Hands up, who thinks the world-beating collage of waterfalls, dark cobalt waters and verdant cliffs and peaks at Milford Sound are at their best in the thrashing rain? We do! Of course we had fingers crossed we'd be lucky enough to see Milford Sound on a rare, clear sunny day. And, for much of the drive along the Milford Highway, it looked promising. But by the time we met the end of the road and boarded a boat across the Sound, the iconic profile of Mitre Peak was revealed slowly through shimmering sheets of precipitation. Hardly surprising really, given it rains for over 50per cent of the year here, but such is the beauty of this place, we didn't care at all. It just meant the boat was less crowded.

We'd allowed ourselves the whole day to make the journey there along the Milford Highway from our campsite just outside Te Anau. Milford is very isolated, and having George gave us freedom to explore at leisure, so we left early to beat the coachtrips and enjoy most of the viewpoints along the way in peace as well.

The first part of the road meandered through rolling farmland atop a parallel ridge of the glacier that once gouged out Lake Te Anau. It then passed Te Anau Downs, before reaching the entrance of Fiordland National Park - with views across pretty meadows. We stopped at Eglington Valley, and enjoyed some breakfast with majestic views of sheer mountains either side of Pyramid Peak and Ngatimamoe Peak ahead. We hung around for a while taking in the vast landscape, but then a coachtrip caught us up so we dashed back off in George.

There were so many lovely little places to stop and take a look around, but we can't remember all of the names. We did, however, stop at Mirror Lakes. There's a little boardwalk there beside the road which took us through beech forest and wetlands. The little lakes reflected the mountains across the valley perfectly, well that was until some ducks decide to splash about in them!

A little further along the road, we crossed the Divide, which is the lowest east-west pass in the Southern Alps, and then the road fell into the beech forest of the Hollyford Valley. We stopped at a lookout called Monkey Creek to enjoy views across it.

The whole drive was incredible, stopping for views and coffee breaks across lovely mountains along the way as well. We'd been so lucky with the weather and wondered if it would stay clear until Milford. At lunchtime, though, that all changed. We stopped to cook some bacon sarnies in a little spot with views across one of the valleys. But by the time we'd cooked and eaten, the valley was entirely covered in mist and cloud. Rain was on it's way...

Back in the van, the road climbed to Homer Tunnel, which was dark and dripping with water for over 1,000 metres. It emerged at the head of Cleddau Valley. Not far from Milford, we stopped to complete the Chasm Walk through a forest. It didn't take long, and followed a river flowing through eroded boulders and into deep falls. Back at the car park we noticed George had made friends with a Kea bird as well - there are lots in this area.

We finally made it to the end of the Highway at Milford in time for a quick hot chocolate before boarding a cruise along the sound. The first sight of the Sound is stunning. Sheer rocky cliffs rise out of the dark waters, and forests cling to the slopes. The spectacular 1700metre high Mitre Peak rises dead ahead. We didn't spot dolphins, but we did see lots of seals on the rocks and the rain was more than enough to fuel waterfalls, adding a moody mist to the scene. Despite the weather, the boat managed to make it to the mouth of the sound, just poking into the choppy waves of the Tasman Sea before turning back. We also visited some of the bigger falls, including one huge one (we forgot what it was called), which drenched us entirely as we stood out on the top deck, but it had to be done!

After the cruise, we hoped to make it as far as the tunnel before picking one of the many DOC campsites along the Highway for the night. The tunnel is prone to closure in bad weather and we didn't want to risk getting stuck in Milford. We made it in plenty of time though, and camped up not far from Te Anau at Cascades Creek. Now we're preparing to fall asleep to the sound of the raindrops pattering on the roof of the van. It's not often we enjoy the rain, but we think today it was beautiful.