17-Feb-2015 -- Milford Sound - in New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park - is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. But it’s also one of the rainiest places on Earth - receiving an average of 6700 mm (or 22 feet!) of rain each year. So it’s a rare treat when you can visit it in warm sunny weather, as I did today. As a bonus, as you drive to Milford Sound, you pass within a kilometer of a Degree Confluence point! With the weather being ideal, I (of course) had to try to visit it enroute to Milford Sound.

Although this Degree Confluence Point lies close to the road, visiting it is non-trivial, because it requires fording the Eglinton River. Fortunately, at this time of the year (late summer), the river is probably about as low as it gets. Nonetheless, to ford the river - about 500 m from the point - I had to pack my shoes, camera, and GPS receiver into a waterproof bag, and carry this with me as I carefully waded across the river - with water sometimes reaching my upper thigh.

Once on the other side of the river, it was a pleasant hike through beautiful beech forest. The ground underneath was covered with moss, giving it a spongy feel as I hiked.