Milford Sound (, officially gazetted as Milford Sound/Piopiotahi) is a fiord in the south west of New Zealand's South Island within Fiordland National Park, Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) Marine Reserve, and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. It has been judged the world's top travel destination in an international survey (the 2008 Travelers' Choice Destinations Awards by TripAdvisor) and is acclaimed as New Zealand's most famous tourist destination. Rudyard Kipling called it the eighth Wonder of the World. The fiord is most commonly accessed via road (State Highway 94) by tour coach, with the road terminating at a small village also called Milford Sound.

Etymology
Milford Sound / Piopiotahi is one of roughly 90 places to have been given a dual name as part of a 1998 Treaty of Waitangi settlement with Ngāi Tahu, recognising the significance of the fiord to both Māori and Pākehā New Zealanders. This name consists of both the Māori name and the former European name used together as a single name, instead of as interchangeable alternate names. 

In te reo Māori, the fiord is known as Piopiotahi after the now extinct piopio, a thrush-like bird that used to inhabit New Zealand. According to the Māori legend of Māui trying to win immortality for mankind, a single piopio flew to the fiord in mourning following Māui's death. The name Piopiotahi refers to this bird, with tahi meaning 'one' in Māori.
The fiord was given its European name in 1823, when the sealer John Grono named it Milford Sound after Milford Haven in his birthplace of Wales. The Cleddau River, which flows into the fiord, was also named for its Welsh namesake.

Geography
As a fiord, Milford Sound was formed by a process of glaciation over millions of years. The village at the end of the fiord is also known as Milford Sound.

Milford Sound runs 15 kilometres inland from the Tasman Sea at Dale Point (also named after a location close to Milford Haven in Wales)—the mouth of the fiord—and is surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise  or more on either side. Among the peaks are The Elephant at , said to resemble an elephant's head, and The Lion, , in the shape of a crouching lion.

Milford Sound sports two permanent waterfalls, Lady Bowen Falls and Stirling Falls. After heavy rain temporary waterfalls can be seen running down the steep sided rock faces that line the fiord. They are fed by rainwater-drenched moss and will last a few days at most once the rain stops.

Climate
With a mean annual rainfall of  each year, a high level even for the West Coast, Milford Sound is known as the wettest inhabited place in New Zealand and one of the wettest in the world. Rainfall can reach  during 24 hours. The rainfall creates dozens of temporary waterfalls (as well as several major, more permanent ones) cascading down the cliff faces, some reaching a thousand metres in length. Smaller falls from such heights may never reach the bottom of the sound, drifting away in the wind.

Accumulated rainwater can, at times, cause portions of the rain forest to lose their grip on the sheer cliff faces, resulting in tree avalanches into the fiord. The regrowth of the rainforest after these avalanches can be seen in several locations along the sound.

Wildlife

Milford Sound is home to a variety of marine mammals, including seals and the southernmost wild population of bottlenose dolphins. Whales, especially the humpback and southern right whales, are increasingly observed due to the recoveries of each species. Penguins are also common within the sound, which is a breeding site for the Fiordland penguin and has subsequently been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.

As a result of Milford Sound's high rainfall and the density of salt water, the surface of Milford Sound is a layer of freshwater containing tannins from the surrounding rainforest. This filters much of the sunlight which enters the water, allowing for a variety of Black coral to be found at depths of as shallow as 10 metres, significantly closer to the surface than usual.

History

Milford Sound was initially overlooked by European explorers because its narrow entry did not appear to lead into such large interior bays. Sailing ship captains such as James Cook, who bypassed Milford Sound on his journeys for just this reason, also feared venturing too close to the steep mountainsides, afraid that wind conditions would prevent escape.

The fiord was a playground for local Māori who had acquired a large amount of local marine knowledge including tidal patterns and fish feeding patterns over generations before European arrival.
The fiord remained undiscovered by Europeans until Captain John Grono discovered it c.1812 and named it Milford Haven after his homeland in Wales. Captain John Lort Stokes later renamed Milford Haven as Milford Sound. Following the passage of the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998, the name of the fiord was officially altered to Milford Sound / Piopiotahi.

