MILFORD’S GLORY

Southland Times, Issue 20999, 4 February 1930, Page 8

MILFORD’S GLORY

. MAHENO CALLS IN PASSENGERS DELIGHTED IMPRESSIONS OF THE SOUND Passengers on board the Maheno, which berthed at Bluff yesterday morning, had a fairly rough voyage across from Melbourne; but all their discomforts were forgotten during the hours they spent in the serene majesty of Milford Sound. It was at 7 a.m. on Sunday that the Maheno steamed up the sound, and all passengers were on deck to appreciate a sight that has become famous throughout the world. The mountains were wreathed in clouds, but these gradually dispersed and the peaks were seen in all their rugged grandeur. Judging from the remarks of passengers who were interviewed yesterday by a Times reporter the visit to Milford will never fade from their memory. Much Travelled Visitor Talks. An English tourist, Miss James, was able to make an interesting comparison between the Norwegian, Spitsbergen and New Zealand fiords. “First of all I wish to say,” remarked Miss Janies, “that Milford-Sound is a very beautiful spot, and it was a very happy idea that the Maheno should call in on her way across. As we entered the sound we could see the foliage near the water’s edge but the rest of the mountains were covered with clouds. The clouds and bush on our left seemed a rich blue hue, while on our right everything was grey. For two hours we steamed about in the widest part between the Lion and Mitre Peak. The clouds lifted and we had a glorious view of the sound. I do not think your New Zealand fiords are as fine as those of Norway for the grandeur of the mountains, nor are'there in New Zealand the glaciers one sees in Norway. But your foliage is much more varied and beautiful. The Spitzbergen fiords are bare of all vegetation but are very grand. The Norwegian forests consist almost entirely of pines and silver birch. You have great variety in your bush. There was a lovely red tinge in the bush at Milford which one sees in no other country in the world. I understand it was either the rata or the red mistletoe. I must certainly repeat that the bush in your sounds is unequalled. Of course it is a difficult matter to compare the fiords of one country with those of another. The Norwegian fiords are so much more extensive, and form such a network of arms and inlets. You unquestionably have very good reason to be proud of Milford' which deserves to be renowned the world over.” Miss James, by the way, is on her first visit to the South Island, though she has toured the North Island before. She intends visiting Manapouri. Te Anau, Wakatipu, Wanaka, Mount Cook, Tekapo. the Franz Josef and the West Coast. Melbourne Visitors. “You have asked us an impossibility,” declared two Melbourne ladies when a reporter requested them to convey their impressions of Milford. “It was majestic; it was beautiful; but it was far more than this. Neither of us has words in which to describe it. We saw the sound as the mists were rolling away. Mitre Peak was sublimely grand and the Lion amazingly like the King ol Beasts. What surprised us was the way the foliage grew right down to the water’s edge. The reflections were wonderful,- and there seemed to be a rich purple hue just where the mountains met the water. I can assure you of this fact—that during the meal following our call at Milford every tongue was talking about the glory of the sound.” A Melbourne doctor said that he was spellbound with the beauty of the sound. He could have remained on deck for hours gazing at the grandeur around him. The only complaint he made was that people round about wished to chatter overmuch about Milford’s beauty instead of drinking it in. His Eighth Trip. “Since 1912, I have visited Milford on eight occasions on my journeys to and from Melbourne, but one never tires of the wondrous sculptures of Nature and the entrancing vistas stretching before one in that Wonderland” declared Mr T. K. Bagster, a prominent Melbourne publisher. “The grandeur and beauty is one of Nature’s masterpieces and is always new to me. The Maheno steamed right up to Bowen Falls and the sound was really .a treat and a magnificent spectacle as the curtain of mist cleared off. The Norwegian fiords, which I have often visited, are certainly very much wider than the West Coast Sounds, but, in Norway, I missed the forest-clad array of mountains. There is an almost entire absence o-f foliage on the iced walls of the Norwegian fiords, which appear just as cuts of grey granite adorned with fir trees. The cold there is intense and detracts, to a large extent, from the pleasure of the tourist. I consider that, in every way, Milford, of peerless beauty, surpasses them. As the steamer sails into Bantry Bay, Ireland, the hills on both sides covered with evergreens and shrubs are a wonderful sight. There, however, the mountains do not sheer to such a height as at Milford—they rise gradually and are not so narrowly confined. The sheer, majestic heights of your sounds are infinitely the more glorious. I have seen nothing finer than the densely wooded Mitre Peak and the great granite head and shoulders of the Lion, which bears such a striking likeness to the King of Beasts. The fiords of the West Coast of Scotland are very fine but there one, is almost in the open seas so a comparison with Milford could hardly be drawn.

Another frequent visitor, also in the publishing business in Melbourne, said he was always very impressed with the magnificently bold, precipitous and forest clad entrance to Milford. When the Maheno entered the Sound, the surrounding hills had been shrouded with mist but the captain had very kindly cruised around for some hours, until about 11.30 in the morning, the mist finally lifted and the sun gloriously shone forth on the gems of loveliness. “Milford is peerless no matter what the weather be like. For instance I have visited the sound in pouring rain, when beautiful cascades plunged from the haughty buttresses. I shall never tire of it.” An Astonished Visitor. “As we approached and steamed up (he sound I was rather disappointed because ot the mist” remarked Mr T. B. Jackson, also a well-known Melbourne publisher. “However, when the sun warmed, the mist disappeared, and I was amazed when I beheld the magnificent grandeur of the hills and mountains. The towering heights were really awe-inspiring. When we turned for Bluff again I gaxed from the bow of the ship, at Mt. Pembroke in the far distance, and my impression of that snow-capped glory will last for a long, long while. The rather wonderful dark green of the water and the light green foliage on the hills were an eye-opener. The Bowen Falls spouting forth from the cup is particularly entrancing. I certainly should like to visit Milford again and. had I the time, I would make the special trip. It would be money well spent and any visitors to New Zealand would be well advised to journey to the sounds. I was surprised to note the trees in the sound. It is marvellous how they grow for they must have to withstand some bad weather. What on earth do the plants live on? I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and have never beheld such a vast number of waterfalls in my life.”