Our cruise scheduled for December out of Sydney cruises through several NZ sounds so what exactly is a sound? Is it like a fjord? Looking f/w to some scenic beauty and we are spending 5 days pre cruise in Oz to see the sites and visit our niece so thats an added bonus indeed.

Yes. See:

http://photobucket.com/images/milford%20sound

Now THAT is an answer! Thank you. Nice distraction while I'm working out on the bike. .

WIKIPEDIA says it best: "In geography, a sound is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight, and wider than a fjord; or a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land (see also strait)."

But my own favorite Kiwi sound is that of a Kiwi ordering Fish and Chips for Six.
Goes something like "füsh and chüps for sex". Ah for the possibilities...

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Milford Sound is a fiord (or fjord), a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by glacial erosion. It's in Fiordland.

Doubtful Sound is also a fiord. But Marlborough Sounds it is a true sound, "formed when sea levels rose and drowned a series of deep valleys after the last ice age around 10,000 years ago." (dept. of Conservation).

Yes, the English settlers misnamed them sounds instead of fjords, and then the Kiwis misspelled fjord as fiord.