 50 feet down.

One of many waterfalls	Waterfalls	Waterfalls	More waterfalls	Clouds slide past the Sheerdown Mountains
A small cruise boat	Lady Bowen Falls	Lady Bowen Falls	Heading out into Milford Sound	Another waterfall
Clouds slide past the Sheerdown Mountains	Another waterfall	A disappearing waterfall	Milford Sound	Trees in Milford Sound
A little windy ...	More waterfalls	Valley and stream - Sinbad Gully	Trees	Milford Sound
Another waterfall	Bedrock	Bedrock	Milford Sound - Lion Mountain	Another waterfall
Stirling Falls (480 feet high)	Bedrock marked by the glacier's passage	More waterfalls	Another waterfall	Another waterfall or two
Another waterfall	Another waterfall	Another waterfall	Another waterfall	More bedrock
Disappearing waterfall	Milford Sound	Fairy Falls	Disappearing Waterfall	Fairy Falls
Another waterfall	Palisade Falls	More waterfalls	Milford Sound	Bottlenose Dolphins
Bottlenose Dolphins	Bottlenose Dolphins	Bottlenose Dolphins	Bottlenose Dolphins	Another waterfall
Another waterfall	Milford Sound	Milford Sound	Fiordland Crested Penguins	Fiordland Crested Penguins
Fiordland Crested Penguins	Fiordland Crested Penguins	The dolphins head out	Another waterfall or two	Another waterfall
Palisade Falls	Another waterfall	Another waterfall	Another waterfall	Another waterfall
Fur Seals on Seal Rock	Fur Seals on Seal Rock	Fur Seals on Seal Rock	Milford Sound	Sailing back into Milford Sound
Stirling Falls	Stirling Falls	Stirling Falls	More marked rock	Mountains and clouds
Milford Sound - Mt Phillips and Mitre Peak	More mountains	Milford Sound Deep Observatory	Milford Sound Deep Observatory	Milford Sound Deep Observatory
Milford Sound Deep Observatory	Milford Sound	Mt Pembroke	Mt Pembroke and Harrison Sound	Milford Sound - Mitre Peak, on the left, is over a mile tall.
Milford Sound	Milford Sound - Sheerdown Mountains	Milford Sound - Lady Bowen Falls	Milford Sound - Lady Bowen Falls	Milford Sound - Mitre Peak
Milford Sound - More Rain Forest	Late Afternoon - the Sun Breaks Through	Another garish sunset	Late afternoon light	Late afternoon light
Sunset	Last light	Sunset at Milford Lodge

JAlbum 7.1