DAAWGS!!!

Aaron, we really missed having you on this trip to NZ.

But we still owe you big time for helping us out…

- your iPOD to FM radio adapter was wonderful in the rental car.

- and your gift of this blog to me a year ago… I was certainly slow to get going but I’m starting to find my stride and it has been very useful during this trip.  Thanks for pushing your old man to keep trying new things!

As they say down here:  Good on ya, mate!!!

Lots of love

We just finished an overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound in Fiordland.  Words and photos can’t capture what I saw… my only summary is that the landscape came from another world.

Doubtful Sound is 3 times longer & 10 times bigger in surface area (several major “arms” on the fjord) than the more famous Milford Sound just a bit further north.  The fjord is quite large & so you don’t feel closed in by the steep side walls.

The night before our cruise it rains hard all night and continues through most of the morning.  We take a boat across  lake Manapouri and then a bus down to the fjord (all this access was built when they constructed a major power plant in the area) & by then the weather has cleared and we can see the top of the cliffs as well as out to sea.

The fjord is spectacular will very steep cliffs rising straight up from the water… some towering 1,500M above the water line.  With hanging valleys going back from these cliff walls as well.  Big trees and shrubs as well as ferns, moss, etc are growing out from these sheer cliffs at impossible angles.  We learn that they have “tree avalanches” here.  The trees and shrubs have interlocking horizontal roots in the moss, but the roots do not penetrate the hard rock below.  So occasionally the structure will give way & then a massive slide of trees will plunge into the fiord.  This is not a landslide, since the underlying rock did not move at all.

It is this dense tropical foliage that is the major contrast to what I remember from the fjords in Norway.

There are very few lakes in the area, so most waterfalls only last for several hours after the rain stops.  So we have perfect timing… big rain just before we arrived and now clear skies so we can see all the way to the top of the cliffs and the beginnings of many of the falls.  70% of the rainfall flows down the cliffs into the water (only 30% is absorbed by the plants and the ground)… this water is a dark brown from the tannin that it picks up from the trees.  The large volume of water (30+ feet a year) can not be absorbed by the sea and so there is a 3M thick layer of dark brown colored fresh water on top of the sea water.  Almost no light penetrates the fresh water later, so deep water species of plants and animals live very close to the surface here.

While the overnight cruise turns out to be a bit long in my opinion… it does allow for more time to do and see things.  Brian and I both went for a swim in Doubtful Sound (12 degree C water temperature… a wee bit refreshing the captain had said), we also saw dolphins, penguins, and sea lions.  So maybe you have to put in your time to get the full experience.

Once again it rained heavily overnight (3 inches) and continued raining all morning with misty clouds hanging low overhead… so more waterfalls & even higher water volumes that yesterday.

As many of you know, language is not my strong suit.  Well during this trip my lack of linquistic skill is ever present.  While New Zealand is an English speaking country, many streets, towns, major points of interest, etc… have Maori names.  Brian alternates between laughter and embarrassment at my inability to say these names in a manner that comes even close to the proper pronounciation.

My very low skill in sounding out words combined with a tongue that simply refuses to say unfamiliar syllables back to back… puts me in a situation where I’m reduced to pointing at maps and names rather than embarrassing myself.

Oh well, it keeps my humble & once again makes me glad that I’m traveling with people that don’t suffer from this same affliction.

This is already clear to most of you… at least that I am puzzled by the world.

But yesterday we spent some time at Wanaka’s Puzzling World a great little diversion of optical illusions,

Dave prepares for a little 1x1 basketball with Brian

mazes, and puzzles.

Dave & Brian go back 2000 years to use the toilet

It was a great way to recover from our mountain bike adventure.  If you drive through Wanaka, this is worth a visit.

Seems like almost nothing is possible without a little help and this trip is no exception.

First, a shout out to Karen who is the photographer for 99% of the photos in this blog.  She is loving her new Super Zoom camera.  Karey, Thanks for the great photos that make our trip come alive… and will keep the memories sharp for a long time!!!

We’ve also been very fortunate to have the help of our Auckland friends Scott & Mary.  They are currently hosting us in their Wanaka holiday home… what great people.  They have provided housing in Auckland and Wanaka, a thorough listing of suggested stops for our trip, and many logistical suggestions for helping to make our trip a smooth one.  Many thanks for your wonderful hospitality!!!  I think you should become Ambassadors for New Zealand… who cares if Mary is American, no one can tell

Mary, Annie, & Brian in Wanaka