Milford Sound receives something in the region of 6,400 millimetres of rain a year, which makes it one of the wettest inhabited places on earth. It rains there on roughly two days in three.
Go when it is raining. That is the counterintuitive part and it is the whole point. In dry weather Milford is a fiord with two permanent waterfalls. Within twenty minutes of heavy rain, hundreds of temporary falls appear down the rock walls — sheer thousand-metre faces running with water in every direction, some of them blown back upward by the wind before they reach the bottom. When the rain stops they vanish within a few hours.
Everyone planning a trip tries to book a clear day. The clear day is the lesser experience.
Black coral at ten metres
The rain does something else. Freshwater running off the cliffs sits in a layer up to ten metres deep on top of the seawater, stained dark brown by tannins from the forest, and it filters out most of the light reaching the salt water below.
The organisms underneath behave as though they are in the deep ocean. Black coral that normally grows below a thousand metres grows here at ten, along with red coral and other deep-water species, in the largest population of black coral trees in the world. An underwater observatory at Harrison Cove lets you look at it without diving.
Fiordland and the lakes
Fiordland National Park is about 12,500 square kilometres, the largest in New Zealand, and there is essentially no accommodation inside it. One property sits at Milford Sound and everything else is at Te Anau on the boundary or further out. That is not an oversight; it is a national park and the constraint is deliberate.
Te Anau is the gateway town on a long glacial lake, with the Milford road starting there and the Kepler Track from the outskirts.
Wānaka, two hours northeast, is the quieter alternative to Queenstown — a lake town with mountains, a much slower pace and better access to Mount Aspiring.
Glenorchy, at the head of Lake Wakatipu, is the road-end village between the two.
The six below are grouped that way.
Milford Sound
Inside the park.
Milford Sound Lodge occupies the only accommodation at Milford Sound, a set of chalets along the Cleddau river with the mountains straight above, twenty minutes from the wharf and the only way to be there before the day coaches arrive and after they leave.
Milford Sound Lodge
Milford Sound · 4★ · $$$$
The only accommodation at the fiord, on the Cleddau
Check availabilityTe Anau
The gateway town.
Fiordland Lodge sits outside Te Anau on a lakeside property with a stone and timber lodge, a great room with a fire and views down the lake to the mountains.
Distinction Luxmore Hotel occupies a position in Te Anau with reliable rooms, a good restaurant and the Milford road starting outside.
Distinction Luxmore Hotel
Te Anau · 4★ · $$$
Reliable rooms with the Milford road outside
Check availabilityWānaka
Two hours northeast.
Whare Kea Lodge & Chalet occupies a lodge above Lake Wanaka with a handful of rooms, an art collection and an alpine hut at 1,750 metres that guests reach by helicopter.
Whare Kea Lodge & Chalet
Lake Wanaka · 5★ · $$$$
An art collection and an alpine hut reached by helicopter
Edgewater sits on the Wanaka lakefront with rooms facing the water and the mountains behind.
Lime Tree Lodge occupies a rural property outside Wanaka with a small room count, a garden and a quieter setting than the town.
What we have left off
The Great Walk huts and the backcountry lodges are excluded. The Milford, Routeburn and Kepler tracks all run through Fiordland with hut accommodation booked through the Department of Conservation, and walking one is the best way to see the park. They are huts rather than hotels.
What to do
Go to Milford in the rain, on a boat, and do not cancel because of the forecast.
Book a Great Walk far ahead if you want one. The Milford Track takes fifty-four walkers a day in season and bookings open months before.
Go to Doubtful Sound if you have the time — larger, quieter, reached by a boat across Lake Manapouri and then a bus over a pass, and it takes a full day.
In Wanaka, walk Roys Peak for the view down the lake, starting before dawn to avoid the queue at the photograph spot, or do Rob Roy Glacier for something quieter.
Drive the Milford road itself, which is one of the great alpine roads, and stop at the Chasm and the Mirror Lakes. The Homer Tunnel is one-way with lights and there is often a wait.
Practical notes
Queenstown airport serves the region, two hours from Te Anau and an hour from Wanaka. Milford is a further two hours from Te Anau on a road that closes for avalanche risk in winter.
November to April is the main season. Winter is quiet, cold and Milford is at its most dramatic. Sandflies are relentless in Fiordland from spring to autumn and repellent is not optional.
Book Milford boat trips and the Homer Tunnel drive for the early morning, before the Queenstown coaches arrive around eleven.
Every hotel bookable in Fiordland and Wanaka
Should you go to Milford in the rain?
Yes. Hundreds of temporary waterfalls appear within minutes of heavy rain and disappear when it stops. A clear day is the lesser experience.
Why is there deep-sea coral near the surface?
A freshwater layer up to ten metres deep, stained by forest tannins, filters the light so deep-water species grow at snorkel depth.
Can you stay in the park?
One property at Milford Sound. Everything else is at Te Anau or further out, by design.
How many nights?
Six. Two at Te Anau or Milford and four around Wanaka.