Maiden Into Milford

“My first sighting of New Zealand is from the balcony of my cabin as Sun Princess sidles up to the rugged cliffs of Fiordland,” The Australian’s Helen McKenzie describes from aboard the ship for her maiden 12-day cruise from Brisbane. “It has taken us three full days at sea to get to Milford Sound,” McKenzie writes. “Our journey is silent and smooth across dark green waters. About 6am on day five we glide into Port Chalmers for some landlubbing in Dunedin. The approach to the harbour is through a sand bar. We move like a slowly sweeping panoramic shot in a movie. New Zealand is beautiful. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone said this to me before we sailed, and a dollar more for every time I have said it since returning.”