The Australians might say the Great Barrier Reef as the Eighth Wonder of the World, but Rudyard Kipling granted the honour to New Zealand’s Milford Sound. Milford is the most well-known of more than a dozen magnificent fjords that make up splendid Fiordland National Park on the South Island’s south-western coastline. The 16-kilometre-long cove is hemmed in by steep granite cliffs increasing up to 4,000 feet, with waterfalls flowing from the mountain ridges.

Mischievous bottlenose dolphins, gulls, and fur seals call its waters home, and crested penguins nest at this point in October and November before migrating to Antarctica. Mitre Peak is the centerpiece, a 5,560-foot peak whose reflection in the mirror-calm water is one of the Pacific’s most shot places.

Flight-seeing here is an immense opportunity, and boats leave regularly for two-hour cruises through the quiet splendour of the sound. On land, the Milford Track was once called by a glowing hiker the best walk in the world, a depiction that has deservedly stuck. It is a 4-day; 52-kilometre hike most serious hikers around the world dream of responsibility, in spite of the sand flies, at least an inch of daily precipitation, and demanding stretches challenging as much attention as the overwhelming scenery.