What is a Sound?

(This post was written in 2022 during our year off travelling, but not published at the time)

Don’t worry, travelling has not turned me into a philosopher. And this is not like a drunken ramble that you may have had when you were younger. This is a serious question, what on Earth is a Sound?

Upon arriving in Fiordland in New Zealand’s South Island, we started organising trips to two of the area’s main attractions – Milford and Doubtful Sounds. Whilst we were very keen to experience these natural wonders, we were certainly doubtful regarding their names…

But it turns out that it’s not just a slightly odd local naming custom, it has a technical origin. On the cruise around the stunning Doubtful Sound, the captain kindly addressed our confusion as part of his commentary. Turns out that whilst a Fjord (or Fiord) is a glacial valley that is now filled with sea water; a Sound is another type of valley, such as a river valley, that is now filled with sea water.

So there you have it, you certainly do learn some useless (although actually quite interesting) stuff when you’re travelling. And if this type of thing is important to you, both Milford and Doubtful Sounds were incorrectly named, they are both actually fjords.

Regardless of their slightly dubious names, both Sounds were absolutely amazing. If you wish to read about our experiences whilst visiting them, then please click here.