Only 2 days to go, really one and a half. The Doc is now in Wanaka over looking Lake Wanaka. Tomorrow he will travel to Queenstown and return the Campervan on Wednesday, then fly back to Sydney.
Here is a map of the travels so far, over 7,000km plus 2 plane trips. It feels longer than what the map shows!
Photo opportunities have been scare the last few days, but today at Aoraki/Mt Cook things took a turn for the better.
Yesterday The Doc drove over 600 kilometres from Waikoura (East Coast) through Lewis Pass to Greymouth (West Coast) and then back through Arthur’s Pass to the the East Coast and got 8 photos, most ordinary. About a third of the way through Lewis Pass, the rain started and the clouds hid most of the mountains and valleys. On the way back most of Arthur’s Pass was rained in as well.
Another lesson learned, the Trans Alpine Train has much better views and scenery through Arthur’s Pass, than the road does.
The Doc spent the night at Rakaia River. The next morning The Doc drove for about an hour in the rain. As he came around the side of the Southern Alps it was beautiful sunny weather, the Alps were blocking the cloud from getting to Lake Tekapo. On spec The Doc popped into Lake Tekapo Airport to see if an Air Safari flight was planned. The Doc was soon on the flight (also taken as part of the photo tour). The winds meant the plane flew in the opposite direction and The Doc got some great photos, as the light was better than the first time.
He then visited Mt John Observatory overlooking Lake Tekapo Township and then drove off to Lake Pukaki (near Tziwel) and then down to the Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park for more stunning scenery. He are some photos from his point and shoot camera (mostly). Wow what a day!
A few examples of the varied tessellated pavement at Kaikoura near Point Kean.
A few bays visited today also Port Underwood Road including Oyster Bay, Robin Hood Bay and Whites Bay. Enjoy.
Kenepuru Sound is part of the Marlborough Sounds on the northern end of the South Island.
Today started out miserable and overcast, but by noon the clouds were clearing and the scenery on the improve. This is The Doc’s last day based at Picton.
The Doc has been told a sound is different from a fiord. Sounds being eroded by rivers and then melting ice raises the sea level and floods the sound. A fiord in contrast is eroded by a glacier. As a general rule fiords are much deeper than sounds.
Yesterday he did the mail boat through the Marlborough Sounds, pictures for another day. Today you get a few explorer photos of Kenepuru Sound. Enjoy.
A few textures from Cable Beach, the dark areas being rutile. Plus some naturally occurring fractals created y the outgoing tide.
An updated map of The Doc’s New Zealand travels so far. Only 2 weeks left.
The Doc made a choice not to explore the North West due to weather, so he is now exploring the North East of the South Island instead.
Pancake Rocks and Blowhole is a limestone formation that is layered like, you guessed it, pancakes. Geologists do not completely understand how this happens. A rare event. The blowhole was to the left and is out of frame.
Well the SPOT Tracker is not working very well in NZ. Must be very few satellites orbiting this far south.
The Doc noticed on the SPOT NZ site you cannot use the SPOT as a personal locator beacon in NZ. That tells you something about reliability.
Lake Mapouriki just north of Franz Joseph Glacier Township.
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