Milfordsound, NZOct 22, 2005
|
|
photo caption uploads pending
Milford Sound - 120 KM on Tour Bus 10/22/05
WOW!! Best scenery to date! Took 187 photos. Bus drive out looked forbidding with low clouds on the mountains. After crossing the Divide (like our continental divide) we broke into the clear. Beautiful snow clad peaks and rugged rocky ridges everywhere.
The initial drive was through rain forest. Mountain beach trees, lichens, and hanging moss, plus the ground was totally moss covered. Normally the area would be "drippy" due to the 300 inches of rain. Lots of Lord of the Rings scenes claimed between Te Anau and Milford Sound. Everyone in NZ seems to claim a lot of Lord of the Rings scene sites. They sell lots of books for LoR addicts here. Even a diary with GPS coordinates of the scene site, a spot for your personal photos, and your notes.
Milford Sound is really a Fijord, carved in the granite by glaciers during 5 ice ages over the last 10 million years. It is over 1500 feet deep and 2-300 feet deep at the banks. We enjoyed a boat tour of the sound in near perfect weather. Near perfect as a few more clouds would have made better photos. We had great views of the mountains and the
Tasman Sea and lots of waterfalls. We also got to visit an underwater viewing area of ocean sea life in the sound 167 steps down! The white fans in the photos are actually "black coral".
On the bus tour in we encountered a pair of Kia - Mountain Parrots. Even in this undeveloped region they are endangered. They look bland, but have very subtle colors.
Thought I had found a good I-Net site for upload. NO Joy. The USB ports were disabled for upload. Must have had a limited bandwidth for the number of computer stations. Looks like upload opportunities, at affordable prices, will be scarce.
