Yesterday we paddled beneath towering cliffs in an almost empty fjord. There is a cap of 600 people a day in doubtful sound or about 2 large tour boats and 10 kayaks. We paddled into caves where we looked out at the empty fjord through pearls of water dripping off the green ferns decorating the top of the cave. The penguins were swimming in pairs occasionally calling across the fjord. The dolphins swam under us, patrolling the cliff edge uninterested in with 6 white kayaks.

Today, between piles of rockfall bulldozed off the road, we entered a crazy one lane tunnel and popped out onto a narrow road carved into a sheer grey cliffs laced with thin waterfalls. Ahead is Milford Sound, a fjord that is shorter, only 16 km to the sea, but with walls almost twice as high as yesterday's. Clouds drift past and the mountain peaks dance in and out of view. The water is still and the reflections are mirror-like. Luckily we are early. The huge parking lots are empty. 6000 people a day pop through the tunnel to gasp at this view. 28 place for large buses frame the visitors center. At 845 they are all empty so we only have to share the fjord with a dozen yellow kayaks and three yellow crested penguin for the first hour of the boat trip.

The drizzle is on and off but I cannot tear myself away from the front of the boat. Waterfalls are slowly carving V shaped river valleys in the broad U shaped glacier valleys. The 1000m rock walls have scars, long almost horizontal scratches dipping slightly toward the sea, marks left by the glaciers. In some places the rock next to the linear scars are softly rounded. Looking like large mixing bows these shapes are different from the angular fractures cliff faces. Water rushing along the edges of the glacier, erasied the sharp corners of the rock. Above some of the big water falls we can see the glaciers nipping in and out of the clouds. At the fjord edge the topography is suddenly low and flat. The Alpine fault, similar to the San Andreas fault separates the high Southern Alps from the low coastal region. The swell rocks the ship and the captain turns before we reach the fault.

People prefer to see dolphins penguins and seals. The dolphins are harder to see as they hunt at sea during the day when the noisy tourist ships circle the fjord, returning at night when the tourists leave. Two solitary young male seals lounge on the rocks where the fjord narrows and the accelerating wind blows away the annoying black flies (black flies).

The last waterfall provides drinking water and power the Milford Sound community of workers and tourists. Lacey veils drop from the edge of the glacial u shaped valley. When it reaches the sea, circular waves propagate towards us again and again. The veils change shape and form but come again and again feeding the waves. I could watch these waterfalls, glaciers and mountains for a long time listening to their stories. No wonder so many people are drawn to Milford Sound.