Since 1954 when the Homer tunnel (to Te Anau) opened to traffic, Milford Sound has become one of the most alluring tourist destinations in the world.

Fleets of buses deliver swarms to tour boats. The tours are great. But the best way to experience Milford Sound is by kayak.

At the tiny Milford Airstrip, flights arrive and depart at 45 second intervals; over 300 takeoffs & landings / day in high season. The constant drone of planes and helicopters can be off-putting.

Milford is remote! A tree landslide closed the highway once for 7 days. (Tourists were flown out.)

Enormous glaciers created Milford Sound — actually a fjord — about 20,000 years ago. The fjord is 19km (12mi) long, 2.5km (1.5mi) at its widest.

Maori historically travelled here to hunt seal & collect precious greenstone (nephrite or jade). They walked the Milford Track long before the white man.

Milford Sound, by the way, was named by Welshman John Grono, a sealer, after Milford Haven in Wales.