The very remote Milford Sound

The road that goes to Milford Sound is 120km, and it dead ends at the sound (which, coincidentally, is actually a fiord - the sailors that named it were confused). It didn't look so impressive in the foggy haze of dusk when we first arrived, but we splurged and took a boat ride the next day to see the immensity of this natural wonder anyway. And, despite what all New Zealanders and the guidebooks said, it didn't rain. Not a cloud in the sky as we gaped at the incredibly huge peaks of rock rising up all around us out of the sea, covered in moss and a fair amount of trees. We looked up and up to the 1694m top of Mitre Peak, about a mile above sea level, the largest peak in the world that goes directly into the sea. And there is no soil in all the peaks that make up the Sound; the trees grow in the moss, and their roots intertwine in between the rocks. Hydroponics, the announcer said. Fiordland gets up to seven meters of rainfall each year, leaving no chance for soil to stay put. We also saw some incredible waterfalls, made possible by all the rain, and even a rainbow in one of them.
But what I really remember best is standing all the way in the front of the boat, with the wind on my face, looking out into seemingly endless mountain peaks behind a deep, deep blue sea.