Picture Gallery for Fri 2011-02-11 10:59:59 UTC


Click to enlargeLooking southeast across Te Waewae Bay towards Pahia Hill.
Click to enlargeLooking northwest across Te Waewae Bay. In the distance is the Tuatapere Hump Ridge, the southeastern edge of the Fiordland National Park.
Click to enlargeMcCracken's Rest on Te Waewae Bay.
Click to enlargeWaiting for traffic at the Homer Tunnel. The tunnel was put through in the 1930s when the road was built. It has a 1930s air about it: it's very small, so narrow in fact that they have traffic lights at either end which automatically select one direction of traffic to travel through the tunnel at a time. (The claim is that these are the highest altitude traffic lights). If you met a bus coming the other way, you'd have issues (mostly because the bus would insist that the only part of the tunnel that's tall enough is right down the middle), but two cars could pass each other if they were careful about it. Additionally, the tunnel is just an unfinished hole in the rock (unlit, too). It also has a very steep grade. Finally, the pavement status of the road in the tunnel is: "yeah, that's probably close enough". It's smooth enough you won't lose your suspension, but it's sufficiently uneven that my CD player complained vociferously for the tunnel's entire lenght.
Click to enlargeMilford Sound. The prominent peak at centre is Mitre Peak. To the left of it is Sinbad Gully.
Click to enlargeOne of two people-things at Milford Sound: the cruise terminal. (The other thing is a hotel.)
Click to enlargeMilford Wanderer, one of the overnight cruise ships.
Click to enlargeThe cruise terminal.
Click to enlargeMitre Peak.
Click to enlargeThe Arthur River valley, down which the immensely popular Milford Track runs. About 14,000 people tramp the four day track from each year. The start of the track is on the far bank of Lake Te Anau.

Click to Enlarge
(14281x2182, 4784.13 kb) Milford Sound. From left we have: the Devil's Armchair, the Llawrenny Peaks (in the distance, up the gully), Mount Phillips, Simbad Gully, Mitre Peak, the Sound, the Lion (distance), and the lower slope of Cascade Peak at right. Below the Devil's Armchair is the Milford Hotel, and the tree'd spit to the right of that contains the airstrip.

Click to enlargeA cruise sets off from the terminal.
Click to enlargeAnd a plane takes off from the airstrip. For an airstrip in the middle of nowhere, it sees a lot of activity.
Click to enlargeLook-out point.
Click to enlargeMilford Wanderer, a motorised ketch.
Click to enlargeRed Ensign.
Click to enlargeHeadland at the harbour.
Click to enlargeBowen Falls.
Click to enlargeBowen Falls.
Click to enlargeHeading out into Milford Sound. The hotel can be seen on the shore.
Click to enlargeBell.
Click to enlargeBowen Falls with the cruise terminal to the right.
Click to enlargeA schooner in the Sound.
Click to enlargeThe Lion.
Click to enlargeCruisey-times.
Click to enlargeLooking towards Harrison Cove.
Click to enlargeEnsign again. Like most flags, it had a tendency to wrap itself around it's spar.
Click to enlargeLooking back at the settlement. Behind is the Cleddau River valley, where the road to Te Anau (and, I guess, everywhere else) runs.
Click to enlargeSlopes below the cloud.
Click to enlargeSlopes.
Click to enlargeVegetation at the water line.
Click to enlargeJuvenile fur seals napping on the rock at Copper Point.
Click to enlargeTraffic in the Sound. All the cruise boats, head out along the south coast and return along the north coast.
Click to enlargeThe schooner and another cruise boat with Stirling Falls and Rover Peak in the distance.
Click to enlargeLooking back up the Sound. The cloud-draped peak in the distance is Sheerdown.
Click to enlargeA treefall (or "treevalanche"). Vegetation on the side of the cliffs is precarious, when one tree decides to let go, it tends to take a lot more of them with it. The mass of fallen trees has been pushed to the left (up-fiord) side of the fall by the tide.
Click to enlargeThe top of the treefall.
Click to enlargeAnother view of the treefall.
Click to enlargeLooking back down the Sound. At left is Rover Peak; at right, the Lion. Between them is Stirling Gully and the Stirling Falls.
Click to enlargeOur crew.
Click to enlargeLooking down the Sound, again. The schooner is making good time out of the fiord.
