Leaving Greymouth was not difficult to do. The weather was horrible; although I must admit, Edmontonians would not agree with such an adjective. To be anywhere in January where the temperature is above the freezing point of water is a wonderful thing. Despite the incredibly drab “greyness” of Greyouth, I do believe it has significant beauty. The perfectly sorted and smooth grey rocks on the beach are… nice to look at. That being said, we were excited to head south towards the fiordlands of New Zealand.
Once on highway 6 heading southbound we were surprised to see how quickly the terrain and the weather changed. Suddenly, we would see people on the sides of roads getting out to remove layers of clothing. The trees became larger and the forests were clearly much older climax communities. Green mosses and lichens coat every tree and the trees are large.
Having done nothing but sightseeing, driving, eating and drinking, we were glad to get out of the Batmobile, stretch our legs, and do a little tramping. (For those who don’t know, tramping is what New Zealanders refer to as hiking. And like farmers who make hay while the sun shines, we made the most of it while Fenton, the weather, and landscape permitted. We managed to tramp to both the Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciers and did a little tramping at night to see glow worms. King Tut was carried by backpack to the Franz Joseph Glacier and stayed awake long enough to hear and mimic birds that sang in the forest. Every time he heard a bird sing he would call out “cuckoo cuckoo!” like the cuckoo clock in our Edmonton house.
We spent the night at the Fox Glacier. Once dark, we walked with the Chariot along a popular 25 minute path to view the infamous glow worms. These animals aren’t actually worms, rather insect larvae. At night they glow a dim green and in an old forest like this one, it is like seeing a forest of Christmas trees. We re-tramped our steps the following morning and found it much more difficult to find the animals – they only glow at night. We did see their webs and managed to get a picture or two. It was very interesting to have tramped the same trail by day and by night.
The next morning (January 15), we headed to Wanaka. This is a small mountain town situated over a pristine aqua coloured lake. As much as we would have liked to stay there, we knew that to save a day would mean two days in Fiordland National Park. So we continued on to the famous Queenstown to spend the night. Queenstown is ike Jasper with all of the beauty and town character. It is also situated on a large lake with a fabulous mountain range of sharp peaks. The next morning we continued on to our destination of choice, Milford Sound.
Oftentimes we have discussed whether certain scenes from The Lord of The Rings was filmed here or there while we travelled the beautiful New Zealand countryside. Once we entered Fiordland, we were certain the majority of the movie was filmed here. What a remote mystical destination. You truly have to see it to believe it. Heather kept expecting little hobbits to go skirting across the road in front of us but needless to say, we didn’t see any. Once you enter the Fiordland National park the field meets a dens old growth forest, much like when the Fellowship of the Ring approached Fangorn Forest. The trees are so old and mangled with mosses and lichens covering them like carpets. Milford Sound is not actually a Sound. It is a Fiord. Fiords are different from Sounds in that they are inlets carved by the glaciers. As a result, steep mountains emerge out of the ocean. As stated earlier, the west side of the country receives much more rain, so there is a constant mist hanging around. There are many places in the world that are beautiful, but Milford Sound is far beyond such a description. It is somehow magical and could be compared to places like Machu Picchu and the Grand Canyon. There is no place that I have seen that can match its natural beauty.
Tomorrow we will take a cruise down the sound and then head back to Te Anau for the night. Perhaps we will see some dolphins play along the front of the boat and with any luck the weather will be in our favour.
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