New Zealand Gallery One - Mount Hood and Milford Sound

NEW ZEALAND 2006 - Mount Hood and Milford Sound, South Island:

I have discovered that our trip entailed seeing a great number of amazing things and places, more than can really go on a single web page, so I've decided to break up the photo galleries based on the progress of our travels. This page covers our arrival and our first two major stops, Mount Cook and Milford Sound:

We landed in Christchurch and arrived at our modest hotel late in the afternoon. We were tired from the long trip to get here so we had an early dinner, walked back to the hotel, and crashed early, (which is why you will not see any pictures of Christchurch in this gallery. The city reminded me of Palo Alto a little, British Columbia a little, and nicer American cities a little. Everything had a clear British influence but with its own unique characteristics.

Given the way we wanted to see things on South Island, it made sense to make Mt. Cook our first stop. We arrived late in the afternoon but early enough to take a hike over a half frozen river, flowing swiftly, with a stiff breeze to help us feel less stable crossing the cable bridge you see in these photos. The hike led to a large lake that gave us a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains. We could also see Franz Josef Glacier, which we would later climb on the opposite side of the mountain, five or six days later.

Mt. Cook, like many places on South Island, was a very small place, unpopulated, but with a nice accommodation and some very good high-end dining. There was a pub where all the young people hung out, but as we didn't drink, decided to get to bed for an early start the next day to Milford Sound.

Mt. Hood - Our first stop after Christchurch.

Hiking on Mt. Hood

Hiking on Mt. Hood

Hiking on Mt. Hood

Hiking on Mt. Hood

I had only been here for a couple of days, and seen only very small towns with many more sheep than humans, and I was already starting to fall in love with the place. The air was clean, the scenery was magnificent and the surroundings peaceful. The few New Zealanders who actually live on South Island, like nearly all the locals we met, were lovely, friendly and warmly welcoming people. They had the polite qualities of the British without being uptight, much like their Australian cousins, only more mellow.

Here's some photos we took along the road in South Island:

Along the road on South Island

Another stop on the road on South Island

An interesting landmark on South Island

A stop along the road on South Island

Erik along the road on South Island

New Zealand is a place of amazing scenic beauty, and the people take their ecology seriously. There are wonderfully strict environmental laws in NZ. We could learn from their example. Our trip through South Island constantly dazzled us with its natural beauty, but did not prepare us for the breath-taking views at Milford Sound.

It was raining as we drove down the steep canyon that leads to Milford Sound. They say it's best to see the sound when it rains because that's what causes the spectacular waterfalls you see all around you, so we lucked out because it rained pretty hard for the duration of our stay. As you can see by the pictures, the Sound is a breathtakingly beautiful place, but it is very isolated and quiet. Aside from rain and tourists, nothing much happens here.

The boat ride the next day took us through the Sound, all the way out to the sea. The captain wanted to take us out on open water a little, I guess to get a view of the Sound from the ocean, but the weather was making the water quite choppy outside the safe harbor of the Sound. I was perfectly happy in the relatively quiet waters.

Alongside the road into Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Miter Peak - Milford Sound