Tuesday we headed for the bottom of the south Island. We went through Invercargill, down to Bluff. Bluff is the southernmost town on the south Island. It is also where state Highway 1 begins in the south. State highway 1 goes north from Bluff to run the entire length of New Zealand (of course with a break in between).
From Bluff, about half of us took the hour long ferry ride over to Stewart Island, the southernmost of the main Island's of New Zealand. Stewart island is tiny in comparison to the two main islands, and 85% of its landmass is National park. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to enter the National park; so we spent our time in Oban, Stewart Island's only town. A few of us decided to go in together and rent a car so we could drive Stewart Island's whopping 29 kilometers of roads. The roads only provided access to Oban and the immediate harbors adjacent to it. They do not go into the interior of the island at all.
Our expedition of discovery of Oban and the surrounding bays yielded the following results; there is not much going on on Stewart Island. It also rained most of the time we were there. I must say though, it was pretty neat being on an island that is so far south; closer by far to Antarctica than to Texas, and realize that the vast majority of human civilization has never been as far south as I was at the moment. The weather was mild, I wore a hoodie to keep warm, but it was by no means frigid. It also stayed light outside tall nearly 10:00 PM. This is due to the Island being on the western end of the time zone, and being so far south (this end of the planet is tilted more toward the sun right now, hince it is summer time).
HUGH'S TRIVIA FACT OF THE DAY. Stewart Island lies in the midst of some of the most pristine open ocean in the world. Therefore the rain that they receive is incredibly clean. As a result all of the water used for drinking, washing, flushing toilets etc. on the island comes entirely from collected rainwater. From the time we boarded the ferry, we were asked to please conserve water during our stay. Pretty cool.
The next morning, we took the ferry back to Bluff, got on the buss and headed for Dunedin. We made a few stops along the way. We stopped at a beach that is actually the southernmost point of the south Island of New Zealand (I can now say that I have been to both ends of the main part of New Zealand). While there we were standing on the beach, and noticed a head popping up out of the water. The next thing we knew, a really big sea lion came out of the water and hobbled up the beach right in front of us and stopped, seemingly posing for photographs. It sat there for a while, chasing back the occasional person, seemingly simply for sport, and then rolled around in the sand. It was pretty cool. Just about 50 yards away laying in the dune grass, was a male. He was huge. We all took pictures and cautiously kept our distance.
We continued on, stopping at a penguin preserve, but saw no penguins. Finally we made it into Dunedin. The bus driver was kind enough to drop me at the airport, after a few hours I caught a flight back to Auckland. I have been here for the past few nights regaining my sanity, and enjoying sleeping in a room that I am not sharing with 5 or 6 other people.
Tomorrow morning I leave to go to Sydney! I am super excited about this. Don't get me wrong, New Zealand has been amazing, but I have wanted to go to Australia since I was a child. Aussie here I come.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Fjordland... Isn't that a type of car?
Saturday we left Franz Josef, headed for Makarora. We made a few stops along the way, saw some cool stuff, but all in all it was an uneventful day. We stayed the night at the Makarora Wilderness retreat, in the middle of NO WHERE. Which brings us to...
TRIVIA TIME WITH HUGH: The population of New Zealand equals only about 4 million. Of those, 1.5 million live in Auckland. Which leaves 2.5 million for the rest of the country. Though the south island is larger than the north, the vast majority of it is wilderness. Three million in total live on the north island, leaving only 1 million people who live on the south island. Around 300,000 of those live in New Zealand's second largest city, Christchurch. Which leaves only 700,000 people scattered over quite a large island. Most of those left live in other urban centers like Queenstown, Nelson, Duneden and so forth. Hince, large portions of the south island lay as unsettled wilderness.
It was on this leg of the trip that I was properly introduced to Sandflies. These are horrible, horrible creatures. The best way to describe them is; mosquitoes on steroids, and lots of them. This area is largely Sub-tropical rain forrest, which is a haven for the Sandfly, so we all got to know sand flies quite well.
We left Makarora headed for Queenstown. There was lots to see and do along the way. The drive was beautiful, once again, largely across wilderness. We stopped and saw several waterfalls, some beautiful rivers, and crossed the Haast Pass. This pass traverses the mountains that run along the length of the west coast. Once over the pass we were inland and well on our way to Queenstown.
A bit further down the road, we stopped at a sign on the side of the road marking the 45th parallel. This is the latitudinal line that marks the 45 degree, or half way point between the equator and the south pole. Upon crossing this marker, we were closer to the south pole than the equator; truly, and without question, "down under."
We continued on, stopping for those who wished to bungy jump do so. I was happy to watch and take pictures, but did not partake. We finally arrived in Queenstown. We were there for 2 nights. I used the time to do some much needed laundry, and relax.
This morning we left Queenstown, passing the the "Remarkables" mountain range that is visible from the city. This range was used in the Lord of the Rings, it is easy to see why. They are truly amazingly beautiful, and just looking at them seems to somehow transport you into the story.