While Fiordland as such remained one of the least-explored areas of New Zealand up to the 20th century, Milford Sound's natural beauty soon attracted national and international renown, and led to the discovery of the McKinnon Pass in 1888, soon to become a part of the new Milford Track, an early walking tourism trail. In the same year, the low watershed saddle between the Hollyford River and the Cleddau River was discovered, where the Homer Tunnel was to be developed about sixty years later to provide road access.

As of the 2006 census, just 120 people lived in Milford Sound, most of them working in tourism or conservation.

Tourism

Overview
Milford Sound attracts between 550,000 and 1 million visitors per year. This makes the sound one of New Zealand's most-visited tourist spots even with its remote location and long journey times from the nearest population centres. Many tourists take one of the boat tours which usually last one to two hours. They are offered by several companies, departing from the Milford Sound Visitors' Centre.

Tramping, canoeing, and some other water sports are possible. A small number of companies also provide overnight boat trips. There is otherwise only limited accommodation at the sound, and only a very small percentage of tourists stay more than the day. Tourists usually stay in Te Anau or Queenstown.

The Milford Discovery Centre & Underwater Observatory is located in Harrisons Cove on the north side of the fiord.  Situated within the Piopiotahi Marine Reserve, the underwater observatory allows visitors to view the fiord's unique marine environment at a depth of 10 metres.  Due to a natural phenomenon called 'deep water emergence,' deep-water animals such as black coral can be viewed in the shallow waters surrounding the observatory. A dark surface layer of fresh water, stained brown by tannins from the surrounding forest, along with cold water temperatures allow the black corals to grow close to the surface throughout Milford Sound and Fiordland.

Milford Sound is also a destination for cruise ships.

Transport

By road, Milford Sound is  from Queenstown and  from Invercargill (about four hours' drive), with most of the tour buses to the sound departing from Queenstown. Some tourists also arrive from the smaller tourism centre of Te Anau,  away. There are also scenic flights by light aircraft and helicopter tours to and from Milford Sound Airport. The drive to Milford Sound itself passes through unspoiled mountain landscapes before entering the  Homer Tunnel which emerges into rain-forest-carpeted canyons that descend to the sound. The winding mountain road, while of high standards, is very prone to avalanches and closures during the winter half of the year.

The long distance to the sound means that tourist operators from Queenstown all depart very early in the day, arriving back only late in the evening. This ensures that most tourists visit Milford Sound within a few hours around midday, leading to some congestion on the roads and at the tourist facilities during the main season. The peak-time demand is also the reason for a large number of tour boats active in the sound at much the same time.

Over the years, various options for shortening the distance to Milford Sound from Queenstown have been mooted, including a gondola route, a new tunnel from Queenstown, or a monorail from near Lake Wakatipu to Te Anau Downs. All would reduce the current round-trip duration (which has to travel via Te Anau), thus allowing tourism to be spread out over more of the day. While a gondola is considered to be out of the running after the DOC declined approval for environmental reasons, the tunnel and the monorail proposals have applied to the Department of Conservation for concessions for land access.

There are a variety of plane charter companies that fly to Milford Sound. Most of the companies fly out of Queenstown International Airport. These companies include True South Flights, Glenorchy Air, Air Milford, and Milford Sound Scenic Flights.

Diesel spill

On 8 February 2004, a spill of 13,000 litres of diesel fuel was discovered, resulting in a 2-kilometre spill which closed the fiord for two days while intensive cleanup activities were completed. A hose was apparently used to displace the fuel from the tanks of one of the tour vessels, and various government officials claimed it appeared to be an act of ecoterrorism motivated by rising numbers of tourists to the park, though more details did not become known. The spill was removed and wildlife impact appears minimal.

