Said goodby and rode east in warm gusty winds. For the first time I switched to perforated gloves and took the waterproof liner out of my jacket.
NZ Day 9: Te Anau
I like this place and could easily stay another week. But it’s time to move on.
NZ Day 7-8: Doubtful Sound
Every gully in the surrounding mountains turned into a cascading waterfall. I ended the second day exhausted.
NZ Day 6: Milford Sound
Towards the end of the trip, the boat went nose-in to one of the smaller waterfalls, spraying the two of us with fresh glacier melt while everybody else ran for cover.
NZ Day 5: Omarama to Te Anau
Leaving Omarama, you head up the Lindis pass that separates the MacKenzie where I had been, from the Lindis Valley where I was going.
NZ Day 4: Tekapo to Omarama, Mt. Cook
I attempted to lead a group of jovial Brazilians on an aborted hike up the Hooker Valley. About half an hour in, we decided that conditions were going south.
NZ Day 3: Christchurch to Tekapo, Mt. John Observatory
Skies started out almost completely clear, so I saw the Southern Cross and Magellanic Clouds with my own eyes for the first time.
NZ Day 2, Part 4: Wrapping up Christchurch
If my interest in a place can be judged by the number of photos per hour I feel compelled to take, then Christchurch has to be one of the most interesting places I’ve been in years.
NZ Day 2, Part 3: Christchurch, Millennials’ City
Say what you will about hipsters, urban millennials, or however else you choose to define them, they seem to be making this place their own and seem to be doing a better job of improving things than the fossilized “reformers” elsewhere.
NZ Day 2, Part 2: Christchurch, Container City
The lowly shipping container has become a pretty important element of post-quake Christchurch. They can be made quite beautiful and it almost seems a shame that they will eventually be replaced with something else.