Milford Sound – Pristine?

Today we visited Milford Sound. A good oportunity to talk about  something that has been on my mind for some time. If you’ve ever been to New Zealand, you’ll probably know what the picture to the left is. Yes, that’s Milford Sound, with the 1691m high Mitre Peak centre left, and I can’t stand it.

Everywhere in New Zealand (and I mean everywhere, including Northland, 1000km north of Milford) you’ll find postcards, posters and general merchandise with an image almost identical to the one above. I find this a bit… Odd. Well, to be honest, I think this is bullshit. If you visit The Netherlands, you won’t find any postcards in Amsterdam that have Maastricht on it, and Maastricht is a hell of a lot closer to Amsterdam than Milford is to Northland. In fact, I was getting so sick and tired of this standard Milford photo that you saw everywhere (sometimes, different postcards were a like a “zoek de verschillen” puzzle you find in those children’s puzzle books) that I almost decided against going to Milford altogether. I went in the end, and it was beautiful, but I still can’t stand it when I see a picture of it, including my own photo’s.

This isn’t just about Milford though. It’s part of a larger problem called “tourism”. You see, I understand why they sell those postcards up north. It’s because they sell. Milford is one of the things to visit New Zealand for, and even if you’re only around for two weeks or so and don’t come near to Milford, you might want a picture/postcard of it. And New Zealand has so many visitors  that this type might be relatively rare, but still be common. And that’s what the problem is. It’s a mathematical fact: (Number of inhabitants) / 5 = (Number of tourist information centres + Number of tourist shops). The problem extends though, to the New Zealand wilderniss. There is no one here in this country who won’t keep on boasting how green and clean and wonderful and pristine his motherland is. In truth, it’s everything but. I mean, how special would you feel, walking through a vast, ancient rainforest, surrounded by trees that might be a thousand years old – if you’re walking on a boardwalk, being yelled at by a man in a wheelchair because you’re blocking his way, while a baby is crying on the background? Exactly.

Anyway, there are some new photo’s in the gallery. Check ‘em out.