See also
Doubtful Sound
Dusky Sound
Fiordland
Milford Sound Airport
Transport in Milford Sound

References

Further reading

External links

 Milford Sound—Destination Fiordland (regional tourism organisation)
 Map Chooser Land Information NZ Site – for downloading the Milford Sound / Piopiotahi topographic map

Fiords of New Zealand
Sounds of Fiordland
Important Bird Areas of New Zealand
Tourist attractions in Southland, New Zealand
밀퍼드 사운드(Milford Sound)는 뉴질랜드 남섬의 남서부 피오르드랜드 국립공원에 위치한 피오르드이다. 테와히포우나무의 일부로 유네스코 세계자연유산에 등록되어있다. 별칭으로 '피오피오타히'(Piopiotahi, 마오리어 로 "한 마리의 피오피오 새")라고 부른다. 밀퍼드 사운드는 웨일스에 있는 밀퍼드 헤이븐을 따서 붙여진 이름이다

개요 
밀퍼드 사운드는 태즈먼해에서 15 km 내륙까지 계속되고 있으며, 1200m 이상의 절벽으로 둘러싸여있다. 울창한 무성한 우림이 절벽에 자라고 있는 반면에, 그에 접한 바다에는 바다표범, 펭귄, 돌고래 등이 자주 출현하며, 드물기는 하지만 고래도 있다. 피오르드랜드는 한때 고래잡이와 바다표범 사냥의 거점이었다.

이 자연의 아름다움에 끌려 매일 수천 명의 관광객이 찾아온다. 밀퍼드 사운드는 연간 7000 - 8000mm 강수량을 가지며, 1년의 3 분의 2는 비가 온다. 그 때마다 일시적으로 폭포를 형성한다. 우기에는 1000m를 넘는 폭포도 있다. 이 비가 내릴 때는 피오르드 절벽 토양이 물러져 관광객에 위험한 상황을 가져올 수 있지만, 반대로 우림의 생육에 좋은 환경을 조성하여 우림이 집중적으로 자생하는 장소를 제공하기도 한다. 이러한 우림 중앙 지역은 밀퍼드 사운드에 몇 지역에서 확인할 수 있다.

역사 
유럽탐험자들에 의해 밀퍼드 사운드가 처음으로 관측되었다. 그들은 좁은 입구로 인해 내부에 그처럼 넓은 만이 있을거라고 생각지 못했다. 그래서 제임스 쿡은 밀퍼드 사운드를 여행하면서 그냥 지나쳐 갔다. 거친 바람 때문에 빠져나오는 것도 쉽지 않았고, 또한 가파른 산악지대에 가까이 접근하는 것을 꺼려했다. 이것이 다우트풀 사운드라고 언급된 이유이며, 만약 들어갔다가는 빠져나오기 힘들거라고 '의심'했는데, 그것 때문에 '다우트풀'(Doubtful)이라는 지명이 생기게 되었다.

피오르드 지형은 유럽인들이 도착하기에 앞서 여러 세대를 통해 조수간만의 형태와 고기들의 습성을 포함한 현지 해양 지식들을 습득한 이 지역 마오리들의 터전이었다. 피오르드는 1812년 존 그로노(John Grono) 선장이라는 물개잡이 선장이 발견할 때까지는 알려지지 않았다. 그는 고향인 웨일스의 밀퍼드 헤이븐(Milford Haven)을 따서 이곳을 ‘밀퍼드 헤이븐’이라고 이름지었다. 존 로트 스토록스 선장(John Lort Stokes)은 이후 ‘밀퍼드 헤이븐’을 ‘밀퍼드 사운드’라고 다시 이름을 바꿨다.