Our main stop today was the Milford Sound in the Fjordland National Park. The entire region was carved out by glaciers and is absolutely stunningly beautiful. Mountains appear out of a flat valley, and shoot straight up, some over 1000 meters. It is a very surreal place. When taking in the views, one feels like they are on another planet. We drove through the park, through a tunnel that cut directly through a mountain and then traveled on to Milford Sound. Once there, we got onto a boat and took a cruise around the sound. It was stunning. Once again mountains shot straight up out of the water to unbelievable heights, many with amazing waterfalls plummeting down the sides of the mountains into the water below. It is unbelievable that places like this exist. The whole experience was simply indescribable. An unbelievable amount of beauty permeates the place, and one cannot help but be in awe of the entire experience in the park.
TRIVIA TIME WITH HUGH: The Fjordland National Park is New Zealand's largest park. In Fact, the park covers 1/5th or 20% of the landmass of New Zealand. The area is also a World Heritage Site, a designation given through the United Nations, which recognizes an area's unique qualities and preciousness to humanity.
We moved along from there and are staying the night in Tuatapere. Tomorrow we travel to Invercargill, the southern-most city of the south island. For those who may have seen the movie "The Fastest Indian," the main character of the film is from Invercargill. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It is a great film.
From Invercargill, some of us (including myself) will take the ferry to New Zealand's third major island, Stewart Island (a relatively small island just south of Invercargill). We will spend the night there. I will likely not post from there, as the island is very primitive (no electricity except what is provided by private generators). I am very excited about this stay. The stars are supposed to be amazing if the weather is clear. Not to mention that when standing on the south shore, nothing stands between you and Antarctica. Sounds pretty cool to me.
The following day, we travel to Duneden. From there I fly back to Auckland, ending my tour of New Zealand.
TRIVIA TIME WITH HUGH: The population of New Zealand equals only about 4 million. Of those, 1.5 million live in Auckland. Which leaves 2.5 million for the rest of the country. Though the south island is larger than the north, the vast majority of it is wilderness. Three million in total live on the north island, leaving only 1 million people who live on the south island. Around 300,000 of those live in New Zealand's second largest city, Christchurch. Which leaves only 700,000 people scattered over quite a large island. Most of those left live in other urban centers like Queenstown, Nelson, Duneden and so forth. Hince, large portions of the south island lay as unsettled wilderness.
It was on this leg of the trip that I was properly introduced to Sandflies. These are horrible, horrible creatures. The best way to describe them is; mosquitoes on steroids, and lots of them. This area is largely Sub-tropical rain forrest, which is a haven for the Sandfly, so we all got to know sand flies quite well.
We left Makarora headed for Queenstown. There was lots to see and do along the way. The drive was beautiful, once again, largely across wilderness. We stopped and saw several waterfalls, some beautiful rivers, and crossed the Haast Pass. This pass traverses the mountains that run along the length of the west coast. Once over the pass we were inland and well on our way to Queenstown.
A bit further down the road, we stopped at a sign on the side of the road marking the 45th parallel. This is the latitudinal line that marks the 45 degree, or half way point between the equator and the south pole. Upon crossing this marker, we were closer to the south pole than the equator; truly, and without question, "down under."
We continued on, stopping for those who wished to bungy jump do so. I was happy to watch and take pictures, but did not partake. We finally arrived in Queenstown. We were there for 2 nights. I used the time to do some much needed laundry, and relax.
This morning we left Queenstown, passing the the "Remarkables" mountain range that is visible from the city. This range was used in the Lord of the Rings, it is easy to see why. They are truly amazingly beautiful, and just looking at them seems to somehow transport you into the story.
Our main stop today was the Milford Sound in the Fjordland National Park. The entire region was carved out by glaciers and is absolutely stunningly beautiful. Mountains appear out of a flat valley, and shoot straight up, some over 1000 meters. It is a very surreal place. When taking in the views, one feels like they are on another planet. We drove through the park, through a tunnel that cut directly through a mountain and then traveled on to Milford Sound. Once there, we got onto a boat and took a cruise around the sound. It was stunning. Once again mountains shot straight up out of the water to unbelievable heights, many with amazing waterfalls plummeting down the sides of the mountains into the water below. It is unbelievable that places like this exist. The whole experience was simply indescribable. An unbelievable amount of beauty permeates the place, and one cannot help but be in awe of the entire experience in the park.
TRIVIA TIME WITH HUGH: The Fjordland National Park is New Zealand's largest park. In Fact, the park covers 1/5th or 20% of the landmass of New Zealand. The area is also a World Heritage Site, a designation given through the United Nations, which recognizes an area's unique qualities and preciousness to humanity.
We moved along from there and are staying the night in Tuatapere. Tomorrow we travel to Invercargill, the southern-most city of the south island. For those who may have seen the movie "The Fastest Indian," the main character of the film is from Invercargill. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It is a great film.
From Invercargill, some of us (including myself) will take the ferry to New Zealand's third major island, Stewart Island (a relatively small island just south of Invercargill). We will spend the night there. I will likely not post from there, as the island is very primitive (no electricity except what is provided by private generators). I am very excited about this stay. The stars are supposed to be amazing if the weather is clear. Not to mention that when standing on the south shore, nothing stands between you and Antarctica. Sounds pretty cool to me.
The following day, we travel to Duneden. From there I fly back to Auckland, ending my tour of New Zealand.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
