Fiordland National Park

April 4th

Fiordland National Park

We are up early eating breakfast at seven so we can head out for Milford Sound at eight.

The high mountains in the park remind me of Alaska or our own highway 395. Some of the light snow dusting some peaks looks like powdered sugar sifted there in the rain yesterday.

Every once in a while we see some road kill at the edge of the road. No tears here because when you see fur that is one less predator. Mostly ferrets and possums bite the pavement. Though we saw one stoat running across the road. Too quick for us.

At Mirror Lake the sign says there are bats and birds here and that they are working on predator control. But there can never be a fence around the park.

Next stop is Milford Sound as there is quite a bit of traffic for low season. Our boat takes off at 11:10. We are up on top for the best views. The seats are wet, but I brought my Skagway rain poncho and spread that out and then sit on my padded vest for warmth. I don't need to wear it since I have on my new omni-heat jacket.

We head out down the left side of the fiord to see the waterfalls and the young male fur seals.

William got a great picture of a waterfall rainbow.

One waterfall comes right down a fault line.

At the end of the fiord the Tasman Sea is rough so we rock as we turn around to go back down the right side. Cute little lighthouse.

Interesting that this is the only fiord that has access to the end by road.

Sightseeing planes and helicopters buzz in and out.

Mitre Peak, the highest peak here, is out of the clouds as we return.

A large permanent waterfall near the dock is the source of drinking water and power for the businesses here.

Off the boat we take a walk to the edge of the water on the Forebay Track to find a spot to eat our lunch. Nice. Under a huge red beech.

We do more walks on the return. To The Chasm.

Through the Homer Tunnel again. This is a spooky unlit one lane rough cut tunnel in the rock. 1.2 kilometers downhill going to the sound, uphill back. It leaks water and the roadbed is rough.

On the trail to Lake Marian we walk across a very swingy swing bridge. I don't like to walk across with William as it looks like he makes it swing more.

We take a lovely nature trail at Cascade Creek. It is labeled on the handout as at Lake Gunn. It is at the lower end of the lake, but there is a rough camping area labeled Lake Gunn that we went to in error first.

Red Beech

Lake Gunn

Flax with flower

Palm Leaf Fern

I see so much pampas grass spread from gardens. On the California Pacific Coast they make a big deal out of it and spend time grubbing it out. Here they have furrier problems.

Different countries have different ideas of how to staff National Parks. Inside this huge National Park I saw not one ranger. We got our paper handout “Road to Milford” from our host at the B&B who also booked our boat ride. At Milford there are just private concessionaires. Food, lodging, services, airport, boat and helicopter rides. Maybe someone sets up the plan and lays out the trails and then lets concessionaires run things. They also depend on private conservation organizations for help with predator control. Where are the rangers?

Volunteer to catch a rat and save a bird

We get a pizza to take back to our cottage. We order a large thinking that there will be leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Bah! I think all pizzas outside the USA are one size. You order a pizza for one, you get one about 12 inches. Too much for this one. You order a large and get a 12 inch. Just enough for two.

Driving from Dunedin to Te Anau

Lots of sheep. Including on the road.

The locals do not call them woolies. I am informed that cutsie names for things is Australian.

 In between all the pastures are small “scenic reserves.” These are patches of bush that either was never cut or grew back enough to look native. Remnants of natural New Zealand. 

Tautuka Bay Scenic Reserve

William agrees with me that the edge of the road is being sprayed with herbicides rather than being mechanically cut. Looks bad, but it is hard to get a picture at high speed in the rain.

Logging trucks are coming along frequently going to the log decks we saw in Port Chalmers outside of Dunedin. Logs for China.

logs for China

Time to get gas. The price is in liters. A liter is about a quart so multiply by four to get the approximate cost per gallon. Even though a NZ dollar costs only about $0.85 US, the cost of gas is high. No wonder all we could get from the rental company was this Toyota Corolla which is not as big a compact as we are used to.

I have noticed that all houses, no matter how modest have very sturdy roofs of metal or thick tiles. Heavy roofs require sturdy walls and beams. It must cost a good deal more to build a house in New Zealand, but baring an earthquake, it should last for a long time. I think American construction with thin shingles that last at most 30 years is much flimsier.

