Leaving Lake Matheson we leave behind the mosquito, only to enter the land of the sandfly. They are dreadful, pesky little creatures with a nasty bite that leaves ugly measle-like red dots and welts. In the Southern Alps area it seems that everyone's legs and arms bear the marks of these swarming attacks.
Franz Josef was teeming with tourists. Everyone scuttering about positioning themselves to get the best view of the glacier. As for Canadians (especailly Western Canadians) who are down here to get away from the snow it's hard to get into the spirit of the thing. Also, the fact that Don and I were recently in Alaska where there are more glaciers than anywhere else in the world we felt we were well enough acquainted with the rivers of snow. However, we stopped for a look and the obliglatory photo op. just to prove that we had been there and then carried on.
We arrived in Wanaka in the pouring rain. Stopped only long enough to gas up and carried on to Queenstown. Still nothing to tempt us to stop so we carried on to Te Anau. It is still raining but we have driven here for a purpose - to go on a fiords cruise.
Fiordland, the name generally given to the southwest coast, is a majestic wilderness of rocks, ice, and beech forests, where glaciers have carved mile-deep notches into the coast. Rivers, sounds, and lakes eat away at the land, and it rains hard and often, so that the area seems to strike a tenuous balance between earth and water.
Most of the area is a UNESCO World Heritage Area. Parts of the park are so remote that they have never been explored.
2. Go Millford
We booked a bus tour to drive the 120 kms to access the fiord cruise. That would allow Don a break from driving and the chance to just enjoy the scenery. Rhyse, the driver, was a friendly fellow who had spent a lot of time in Canada and the US. He said the moment you drove across the border between the two countries the atmosphere changed. Interesting to hear a visitor say this. He said that maybe it was because, like NZ and Australia, Canada is a Commonwealth Country. Kindred spirits!
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| Rhyse, bus driver |
I'm sure that NZ has more rivers and streams per square km than any other country in the world. As a result there are more single lane bridges than anywhere else in the world. On the drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound, Rhyse told us that we crossed 137 bridges.
The technique to cross the one-lane bridge is to pause long enough to determine if the coast is clear and whether you have the white arrow (your go) or the red arrow (give way). A few days earlier Don and I had crossed one that did make us scratch our heads. It was a single lane bridge with the added twist of a train track down the center. The sign indicated that cars gave way to trains - not hard to figure that out. What I did wonder - does it ever happen that you are half way and here comes the train. Then what? All that offers itself is that you'd better be very good at backing up. And fast!
Milford Sound is a small village that is home to 200 park staff in the summer and 100 in the winter. The village's power is generated from a nearby waterfall and the same fall is responsible for supplying all their water needs. Thousands of tourists descend on the area every day, mostly by tour bus and are gone by nightfall. There is one cruise that offers an overnight stay.
On the drive to Milford Sound we stopped a few times to see various sights. One was a chasm carved out by a gushing water fall. As soon as we got to Milford Sound we went on board the ship for the start of our 2 1/2 hour cruise. Before we even set sail lunch was served. It was a good barbecue lunch - what was disappointing, there was no dessert!!
The cruise takes you right out to the Tasman sea. Captain Cook sailed by this fiord two times and never found it. He wrote the opening off as a shallow bay. When you are at the entrance to the Tasman Sea and look back you can see why he was fooled.
Along the way you pass many waterfalls - some fall straight down from the cliffs never seeming to touch land on the way down. Some falls are blown away from the cliff face by the wind.
Our ship went close to three and even went under with the bow of the ship. Don and I stood on the bow with a few others. We tied on our jacket hoods and enjoyed the spray. When you looked up all you saw was a sheet of water. Wonderful.
3. Milford Deep Underwater Observatory
Before returning to Milford Sound we stopped at the Underwater Observatory - 15 minutes from Milford Sound.
Rainfall is so excessive in Milford Sound that a coat of 20 feet of fresh water floats on the surface of the salty fiord. This creates a unique underwater environment similar to that found at a much greater depth in the open ocean. This is what you observe at the Observatory. From the underwater window gallery you see rare red and black corals and a range of deepwater species.
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| Tree avalanche |
4. Tree Avalanche
I had never heard of a tree avalanche before this trip. Rhyse pointed out one on the drive to Milford Sound. The ship tour director pointed out another.
