Today, I want to share some of my memories of the south island. They are a bit higgledy-piggledy all over the map because that is the way our itinerary took us. I do know that if we ever had the opportunity to return to New Zealand, we would make travelling around the south island a priority. The scenery was spectacular.
I didn’t tell you yet about Moeraki. Moeraki is about a half hour drive south of Oamaru. The beach is known for the huge boulders that are visible on the sand at low tide. The boulders are spherical in shape and for all the world look like giant marbles. The rocky balls were at least half as tall as we were. It was quite the sight.
Like most tourists with a land itinerary, we made our way to Queenstown, Te Anau, and Milford sound. Queenstown reminded us a little of Banff. It was a very touristy type of town and so we did the regular touristy type of things – wandered around the souvenir stores and took a boat excursion on the lake. The water was crystal clear and the captain of the boat assured us that because of the purity of the water, he never had any problems with rust or salt corrosion. As for the scenery – well, I think that I have mentioned already – it was amazing.
We loved the lake at Te Anau and spent two nights there. We nearly didn’t drive from there to Milford sound On the morning we were due to depart, the fog was dense and we debated as to whether or not we would be able to see anything at the sound. Apparently, the fog and mist are frequent occurrences around the area. However, we took a chance and by the time we arrived, the fog cleared. The sky was blue and the sun fairly sparkled on the mountain tops.
Further north of Milford sound we came to Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers. The glaciers are only twenty-five miles apart and you can easily stay at one and make day trips to the other. We stayed at Franz Josef. The walks around the area were great and the views magnificent.
However, if there was ever any evidence of global warming and climate change, we found it on the two kilometre drive from the highway to the car park at Fox. Originally the glacier would have extended right to the coast. Now the drive to the car park takes you through a valley of bare ground. There are signposts marking the retreat of the glacial ice over the decades. The receding glacier was a stark reminder of what is happening to our planet with climate change and global warming.
There are three pictures with this post. The first one is of me standing beside one of the huge boulders at Moeraki. As for the next two...well, I have no idea of exactly where they were taken. Suffice to say that we came across an idyllic pull-off somewhere on the coastal road. We were in the camper van and decided to spend the night there. The first of these pictures was taken during the afternoon and the second was of a brilliant sunset over the water of the Tasman Sea.
I hope you have enjoyed travelling with me around New Zealand. I hope too that before too long we will be able to travel again in real time.
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| Sue with boulder at Moeraki |
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| Overlooking the Tasman Sea |
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| Sunset over the Tasman Sea |
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