Fiordland – David Kotz

New Zealand – Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound

Exploring the Fiordlands of New Zealand.

The early morning light was as gentle as the breeze, as we sailed up into Milford Sound before sunrise. With each passing moment, more delicate layers of the scene came into view as the daylight grew and as the Heritage Adventurer made its way up this narrow fjord in the remote southwestern corner of New Zealand.

Milford Sound's steep walls and distant mountains, in pre-dawn light. — A lone vessel makes its way in pre-dawn light in Milford Sound, New Zealand.

New Zealand – Dusky Sound

First stop on a 10-day cruise around New Zealand.

several people on a muddy trail in the rainforest — Our group moves slowly through the New Zealand rainforest.

two legs, deep in the mud — Deep mud along the trail.

My feet plunged into a muddy pool as we scrambled along a crude track through the temperate rainforest, surrounded by huge ferns as tall as trees and other unfamiliar flora and fauna. The guides warned us it would be muddy – after all, they measure annual rainfall in meters, here in the remote fjords of southwestern New Zealand. Fortunately, I was wearing calf-height muck boots with waterproof rainpants over those. I was just happy to be in the forest, my eighth hike in eight consecutive weekends, spread across three continents and four countries.