Milford Sound

We drove to Milford Sound. The scenic road was long and winding and went through the Homer Tunnel, 1.2 km long and only wide enough to accommodate one-way traffic. This is where running a red light is a really bad idea.

 

 

 

At Milford Sound we took a two-hour cruise with Go Orange.

 

 

 

 

The scenery was fabulous and we lucked out on the weather since Milford Sound has 182 days of rain each year. Their total onnual precipitation is 6,813 mm or 22 feet and 4 inches.

 

 

 

 

There were some fantastic waterfalls on the way up the sound.

 

 

 

 

The captain took the boat right up to the cliff face so that one of the crew could get everyone a drink of really fresh water. This poor girl drew the short straw. But the drink was wonderful!

 

 

 

 

The views were awesome! Even being from BC we were impressed.

 

 

 

 

This waterfall gave off mist that created a rainbow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were kept busy gazing at waterfalls, distant glaciers and mountain vistas.

 

 

 

 

On the way back we stopped in at Mirror Lakes. I wonder where the name came from?

 

 

 

 

We came across a river of sheep.

 

 

 

 

The river ran over the road and held us up for fifteen minutes. We didn't complain as we had the opportunity to watch the farmer and his dogs at work.

 

 

 

 

The dogs followed the truck except when a sheep or two got out of line. Then they went to work.

 

 

 

 

The sheep herding is foreshadowing of things to come. Keep posted for a visit to a sheep station.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Kaikoura, Mt. Cook, the Moeraki Boulders and Taiaroa Head

We did some neat walks this week. Kaikoura Peninsula has all sorts of wildlife. When we first arrived we were greeted with a very large school of dolphins jumping like crazy in the bay. Some were even doing backflips!

 

 

There were also seals on the wooden walkway and on the beach.

 

 

 

 

We camped and hiked at Aoraki/Mt. Cook. It's the highest mountain in New Zealand and a very impressive sight. Our hike took us along rivers . . .

 

. . . and over suspension bridges . . .

 

. . . right to the lake at the end of the mountain's glacier.

 

 

 

Our next stop was the Moeraki Boulders, which were formed from mud, silt and clay cemented by calcite. They took between 4 and 5.5 million years to form. The ancient mud that surrounded them has now been washed away.

 

 

It's amazing how nature has made such perfectly spherical rocks.

 

 

 

Hey, this one's hatching! Weird bird!

 

 

 

At Taiaro Head we visited an albatross colony. Fabulous birds that spend most of their lives out on the open ocean, only coming to land to breed. They have a wingspan of over three metres and can fly at speeds of up to 120 km per hour.

This one is about to sit on an egg:

 

 

They are very graceful in flight, using wind and air currents to stay aloft, almost never flapping their wings.

 

 

 

Our next point of interest will be a cruise up the fiord from Milford Sound.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Wellington and the Interisland Ferry

We had a beautiful sunny day in Wellington before taking the ferry to the South Island. We drove to the top of a hill and enjoyed a gorgeous view over the harbour. We walked down through the botanical gardens. These gardens were all arranged on rather steep hillsides. The hydrangeas were in full bloom.

 

 

 

 

Once we were at the bottom we took the cable car back up to the campervan. After lunch at the top we headed for the Museum of New Zealand. Wow, talk about high tech! One exhibit was a ride simulating the NZ extreme sports. A ride is as far as we go - no jumping out of planes or bungy jumping for us.

 

We took in the stories of the first people here, the Maoris...

 

 

as well as those that came later. We enjoyed a movie on the screen reliving the modern history of NZ, while items in the old junk shop popped up to participate in the story.

 

Our cruise ship for the three hour passage to the South Island.

 

 

We're leaving Wellington for now. We'll be back in a couple of weeks.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Napier

We have been so busy, we're having to do some catch-up. Today we are adding five new posts going back as far as January 5 in Melbourne, Australia. We've been having a great time and finding there are just not enough hours in a day.

 

Fabulous views on the road to Napier.

Napier is on the east coast of New Zealand. Much of the town was destroyed in an earthquake and resulting fire back in 1931. Even though there was a world-wide depression going on in the 1930's, the town cleared the debris and constructed new Art Deco buildings, making it the newest and most modern town in the world at the time.

You could ride around town in this 1938 Packard for only $150.

A Spanish Mission style building

The dome and clock lantern of the T&G Building are Napier landmarks.

Inside the ASB Bank Buildind, we found interesting ceilings and columns.

At Te Mata Peak lookout we had a view over Hawke's Bay and the towns of Hastings and Napier.

Tomorrow we drive to Wellington at the south end of the North Island. On Friday we take the ferry to the South Island. It's apparently very different from the North Island.

Posted with Blogsy

White Island

White Island is an active marine volcano about 90 minutes by boat from Whakatane. We took a boat trip out to the island and got the chance to walk around in the crater. It was a rather surreal experience, especially when they told us that it blew as recently as last October, covering the island in several feet of mud and ash. We decided that three hours was a very small window in geologic terms, so we were probably pretty safe. Ironically, two days after this tour there was an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale that was centered just south of us.

On the boat trip out to the island, we came across a pod of porpoises.

We had to wear protective gear for the walk: hardhats in case of flying rock and gas masks for the sulfur gasses that could become sulfuric acid if breathed in. We felt quite secure in our new gear.

There was a lake of hot water in the crater. Sometimes it gets hot enough it boils right off.

The magma is 500 metres below the surface at this point.

Lots of steam was venting. The yellow on the ground is sulfur.

It was an interesting place with pools of bubbling mud.

On the back side of the island there was a colony of gannets.

Posted with Blogsy