On these secondary roads there are a lot of one lane bridges. I think I have them figured out now. The direction we are going is a red circle and a give way sign. The other direction has a blue square, meaning they have the right of way at all times.

The hills here are covered with tree farms. Here are some hills covered with fairly small trees. William wondered why they left the few trees on top like a Mohawk cut.

We come upon a lookout overlooking the Foveaux Strait in between the main South Island and Stewart Island which is Rakiura National Park. This entire island is an ecosanctuary for New Zealand plants and animals. The sea is very rough and the wind off of Antarctica is high.

We spend the night in Te Anau and in the morning head for a cruise on the Milford Sound.

At the Visitor Center at Lake Te Anau

Oamaru and Dunedin NZ

I took some notes as we drove from Mt. Cook to Oamaru.  I twice saw a large raptor, once flying and once sitting on a fence. Found out later they are a New Zealand Falcon. Also the duck I posted about on the last posting is a native New Zealand duck.
The green fields we see are irrigated. There is a bit of a drought here.  We also see a deer farm. I am getting confused as there are so many introduced animals. Everyone had a pet species that they just tucked in and brought along when they came here from the UK.
The only native animals here when man arrived were birds of many kinds, many flightless birds, reptiles, but no snakes, and three species of small bats. Seals and sea lions lived on the coast, but they are water mammals.
Everything else here people have brought. The Maori brought dogs intentionally and rats unintentionally.  English settlers brought all the rest. Rabbits to hunt in the 1800's and when rabbits became a pest 12 years later stoats, weasels and ferrets to kill rabbits. But that did not work out so well, as the predators, along with pet and feral cats found the ground nesting native birds much easier pickings.
People brought farm animals and animals to hunt and animals they were used to. I guess that accounts for the possums and hedgehogs.
It is hard to believe that the iconic New Zealand bird, the kiwi, is extinct in the wild on the North and South islands and is found in wild populations only in protected reserves on a few small islands.
March 31

Lake Pukaki looks so blue

small trees have been cut on the lake edge

Even brush has been cut down and piled. Don't know why.

This yellow limestone has many fossils and was used to build many of the old buildings in  Christchurch  and Oamaru.

up on lookout point at Oamaru

We then went to see yellow eyed penguins

We were high up on a viewing platform.

This is what they look like.

Sheep were is the road as we left the yellow eyed penguins

they were being driven across the road

after a bite to eat at the Star and Garter we head to the blue penguin sanctuary

sometimes they wander off

No pictures at the sanctuary. It is dusk and we watch 20 blue penguins scuttle ashore to their tiny houses. They are the smallest penguin weighing about 2 pounds.

April first we head to Dunedin.

Barry likes the penguins at our B&B

We stop at the Moeraki Boulders. Odd boulders formed 55 million years ago.

Some are buried in the sand.

There are a lot of them and they attract a lot of people.

Lots of people are trying to save the endangered wildlife of New Zealand. We stop at Orokonui, an ecosanctuary that is dedicated to breeding and providing a safe place for endangered birds such as the kakapo parrot.

The kakapo is a heavy parrot that does not fly much.

We are staying in a hotel that used to be the home of Christian Brothers.

The church across the street that the brothers were associated with.

Great place to sit outside for tea.

April second we head to the tip of the Otago Peninsula. The Royal Albatross Centre is another ecosanctuary. This one is mainly dedicated to the Royal Albatross.  But the cliffs they have walled off from predators are also home to many other endangered species of shore birds. These predators are ones men brought here; stoats, weasels, ferrets, cats, dogs and rats. Hard for birds who nest on the ground.

An albatross chick waiting for its parents. We saw one of the big birds come back while we were on the  viewing blind.

Having made a safe place for the birds on land the Albatross Centre is now working to provide a safe place at sea where the birds are endangered by long line fishing boats. If the bait hooks had a bit of weight on them they would sink too deep for many birds to grab. If they put the lines out at night, it would also save the birds.
We got back in time to do a bit more sightseeing around Dunedin.

Baldwin, the steepest residential street in the world.

The Otago Museum where I mentioned that they could  do more to clarify the role of man in changing the animal life in New Zealand.

The railway station

We are staying at The Brothers Hotel again tonight and will continue around the South Island in the morning.