Look at the picture of a tree avalanche. On the right side of the picture it shows what the scene should look like. The left side shows what the rock face looks like after a tree avalanche takes place. This happens because the trees have a tenous hold to the granite rock face. A thin layer of dirt, lichens and cracks are all that the tree roots have to cling to. The root systems are shallow , the root of one tree growing on top of another. Therefore, if a tree at the top topples, for whatever reason - too large, blown over by the wind, dislodged by water - the ones below are dragged down with it. What takes seconds to destroy takes years to regenerate. In NZ, which has one of the fastest rates of regeneration, it takes 150 year. In rain forests in most other countries the average rate of regeneration is 350 years.
After the day of sailing the fiords, in the evening we went to the Te Anau Glowworm Caves on the western shores of Lake Te Anau. To get there entails a 1/2 hour ride on a catamarine each way.
At the information centre you are split into groups of 12-14 for a small group tour through the caves. You walk into the caves.
The first 50 feet is low so you must crouch. You immediately discover a world of sculpted rock and rushing water.
By geological standards the caves are very young (12,000 years) and are still being carved out by the force of the river that flows through them. The result is a twisting network of limestone passages filled with whirlpools and roaring underground waterfalls.
Deep inside the caves, beyond the roar of the water, thousands of glow worms inhabit a silent hidden grotto. You glide in boats in the subterranean darkness to view their extraordinary, glittering display.
We have discovered that there are many opportunities to view glow worms all over NZ. On a hike up the mountain, north of Wellington, we had an interesting talk with a local. He said that he often took the hike early in the morning and the trees were aglow with the worms. Frankly I have seen quite enough worms for one trip.
6. The Takahē
The Takahē is a flightless bird indigenous to New Zealand. It was thought to be extinct after the last four known specimens were taken in 1898. However, after a carefully planned search effort the bird was rediscovered by Geoffrey Orbell on November 20, 1948, near Lake Te Anau in the Murchison Mountains.
Don and I walked to the Te Anau Wildlife Centre to see the Takahē. The adult is mainly purple-blue in colour, with a greenish back and inner wings. It has a red frontal shield and red-based pink bill. The legs are pink.
7. Deer Farms
Don and noticed that not only were there sheep farms and cattle farms on the south Island, there were also deer farms. We saw a number of variety of deer especially the Wapiti and the Red Deer. We initially thought that some enterprising soul came up with the bright idea to import deer for the purpose of farming them. We commented that if they got loose they would quickly multiply as there were no preditors to control the numbers.
It turns out that we had the acquisition part wrong. Deer were introduced many years ago and predictably they did grow to such a number that they became a problem and still are. Large numbers were removed from the wild and placed on farms. Their meat and velvet is harvested for the oversea's market. A few restaurants serve venison but you cannot buy it in the stores.
People are encouraged to hunt the deer in the national parks as there is still a large wild population.
8. Mammals
Originally there were no mammals in New Zealand other than two varieties of bats. All other mammals have been introduced. Some with devastating results to the indignious bird poplation.
Rabbits were brought in and, surprise, their numbers got out of hand. The stoat were then introduced to prey on the rabbits. Unfortunately, the stoat found the birds to be a far easier target. The birds are easy to kill as they have never had to be wary of four-legged preditors, only flying ones, like the hawk and the eagle.
Dogs also prey on the non-flying birds, like the kiwi and the weka. Dogs have killed so many kiwi that their numbers are threatened.
Possums were brought in from Australia so that the hunters would have a target. Again with devastating results to the bird population because they attack the nests and destroy habitat.
What is needed here are few coyotes, maybe even the wolf. That would solve the varmit problem. But then both coyotes and wolves love sheep. And so on and so on...
9. The Southern Tip February 5, 2011
We drove to Invercargill, had lunch then drove a little further south to the tiny township of Bluff. We thought we had reached the southern tip of the South Island. Not the southern most point of NZ because you'd have to go to Stewart Island to reach that point.
We ran into a Canadian couple from Summerland. They took a picture of us under the Stirling Point Signpost (we reciprocated).
It turns out that Bluff is not the southern tip of the South Island. Later as I read another section of the guidebook I found our mistake.
You need to go further east to Curio Bay. From Curio Bay a back road runs over to Slope Point, mainland New Zealand's southernmost point. Heavy rains or unusually high tides can make the road impassable. Slope Point is apparently a bit of a disappointment - just some farmland sloping to the sea. Anyway not nearly as dramatic as the northern most point (Cape Rainga).
10. Heading Home
From the moment we turned north from the Bluff we have been heading home. Back to Auckland, back to Sydney and then back to Calgary. By the time we get home Don will have taken 14 different flights and me 13. I think I will stay off planes for awhile.
14. Other
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| Kea, Parrot Bird - very clever |
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