We are not really back in NZ - we have just been ruthlessly busy and lazy about the blog. So I am going to rip through some NZ pics to get back up to date!Recall we are on the S end of the S Island. We just got out of Doubtful Sound and decided to drive up to Milford Sound.It is spectacular drive -driving amongst glaciated peaks (above), fun van art, a broad grassy valley with little lakes...
This might look a little different with no wind on the lakes! But the birds (not shown here) were good....
Just another amazing river - clear water, rapids, no crocodiles! Utterly different from OZ!
Multiple short hikes along the amazing road out to Milford. This was a pretty cool spot - a river cutting through a rock shelf in the deep forest - lovely little hike - and multiple-lingual warning!
Little spots of temperate rain forest....
At the end of the valley we reach the beginning of the pass - blue sky, ice-blue glaciers, a real alpine environment. Here we felt homesick - to be back in the mountains (even if we were only going up the the Homer Tunnel at 945 m above sea level!) It was real mountains, with real air....
Fabulous waterfalls
And of course the World-famous Milford Sound. We were terribly glad to have over-nighted in Doubtful instead of here. Lots of big tour boats and a constant stream of small planes (at least 20 in the few hours we were there). But I was tempted - although we had a perfect day for our visit, this place gets 182 days rain/year so the chance to see it by air is about 50:50 on any future visit!
The trail over to the falls was closed due to slips, so we took a short nature hike along a boardwalk by the Sound...
These rock walls would make for awesome climbing- except for the dripping water and masses of vegetation...
We stopped at the Pass on the way back - we sort of snorted at the idea of "alpine" at 1000m. But there were the glaciers, the brisk air, the alpine wildflowers, talus and boulder hopping... it was home...
These Kakas (alpine parrots) were everywhere. The tunnel is only one lane so you have to wait for the green light. There are reports of innocent tourists getting lured out of their cars to feed "the cute little birds"and then fleeing backing into their cars under the bird assault. They're very intelligent birds!
Lake Te Anau at sunset
Hmm -isn't it cheaper just to toss the trash out the window? This seems a bit odd at a tourist area....
REALLY big fish!
Moon floating over the ocean -
We cut across the coast to Bluff NZ -the southern-most point of the island proper. But we were not stopping there - we were catching a ferry to Stewart Island... in search of the wild and wily kiwi!!
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