Continuing on from the Otago Peninsula we traversed the Catlins Coast. Anywhere else in the world and this would be stunning with an abundance of beaches, waterfalls, wildlife and walks (several of the best were closed for “Lambing”) but after already seeing so much natural beauty on this island it kind of paled in significance. Due to time constraints we also rushed through here ticking off the attractions yank style and not giving much time to appreciate them. The miserable weather didn’t help much either. Worth a mention though are the Cathedral Caves, tall narrow caves in the cliff face only accessible at low tide and the Petrified Forrest, a collection of fossilised trees in the rocks further along the coast.

Fjordland however is a different story. Dubbed by many as the most beautiful part of New Zealand, with countless fjords, sounds and inlets with steep soaring mountains all around it is easy to see why. On our way to Milford Sound, blessed with half a day’s good weather we took the opportunity to take a scenic flight over Doubtful Sound, the bigger and less visited brother of Milford.

Taking off from Te Anu lake in a tiny water plane we were treated to quite incredible scenery. Although the weather closed in giving low cloud and poor lighting the views were quite stunning. The steepness of which the mountains rose out of the water, the lakes (some of them frozen) hundreds of metres above sea level and the huge sheer drop water falls really were quite something. I can only begin to imagine how incredible this place must look on a clear day.

The following day we made our way onto Milford Sound passing recent avalanche sites, many a twist and turn and a long dark and steeply inclined tunnel, all which served to illustrate just how inaccessible this place really is. The drive is a great one as are many of the sights on the way, most of which are waterfalls. Of particular interest was The Chasm which showed the awesome power of the water that has cut and formed fascinating circles, pools, columns and arches in the rock.

Finally came the prime attraction, cruising out on Milford Sound. One can really take in the scale of it all chugging along on a small boat with more of the wonderful sheer mountains rising rapidly upwards with waterfalls all over spewing into the Fjord (apparently Milford Sound is a Fjord not a Sound, but the gentleman who named it obviously hadn’t visited Norway and as a result didn’t know what a Fjord was). Once again, the weather was not great. No sun, no rain and believe it or not the rain really enhances a visit to Milford boosting the waterfalls some.

The cruise, all the same, was a great way to see this unique area and as it happens it was here where we met a lovely Belgian couple that we were to see quite a bit of over the following days.