Milford Sound, NZ

Milford Sound is one of the wettest inhabited places Jim has ever flown, and that's exactly what makes it worth flying. The fiord walls run almost straight up out of black water, and after any real rain, dozens of temporary waterfalls appear on the rock faces and drop hundreds of meters straight into the Sound below — some gone again within a day.

That same rain is the whole problem. Weather here rolls in off the Tasman Sea in tight, fast-moving systems, and a clear morning can turn to zero visibility within the hour. Jim learned to keep the drone cased and ready at all times, launching the moment a gap opened rather than waiting for a forecast that could be trusted more than twenty minutes out.

The Sound also sits close to a small local airstrip with its own controlled airspace, so every flight plan here starts with a radio check rather than a battery check. It adds a layer of coordination most of Jim's destinations don't require — but it's a small price for waterfalls that might not exist by the time he's back.