Here There Be Monsters










When early explorers mapped the world, they thought the it was flat. They drew maps that depicted a flat earth, with the water simply dropping off into the unknown. At what they thought was the edge of the earth, they wrote on the maps "Here There Be Monsters".

Science be damned.... we went to the edge of the earth today.

We left Queenstown (and our warm beds) bright and early this morning. It was pitch black out and around -5 degrees. As we traveled on the bus and watched the sunrise, it was cool to know that we were among the first people in the world (flat or otherwise) to see Sunday June 28th arrive. On the very long and winding road, we passed some amazing scenery. Nothing but mountains and wildlife. I can honestly count the number of houses we passed on our 5 hour drive on one hand. We got out of the bus and stepped onto a huge open space amid the mountains. This is where a massive glacier had once been millions of years ago and then melted away. It was surreal to stand in the space and imagine the time of glaciers there. We passed by a small stream that was so cold and pure, we filled our water bottles up with it. Best tasting water ever.

Then we finally arrived at our destination: Milford Sound (actually a fjord for all those geeks out there. I am positive that info will be useful to me one day on my Jeopardy quest!). Milford Sound is located on the western edge of the South Island, and is part of the World Heritage protected Fjordland National Park. We came upon Mitre Peak, the most photographed spot in NZ... for good reason. It is the highest mountain to rise up directly from the ocean floor! We boarded a boat and set sail around the beautiful mountains. As we headed out towards open water, we wound in and around the rock faces which were dotted with waterfalls. We passed a massive pod of dolphins playing around, and some NZ Fur Seals sunning themselves. Also, not sure if you can tell... but it was a wee bit windy :) As we approached the edge of the sound and looked out past the last rock faces, it truly felt like we were at the edge of the earth (very top photo in this post)... breathtaking!






Comments

  1. GloriaJune 28, 2009 at 5:37 PM

    Wow - truly amazing. Who took the first pic? Looks like you are the only 2 there. You still look "stylish" - scarf and all and UGGS! Quite the trip - glad you 2 aren't just hitting the bars. Enjoy the rest of NZ. Take care.

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