Our trip started with a goodbye-trip with Gareth and all my work-friends. Gareth finally seemed a little relaxed, after weeks of moving/work stress.Goodbye was strange.
They all
went back, we stayed on in Arthur’s pass and did some walks. I chose a brutal
2-day tramp that we abandoned after 20 minutes and that put off my brother for
ever from multiday tramping.
At least he
was still keen on long day trips, so in Punakaiki - pancake rocks -
we did an amazing walk
through limestone cliffs
And kayaked
the next day.
On to the
glaciers. We opted for a full day Fox glacier walk, which was fantastic.
Next day we
did a walk at Okarito to a laguna and back along the beach (low tide only).
View of Franz Josef Glacier:
Drove over
to the drier site of the island
and stayed in peaceful Glenorchy.
We did some
day walks there in Lord of the Rings settings.
Then on to Milford Sound over the majextic Milford road
We did a cruise at Milford Sound,
which I found a bit disappointing compared to previous cruises, because it had
been so dry there were only two small waterfalls and the misty moist magic of
the place was a bit lost.
Nevertheles, we also visited the underwater centre and
saw the black coral (yes, it is actually white) and lots of fish. The guy who
was explaining all the fish to us was also asking where we were al from etc,
and he and I got talking about my work on soils. He got very excited when I
mentioned some facts from my PhD thesis relevant to the area, and he made some
notes to be able to explain my findings to the visiting public. This made me
superhappy, as his stories will probably reach a much larger audience than all
the scientific papers I’ve written on the subject…
Finally we drove back via the Moeraki boulders,
to board a
plane the next day to go celebrate my birthday in Wellington. There we sampled
lots of restaurants and cafes, went to two French movies and on my birthday
visited Zealandia sanctuary, where lots of nearly extinct creatures reside in
relative freedom and peace. It was brilliant to see these, and let’s hope that
NZ succeeds in securing their future. Yes NZ is beautiful, but I cannot express
enough disgust at how little political NZ seems to care about its natural
heritage. In that respect maybe it will be good to be in a cultural landscape
again where most wild animals have been successfully eradicated …
Takahe:
Tuatara:
Faultline Wellington is build on:
The "wall of China"-fence that keeps predators out of the sanctuary:
Green jewelled geckos:
Yes, quake zone:
