When we drove up to Milford Sound yesterday we stopped and hiked a few short trails. In New Zealand they call it "tramping". Along one tramp we saw signs warning not to touch any small green pellets, which were rat poison. We learned that the national park staff were trying to control the rat population, which is not native to New Zealand. In fact besides a few bats, no mammals are native to New Zealand. Like Australia, New Zealand has suffered the effects of invasive species like rats and rabbits. For instance, they tried to control the rabbit population by introducing possums, but that not only didn't work, it created a possum problem.
One of the biggest issues with some of these mammals now roaming the wilds of New Zealand is they are hard on the birds. The lack of native mammals over the last 80 million years since New Zealand starting drifting away from Australia was a boon for the birds, and led to the development of some flightless species, including the kiwi and the moa. The moa, which looked somewhat like an ostrich, was the largest bird ever and could grow up to four meters tall. Unfortunately like many large animals around the world, they were hunted to extinction by humans. The last moa died around 200 years ago.
It seemed very strange as we drove around this beautiful country that there should not be any wild animals to fill it. No mountain goats on the mountains, no otters in the lakes, no squirrels, porcupines, bears, or deer in the forests. But that's just me looking at it from a North American perspective I suppose.
Yesterday we took a tour of Doubtful Sound, a fiord in Fiordland National Park. It's much more remote than Milford Sound and gets fewer tourists. We were rewarded for taking the option less travelled. We first crossed the peaceful and scenic Lake Manapouri by boat, and then took a gravel road up and over the Wilmot Pass. We stopped briefly for an incredible view below onto Doubful Sound. The road was built in the 60's to bring equipment in by sea to help build a power station, which was placed inside a mountain. A 10 kilometre tunnel was dug through the mountain to the sea to divert water from Lake Manapouri along with other lakes and rivers through the hydro-electric power station. They used to do tours of the station but not any longer. I'm not sure I would want to travel the tunnel anyway.
The three hour tour of Doubtful Sound itself was special. With countless views of the surrounding mountains, we motored along to the sea. Once there we spotted some fiordland crested penguins on some rocky islands. These are one of the world's rarest penguins and had yellow stripes over each eye, like long hairy eyebrows - it was great to spot them. I also really liked it when the crew stopped the engines so we could hear the sounds of nature - the faint caws of birds and the flow of nearby waterfalls. Captain Cook called this spot Doubtful Harbour when he passed by ship, since he was doubtful the wind would allow him to return if he ventured his ship The Bounty into the fiord. A better name I think is Patea, named by the Maori, which means the place of silence.
The kids really liked it when we stopped with the ship's bow under a trickling waterfall. We were given paper cups to catch the water, and Elizabeth really liked getting in there with her raincoat on to catch the water. The water was yellow from the tannins in the moss and trees, but it still tasted fine, pesticide and chlorine free. It was a nice way to spend a day at the most southerly destination we'll get to on this trip. It's northward bound from here on.
Here's John and Elizabeth gathering some water from a waterfall.
One of the biggest issues with some of these mammals now roaming the wilds of New Zealand is they are hard on the birds. The lack of native mammals over the last 80 million years since New Zealand starting drifting away from Australia was a boon for the birds, and led to the development of some flightless species, including the kiwi and the moa. The moa, which looked somewhat like an ostrich, was the largest bird ever and could grow up to four meters tall. Unfortunately like many large animals around the world, they were hunted to extinction by humans. The last moa died around 200 years ago.
It seemed very strange as we drove around this beautiful country that there should not be any wild animals to fill it. No mountain goats on the mountains, no otters in the lakes, no squirrels, porcupines, bears, or deer in the forests. But that's just me looking at it from a North American perspective I suppose.
Yesterday we took a tour of Doubtful Sound, a fiord in Fiordland National Park. It's much more remote than Milford Sound and gets fewer tourists. We were rewarded for taking the option less travelled. We first crossed the peaceful and scenic Lake Manapouri by boat, and then took a gravel road up and over the Wilmot Pass. We stopped briefly for an incredible view below onto Doubful Sound. The road was built in the 60's to bring equipment in by sea to help build a power station, which was placed inside a mountain. A 10 kilometre tunnel was dug through the mountain to the sea to divert water from Lake Manapouri along with other lakes and rivers through the hydro-electric power station. They used to do tours of the station but not any longer. I'm not sure I would want to travel the tunnel anyway.
The three hour tour of Doubtful Sound itself was special. With countless views of the surrounding mountains, we motored along to the sea. Once there we spotted some fiordland crested penguins on some rocky islands. These are one of the world's rarest penguins and had yellow stripes over each eye, like long hairy eyebrows - it was great to spot them. I also really liked it when the crew stopped the engines so we could hear the sounds of nature - the faint caws of birds and the flow of nearby waterfalls. Captain Cook called this spot Doubtful Harbour when he passed by ship, since he was doubtful the wind would allow him to return if he ventured his ship The Bounty into the fiord. A better name I think is Patea, named by the Maori, which means the place of silence.
The kids really liked it when we stopped with the ship's bow under a trickling waterfall. We were given paper cups to catch the water, and Elizabeth really liked getting in there with her raincoat on to catch the water. The water was yellow from the tannins in the moss and trees, but it still tasted fine, pesticide and chlorine free. It was a nice way to spend a day at the most southerly destination we'll get to on this trip. It's northward bound from here on.
Here's John and Elizabeth gathering some water from a waterfall.
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