New Zealand-- Fiordland
These pics are a long time coming. Sorry for the delay! Nate has been swamped at work ever since his return, and Jill has been out gallavanting so much she hasn't time or funds for this kind of distraction
Like the photo above, the photo below is from our first day of tramping (hiking) one of New Zealand's Great Walks, namely the MIlford Track, a 4 day tramp which has been touted as 'The Finest Walk in the World'. Having recently finished this amazing trek, I believe the claims.
Day 2. 10.5 miles, a nice long look at the scenery along the Clinton River.
The amazing scenery of day 2 was almost too much for us. We had to stop and get e rest from it. Her we are during our lunch break.
Day 3. 12 miles, and the most strenuous day of the track approximately 2,000 feet of ascent and a bit more descent over the pass and down to the river. The scenery on this day is spectacular, as you may see below..
Up and up and up...
This is the pass. We were very glad to know that it was all downhill from here. Above is a family of kiwis we befriended along the trek.
Click here to check out a quick panorama of the pass.
After making it over the pass and down the valley, we enjoyed a series of spectacular waterfalls
Here's Nate in front of Sutherlin Falls, the 5th tallest waterfall in the world, 580m or nearly 2,000 feet high. There is a sign on the trail 580m before one reaches the falls, indicating that the distance to the falls is the same as the height of the falls. It takes 10 minutes steady walking to reach the falls from the sign. Other pictures of the scene did not turn out due to the fact that the camera's lens stayed very heavily misted there.
Click here for a short video ride from the top of Sutherlin falls all the way down to JIll's toes.
Day 4. A long [8 mile] but easy hike that must be done in half a day to catch the boat to the town (town is a building that doubles as a bus and ferry station, a hotel, and one last building that is general store, gift shop, restaurant, and pub).
The above spectacular waterfall was one of our very few photo stops during this day. Before we knew it, we were done, and the whole happy trail was behind us.
After finishing the track, we enjoyed a day of kayaking in the Milford sound, and interesting ecosystem in and of itself. Note the advent of misty rainy weeather, which we were strangely fortunate enough to escape during our hiking.
Click here for a panorama vid of the milford sound as seen from the front of a kayak.
These are the last of the pics from the Milford area. Shortly after this, Nate left New Zealand, yet Jill remains. her photos can be found here.