Click to enlargeLooking down the Sound, again. Both people here and at the Marlborough Sounds back in Picton were insistent that flooded glacial valleys were fiords (like Milford Sound) while flooded river valleys. It seems like a rather artificial distinction to me.
Click to enlargeAnd up the fiord. The nearer ridge is The Lion, with Cascade Peak behind it (and then the much taller but more distant Sheerdown in the distance).
Click to enlargeAnother treefall.
Click to enlargeBoats heading back into port (as I've said: along the north shore).
Click to enlargeStirling Falls at the end of Stirling Gulley. The gulley is U-shaped, indicating a glacial valley.
Click to enlargeAnother boat heads in, below Rover Peak.
Click to enlargeStirling Falls, again.
Click to enlargeStirling Falls, again, trying to find the right exposure.
Click to enlargeSchooner heading out.
Click to enlargeMany little waterfalls.
Click to enlargeMore waterfalls.
Click to enlargeMore waterfalls. Comparing this and the last image, you can see how much the wind is blowing the water around.
Click to enlargeWaterfalls.
Click to enlargeWaterfalls.
Click to enlargeWaterfalls.
Click to enlargeIron oxide in the rocks. There's also copper.
Click to enlargeThe sheer cliff of Mitre Peak.
Click to enlargeAnd the impressive overhang of The Lion.
Click to enlargeWater. The winds were strong enough to blow spray around a fair bit, but there were no real swells, which was nice.
Click to enlargeHeading out to sea.
Click to enlargeHeading out to sea.
Click to enlargeCliff.
Click to enlargeThe cliffs start to open up as we round Seal Point.
Click to enlargeSeal Point.
Click to enlargeAnother seal on the rock.
Click to enlargeAnother seal on the rock.
Click to enlargeThis is another of the five perminant falls in the Sound.
Click to enlargeThis is another of the five perminant falls in the Sound.
Click to enlargeNon-perminant waterfalls.
Click to enlargeWind-blown water.
Click to enlargeWind-blown water.
Click to enlargeWind-blown water.
Click to enlargeWind-blown water.
Click to enlargeGetting up close to the fall.
Click to enlargeGetting up close to the fall.
Click to enlargeSpray.
Click to enlargeUnderneath. I didn't actually get wet taking this picture (except for a little mist). The people standing on the downwind side of the boat, however, got quite wet.
Click to enlargeMore spray.
Click to enlargeMore spray.
Click to enlargeOne last look.
Click to enlargeBridal Veil Falls, another of the permimant fixtures in the Sound.
Click to enlargeFalls on the western face of Rover Peak.
Click to enlargeNot just a chasm, this is actually a fault line running through the Mitre Peak ridge.
Click to enlargeRover Peak, again.
Click to enlargeLooking back as the Sound opens up. That's the Lion.
Click to enlargeFiordland beaches.
Click to enlargeCliff.
Click to enlargeThe mouth of the Sound, with the Tasman Sea beyond.
Click to enlargeThe schooner out on the Sea.
Click to enlargeThe mouth of the Sound.
Click to enlargeDale Point.
Click to enlargeLooking back at Rover Peak.
Click to enlargeThe coast north. The point in the centre distance is Yates Point, the less prominent one in front of it is Stripe Point..
Click to enlargeLooking back again at the Sound.
Click to enlargeLooking back again at the Sound.
Click to enlargeHeading out into the Sea.
Click to enlargeAnother cruise boat out in the Sea.
Click to enlargeMountains.
Click to enlargeThe other cruise boat heads back into the Sound.
Click to enlargeThe other cruise boat heads back into the Sound.
Click to enlargeThe view of the Sound from out in the Sea. It looked so much like a minor bay to Cook, he skipped investigating it both times he sailed past. In 1823, a mechant vessel seeking shelter from a storm entered the "bay". The crew were happily surprised to find the Sound, and able to weather the storm.
Click to enlargeCamp on Anita Bay, near the mouth of the Sound.
Click to enlargeBrig Rock off the coast. Although it was not large, the swell was sufficient to periodically partially or fully obscure the Rock, giving it the appearance of a ship doing manoeuvres.
Click to enlargeSt. Anne Point, the southern edge of the Sound.
Click to enlargeThe lighthouse on St. Anne Point.
