That One Time I Slept on a Boat...

This is the second of my three photo-journeys in the South Island.

I took a trip north of my moose-hunting expedition to explore Milford Sound. I had to cross a mountain range to get there.

The only way was through a tunnel that was made using hand-picks during the World War II era.  The inside looked as dangerous as it sounded.

I was happy to be able to see this on the other side.  As I was going through the tunnel, a large bus was driving towards me, and it seemed that he was inching towards me ever so slightly.  What you don’t realize is that there was about four inches of extra space in the whole tunnel.  I kept sucking my gut in to help the car squeeze through the gap.  I thought I was going to die.

I arrived at the ship minutes before departure.

That white dot is another three-story cruise ship dwarfed by the sides of the mountains beside the fiord.

We had a clear, rain-free day, with a chance to sail straight toward the sunset to see the sun disappear over the Tasman Sea.

The setting sun lit up where it touched the fiord’s walls.

The setting sun in the first time zone.

Watching the sea waves roll along, silently bobbing us up and down.

The next morning, we had the chance to see the fiord up close, in kayaks.

I was super excited. My gloves got soaked through.

The fiord, and our ship, in the morning.

Thank you, Real Journeys, for this opportunity.

Look at the reflections in the water.

Stirling Falls are as tall as Niagara Falls.  The mountains just dwarf it.

The bottom part of the falls. The Maori name has to do with a water bird.  An apt description of the mist, I think.

Saying goodbye to the fiord.

Before I had to return through the tunnel, I got to stop in a moss-covered forest,

and catch my breath before going through the tunnel.

I made it safe out the other side and got to see some snow blowing off the top of the mountain. Christina, I think, is her name.

Heading back I stopped by Mirror Lake.

The End.

That One Time I Went Moose-Hunting...

I went on a few adventures in the South Island. This is the first of three. Enjoy the picture-stories.

Flying over the South Island. The famous Southern lakes reflect the mid-day sun while Mt. Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain, spires through the cloud layer.

Lake Wakatipu panorama, travelling south on the east side.

My scarf was a character of its own on my trip. It acted beautifully in the wind, waving back and forth, but this is the only picture where that is captured. On a gravel stop-off above the banks of Lake Wakatipu.

Stopping for lunch beside Lake Wakatipu. Peanut butter, homemade dandelion marmalade, salsa corn chips, hummus, and a banana. The beautiful scenery almost made up for the extremely cold winds blowing all around. My fingers got close to freezing stiff.

Day two was the time for an adventure, looking for moose. I forgot to layer up at the hostel, so I stopped on the side of the road outside of Te Anau to layer up.

As prepared as I could be for the clever moose.

The dark forest over looked a river that wound its way in and out of view.

I had to cross rivers

on treacherous swinging bridges,

in the most uncomfortable boots, at blister-inducing speeds,

to look for moose. See this brief for the full story.

A decoy left by the clever moose. Without my flash, I thought this was a moose hiding behind a fallen tree.  When the flash lit up the alpine rainforest, I saw that I mistook the outline of a fallen tree’s roots for a pair of moose antlers.

X marks the spot.

I stopped at a swamp made from a glacier years and years ago.

I didn’t find any moose, but I did see a purple mushroom.

The end.