First of all, we are currently on the north island and away from any earthquake danger. We are very behind in our blogging due to lack of internet access.
Next, we headed to the Milford Sound. It was beautiful! We did some short hikes around the sound and the did a couple hikes in the surrounding area. After the Sound we headed up to Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier to see the big ice. Does anyone know what makes glacier ice blue? We didn't come across an explaination for that. After the glaciers, we stopped at a little gold minning town called Ross.
Field and stream on the way from Teanu to Milford Sound
At Milford Sound.
Near Milford Sound.
More Milford Sound.
We camped at a DOC campground south of the Sound. This river was near our site.
Nice woods with giant trees at the site.
More of the park.
A lake near our campsite.
Hiking in the park near the campground.
The river near our campground. You can see some vans in the background.
The next day we visited Lake Wanaka. A nice town and lake.
We hiked up Mt. Iron near the lake. This is a view of the lake from the top of Mt. Iron.
We camped at a very small campground between Lake Wanaka and the glacier area. The site had a nice view of a river at dusk.
The next morning we visited a waterfall on the way to the glaciers.
Walking to Fox Glacier. This is the valley where the glacier was in the past. If you look closely, you can see a line of people (very tiny) walking through the valley.
The Fox Glacier.
Closer to the Fox Glacier.
The Franz Josef Glacier.
In front of the Franz Josef Gacier.
The Franz Josef, a little closer. There is a surveyor standing to the right of the bottom of the glacier, to give you perspective of its size.
A hiking trail through Ross, the goldmine town, went by one of the oldest cemetaries in NZ.
There was a jail at the old goldmining town.
It's because the longer orange wavelengths are absorbed by the ice and the shorter blue ones scatter. Ice has to be thick for that to happen. That's what I learned at Olympic National Park, anyway.
ReplyDeleteDo they not have google in New Zealand?
glad y'all are safe! when you headed home? greg is expecting todd by st. paddy's day! all's well here. miss you all! xo
ReplyDeleteWe fly out of Auckland on March 3rd and are staying a night in LA. We'll be back in KY late on the 4th. Can't wait to see everyone! I'm sure Rigdon has grown up so much while we've been gone.
ReplyDeleteNZ does have google but I figured if someone knew it would save me the time of looking it up. Thanks!