20세기까지 피오르드랜드는 뉴질랜드에서 가장 탐험이 되지 않은 지역으로 남았기 때문에 밀퍼드 사운드의 자연의 아름다움은 전국적인 또는 국제적인 유명세를 타게 되었고, 이것은 1888년 맥키넌 패스의 발견으로 연결되었다. 이것은 곧 밀퍼드 트랙의 부분이 되었으며, 초기의 도보여행 길이었다. 같은 해 할리포드 강과 클레도 강의 낮은 분수령이 발견되었고, 그곳에 길을 뚫기 위해 호머 터널이 6년 후에 개발되게 된다.

2006년 인구조사에서 120명이 밀퍼드 사운드에 사는 것으로 조사되었고, 그들 중 대부분은 관광과 보존에 관련된 일을 하는 사람들이었다.

지리 

밀퍼드 사운드는 피오르의 입구인 데일 포인트의 태즈먼해에서 내륙으로 15 km 달리며, 양쪽으로 1200m를 솟아 있는 기괴한 바위 면에 둘러 쌓여 있다. 가장 높은 봉으로는 주교가 쓰고 있는 마이터를 닮았다고 해서 붙여진 1,692m의 마이터봉이 있다. 그 봉우리 중 엘리펀트봉은 1,517m이며, 코끼리 머리를 닮았다고 한다. 또한 라이언봉은 1,302m로 웅크린 사자를 닮았다. 이러한 벼랑에 붙어 있는 러쉬 열대우림과 바다에서는 물개와 펭귄, 그리고 돌고래가 종종 보인다.

밀퍼드 사운드에는 레이디 보웬 폭포(Lady Bowen Falls)와 스털링 폭포(Stirling Falls) 두 개의 폭포가 연중 흘러내린다. 그러나 비가 많이 온 다음에는 수 백개의 폭포가 일시적으로 형성되어 가파른 바위 벼랑을 타고 흘러내린다.

기후 
연평균 강수량은 182일에 걸쳐 6,813mm의 엄청난 비가 쏟아져, 밀퍼드 사운드는 뉴질랜드뿐만 아니라 세계에서도 가장 습한 거주지역으로 알려져 있다.(대한민국 1,500mm) 강수는 1일 250mm에 달할 때도 있다. 그러한 강수는 수십개의 임시 폭포를 만들어 내며, 절벽 면을 따라서 계단 식으로 흘러 내린다. 어떤 것은 길이가 1,000m에 이르는 것도 있다. 축적된 강수량은 종종 우림을 침수시켜 절벽 면을 깎아 사운드 쪽으로 나무의 산사태를 일으키기도 한다. 이러한 산사태 이후 우림이 다시 조성되는 것을 사운드를 따라가며 관측할 수 있다.

석유 유출 사건 
2004년 2월 8일, 13,000리터의 경유가 2km에 걸쳐 범람하고 있는 것이 밀퍼드 사운드에서 확인되었다. 그 후 이틀동안 석유 정리를 위해 밀퍼드 사운드는 폐쇄되었다. 이것은 분명히 관광선에 의해 유출된 것으로 정부 관계자가 관광에 의한 환경 파괴를 우려했다. 이처럼 최근에는 인적 요인에 의한 환경 파괴가 문제가 되고 있다.

교통 
밀퍼드 사운드는 퀸스타운에서 295 km 떨어져 있으며, 인버카길에서는 279 km(약 4시간)가 떨어져 있다. 퀸즈타운에서 출발하여 사운드까지 관광버스가 운행한다.
 차, 버스 : 퀸스타운에서 5시간, 테아나우에서 2시간. 승용차의 경우 호머 터널을 통과한다.
 비행기, 헬기 : 퀸스타운에서 약 1시간
 선박의 접근이 가능하다.

같이 보기 
 다우트풀 사운드
 피오르드랜드
 밀퍼드 트랙

각주

외부 링크 

 Milford Sound - Destination Fiordland (regional tourism organisation)
 Wondermondo, Flying waterfalls in Milford Sound
   Land Information NZ Site - for downloading the Milford Sound / Piopiotahi topographic map

뉴질랜드의 피오르
뉴질랜드의 만
뉴질랜드의 관광
피오르드랜드