Click to enlargeSt. Anne Point.
Click to enlargeSt. Anne Point.
Click to enlargeSt. Anne Point from the entrance to the Sound..
Click to enlargeSt. Anne Point. There are a couple of boats checking crayfish nets. (Are they "crayfishers"?)
Click to enlargeCloudy Mount Pembroke, on the north shore.
Click to enlargeA three masted power boat, one of the overnight cruisers leaves the Sound.
Click to enlargeA three masted power boat, one of the overnight cruisers leaves the Sound.
Click to enlargeA three masted power boat, one of the overnight cruisers leaves the Sound.
Click to enlargeHelicopter inbound.
Click to enlargeAnd the ketch, Milford Wanderer, the other overnight cruiser, outbound.
Click to enlargeSlopes.
Click to enlargeSlopes.
Click to enlargeSea gull, flying after the ship.
Click to enlargeBack into the Sound we go.
Click to enlargeThe north cape.
Click to enlargeBack among the waterfalls.
Click to enlargeBack among the waterfalls.
Click to enlargeBack among the waterfalls.
Click to enlargeBack among the waterfalls.
Click to enlargeBack among the waterfalls.
Click to enlargeBack among the waterfalls.
Click to enlargeBack among the waterfalls.
Click to enlargeBack among the waterfalls.
Click to enlargeBack among the waterfalls.
Click to enlargeMore snoozing fur seals.
Click to enlargeMore snoozing fur seals.
Click to enlargeMore snoozing fur seals.
Click to enlargeMore snoozing fur seals.
Click to enlargeWe bid the seals good-bye. They didn't even look up when we showed up. I guess they're used to tourists.
Click to enlargeBack in the Sound.
Click to enlargeMitre Peak ridge.
Click to enlargeComing up on Stirling Falls.
Click to enlargeComing up on Stirling Falls.
Click to enlargeStirling Falls.
Click to enlargeStirling Falls. Named by some guy named Captain Stirling, after, um, himself. That's audacity.
Click to enlargeRadial patterns as the water hits the sea.
Click to enlargeUnder Stirling Falls.
Click to enlargeWet bell leaving Stirling Falls.
Click to enlargeThe overhang of the Lion.
Click to enlargeKayakers in the water.
Click to enlargeBack out to sea.
Click to enlargeHeading past Mitre Peak (just before I had to again unwind the ensign from the spar).
Click to enlargeHeading back to the terminal. The pointy bit is Mount Philipps.
Click to enlargeCascade Peak.
Click to enlargeRounding the cape into Harrison Cove.
Click to enlargeMills Peak.
Click to enlargeHarrison Cove, the only safe anchorage in the Sound.
Click to enlargeMount Pembroke comes into view.
Click to enlargeMount Pembroke and the mouth of the Harrison River.
Click to enlargeMount Pembroke.
Click to enlargeThe Lion.
Click to enlargeMitre Peak.
Click to enlargeBack to Bowen Falls. Water from the Bowen river is diverted to the settlement for its use, and also to generate electricity.
Click to enlargeBowen Falls.
Click to enlargeBowen Falls.
Click to enlargeBack at the terminal.
Click to enlargeBack in port. No more cruises today; everyone's back in their berth.
Click to enlargeThe M.V. Sinbad, our cruise ship.
Click to enlargeSunset over Lake Te Anau.
Click to enlargeDucks on the lake.
Click to enlargeSunset over Lake Te Anau.
Click to enlargeA floatplane parked (moored?) on the lake.
Click to enlargeMy table at the Redcliff Café was number greater-than-F. There was no indication on how to calculate F.
Click to enlargeDinner! Local hare, perfectly cooked.
Click to enlargeThe Wong Way in Te Anau.
Click to enlargeA map of the Te Anau—Milford Sound road. Winding between meadows full of sheep, the grade is fairly shallow up the Eglington River valley from Te Anau almost all the way up to Cascade Creek, at the sound end of Lake Gunn. From there it climbs up to The Divide (the lowest pass through the Southern Alps), then descends into the Hollyford River valley, before climing again up to the tunnel. West of the tunnel is a fairly steep descent into the Cleddau River valley and down to the sea. A good drive with some excellent scenery.

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© 2011 D. V. Wiebe. Generated Fri 2024-03-29 07:04:18 UTC