According to our cruise guide, a sound is a valley carved by the river while a fjord is a valley carved by glaciers. However, when Milford Sound and the other surrounding ‘sounds’ were first named, ‘fjord’, a Norwegian word, did not exist in English yet. Later, instead of re-naming each of the ‘sound’, the sounds were simply grouped into the Fiordland National Park. The national park gets plenty of rainfall which in turn creates many waterfalls; we saw many mini waterfalls off rock faces on the drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound.
My mum said she came to Milford Sound 40+ years ago in the winter. She saw one seal. So my expectations weren’t high.
But then ….
… we saw the first colony of seals on this rock, soaking up the sun. I spotted around 18 seals on this rock.
Then we saw a second colony of seals of around 30 seals. Amazingly, we saw nearly 50 seals that day! Milford Sound must be doing some great things, conservation wise.
On a side note, there was a seal sunning itself on a small, separate rock. I imagine that to be the writer-equivalent of a seal community. Close enough to observe the larger colony, but detached enough to write about the said colony.
Back in Te Anau, we went to this lake after dinner. It was only a ten-minute walk from where we stayed at the Fiordland National Park Lodge. On the other side of the lake is a boat that brings trekkers to the start of the Milford Track walking trail.
I was getting used to the peace and quiet of Fiordland National Park Lodge . I shall miss this place.
Carol Pang 
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