This picture has been painted and photographed countless times – in fact it’s a wonder there are any photons left on it.

Despite its familiarity, the experience of going into the sound is impressive, awe-inspiring, and is one of the few times when the sight we have come to see stands above the logistics of tourism.  The Grand Canyon, and Zion National park were the same.

By contrast lesser experiences simply become subsumed to tourism – Pancake Rocks on the West Coast being a good example.  The triviality and banality of tourism is so hard to ignore, and so intrusive, that it often ovewhelms what you have come to see.

We went up Milford Sound with a small outfit, Jucy travel.  The same people who rented our car.  It’s a low-budget organisation mainly for younger travellers.  We expected some shonky little boat with muzak and a forgettable commentary, but it was the opposite.  Unlike the large tourist boats it was small, personal, and without music at all (for which we thanked them at the end).  The commentary was sparse, targetted, and interesting.  Only once (thank goodness) did we have to compare a rock to an animal.