Back To Fiordland

After waiting out a large rainstorm, we headed back to Fiordland to tackle the Greenstone-Caples track. Our flatmates threw me a going away party the night before we left, so with a sore head and two left feet we headed south.

The majestic brow trout. Gore, NZ apparently is the world capital of brown trout fishing. The next town North of Gore is Clinton, and they have a sign naming that section of Hwy 1 the "Presidential Highway"


As you get closer to Fiordland the landscape changes from green pastureland to mountain meadows covered in the protected red tussock plants.


Incredibly beautiful place.

Flexin'

Shouts out to the Backpacker Quality Gear


The road to Milford Sound had been closed for the past week due to multiple avalanches. When we got close to the mountains we realized just how much snow had fallen. This meant potential problems with an alpine saddle we had to cross on the track.


When we woke the morning we planned to start hiking it became clear that we had more than just snow to contend with. I hurt my foot playing ping pong earlier that week, and when I got up my foot was pretty sore. The Milford road opened so we decided to put off starting the track and do a cruise on Milford Sound.

Stopping at a scenic overlook, we were quickly targeted by the infamous keas.

These little chumps are a type of parrot, but are more like raccoons than birds. This particular one was a bully, and when I refused to give him my apple, took a bite out of the weather-stripping on our car.

Viscous little beast even tried to eat the toe of my leather backpacking boots.



They are very beautiful birds though, and when they fly they turn from metallic green to orange, red, and blue.


The chasm was really cool, a deep slash in the rainforest carved by a river.


The scale is hard to get from the picture, but those sticks in the hole are actually 30 ft. tree trunks.

Lauren waiting to board

Milford Sound is neat

Mitre peak, first climbed in 1911 by a bad, bad man.

"Peace"

the views heading toward the Tasman sea.




Climbing porn


The captain put the nose of the boat under this waterfall

As the tourists run for cover, Lauren toughs it out.

Lauren loves waterfalls.

The mouth of the Sound from the Tasman Sea.

More climbing porn.

Lauren loves Milford Sound



Could not really see how steep the sides of the fiord were until you got outside and looked back.



Another incredible waterfall.