We just came back from a week vacationing in the South Island. It must be one of the prettiest most unspoilt places left in the world. Thankfully the New Zealand government had the good sense to make it all national parks so it will remain intact. A trip to the South Island is not complete without a trip to the Milford Sounds. However first you have to get through the Kea security trap. These alpine parrots - the only ones in the world - hang out where the tourists have to go through the Homer mountain tunnel as we head to the Milford Sounds. This cute looking bird sitting on the mirror is actually trying to figure out which part of the car to eat. Their favorite food is windscreen wipers. They work in packs to distract you. While I was leaning out the window to take this photo, one landed on the roof and started pecking at my skull.
This is a close up of one. Their colours are just beautiful.
This is a view of the Milford Sounds, which are incorrectly named as we learned. They should be called the Milford Fjiords as they were formed by glaciers not rivers. Unfortunately the camera does not capture the grandeur of this place. It is like Yosemite on Steroids, but covered in a permanent carpet of rainforest. The flora is mostly ferns, palms and native bush.
There is no shortage of water here. This is one of many waterfalls that we saw on our tour.
Probably the strangest thing on the west coast is the birdlife. This is a Weka. As with most New Zealand birds, they don't fly. With no native predators (prior to the british bringing them in) the birds are very tame and curious and they are obsessed with eating cars. These guys like to pick at the paint and undercarrige. The Wekas were very endangered but seem to be making a good recovery thanks to the Department of Conservation.
This is probably one of my favorite caution crossing signs ever.
After leaving the Milford Fjiords, we headed back inland to Queenstown which is on Lake Wakatipu. This photo was taken from the top of the gondola ride, overlooking the town. The lake leaves Tahoe in the dust. This one (which is not the biggest by any means) stretches well beyond the horizon of the picture. Queenstown is very touristy, but still a great place to visit for a few days. If you want to scare yourself shitless this is the place to do it as they specialize in jumping off insanely high bridges (the first bunjy jump was done here).
We headed up the west coast to the Franz Josef Glacier to prove to ourselves that global warming was in fact doing its job. This glacier is retreating significantly faster than the taliban and I anticipate it will be gone long before the US leaves Afghanistan.
We had the pleasure of traveling with our friends Nick and Sue. This is a picture of Sue and me at Pancake rocks.
Nick wonders why everyone thought he as a gangster.
Once again the photo does little for the real thing. The pancake rocks are layers of granite that have formed on top of eachother. They are not sure how they formed but the sculptures in the rocks are fantastic. Spot the military dog.
The west coast is very remote and wild. This is a photo of seal rock where the New Zealand fur seals have their pups. We got to see lots of baby seals sunbathing on the rocks.
Probably the strangest thing on the west coast is the birdlife. This is a Weka. As with most New Zealand birds, they don't fly. With no native predators (prior to the british bringing them in) the birds are very tame and curious and they are obsessed with eating cars. These guys like to pick at the paint and undercarrige. The Wekas were very endangered but seem to be making a good recovery thanks to the Department of Conservation.
This is probably one of my favorite caution crossing signs ever.
