West of Queenstown on the Tasman Sea is a land of waterfalls called Milford Sound . It is known for its fiords, but on the day we visited it was truly a land of waterfalls.

We stayed in Queenstown for our third place of residence while visiting the South Island, but we used it as a base for other excursions, including a day long trip to Milford Sound beginning early that morning with a spectacular sunrise, one like I’ve never seen before, which is saying a lot for a Florida girl.

The scenery on our way to Milford Sound was spectacular,

and very diverse. We went from lush to desert and back several times.

but fortunately, as we’ll realize later, it began raining and boy did it rain.

Still, it was a beautiful drive,

even complete with rainbows.

And on the way we got a close up experience with a rather friendly Kea, New Zealand’s mountain parrot who was likely looking for a handout. We stopped for road construction and he came to visit.

Finally, we got to the glacier-carved fiord of Milford Sound and boarded a boat.

Fortunately, it rained and rained and rained; and Milford Sound with its emerald-colored waters,

sheer rock faces,

and for the day hundreds of waterfalls was amazing.

This fjord gets an average of 252 inches of rain a year

and is one of the wettest places on earth.

In some places, its peaks are almost 5,000 ft high.

There were dozens of waterfalls…everywhere you looked.

Everywhere, they cascaded down the cliff faces, some over 3,500 feet in length.

Up high some smaller waterfalls disappeared in the wind and never reached the bottom.

On the walls of the fiord are rainforests.

We even traveled out its narrow entry and out into the Tasman Sea. Its narrow passageway is why it remained undiscovered for so long.

It was a beautiful day at Milford Sound; but because of the low ceiling, we had to go back by bus instead of by air as planned.