Primeval

February 18, 2002-Sounds Like
(photos:Higher than Niagara Falls, Boat on Milford Sound, Half-mile long tunnel)

Our trip to the Milford Sound started promptly at 6:40 AM. The bus was small & the group numbered only 17. It was nice to be able to see some off the beaten track sights & get to know some of the people. It was an international group. The U.S. was represented as well as Switzerland, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, S. Africa, N. Ireland, England, Israel, New Zealand, & Australia. David got to try a little Hebrew with the Israeli, but she was a flight attendant with El Al so her English was very good.

Our bus driver was very knowledgeable & we learned a lot on the five-hour drive to the Sound. It’s only a 30-mile distance as the crow flies, but if the crow wanted to walk, it had to use our route. Most of New Zealand is national park land. The first settlers were Maoris who mixed freely with the European whalers & sealers. That’s why there are no full-blooded Maoris alive today. The Irish & Chinese came to the southern end of the S. Island during the gold rush. This area produced the most alluvial gold in the world. Now Queenstown & environs caters to farmers, tourists, trekkers, & adrenaline rush junkies. There’s no shortage of rafting, bungee jumping, hang gliding, etc. It’s the coldest, driest, & warmest part of NZ. Due to the fast snowmelt, you can ski & golf in the same day. Milford Sound itself averages 200 rainy days a year. It didn’t disappoint today.

The driver told us that although NZ has 4 million people, at times there are 100 million sheep. After the meat packers get finished, there are 43 million. Most ewes have twins, so the birth rate replenishes those slaughtered each year. The reason for such few black sheep is that there are scarcely any black rams. Makes sense.

The Maoris & Europeans cleared the land using fire for different purposes, but it had the same result. Eighty per cent of the original ground cover is gone. The Maoris burned to hunt. The Europeans did it to clear farmland. As I mentioned in an earlier email, there were no real predators here, so the native birds are flightless. This worked well for them until Europeans brought rabbits in to keep the grass trimmed for sheep. When the rabbits got out of control, rats, weasels, & stoats were introduced. Now, all the bird life is endangered.

American elk, moose, & European red deer were introduced for hunting. No moose has been seen for 40-years, but some deer have been found that have moose DNA. In 1905, when the elk & deer became too plentiful, hunters were called upon to cull the herds. With the advent of helicopters hunting became high tech. One man was infamous for painting a sign on his horse that said, “horse” so it wouldn’t be mistaken for a deer. Eventually, some deer & elk were captured & todays domesticated stock began. Elk & deer are crossed & NZ exports its venison.

Our first stop was at Te-Anau & the lake of the same name. The lake has about 270 miles of shoreline. Chances are that if you took a boat out on the lake & stepped ashore at a remote spot, you would be the first person to set foot on that land. There are incredibly few people & fewer boats. The mountains here could be called the smoking mountains because as the mist rose they appeared to be doing just that. That’s how our Smokeys got their name. They’re lovely to look at now, but in the winter there are avalanches & cars are required to use tire chains.



Our tour was called the BBQ Bus Tour because we stopped at a shelter for a yummy lunch of beef sausage & kebabs cooked by our omni-talented driver. While he cooked, we hiked through a cathedral-like forest of towering beeches to a waterfall.

We drove through a pitch-black ½ mile long tunnel on the only road that has access to the Sound. The tunnel is very basic. There are no lights or supports. It’s just gouged out bare granite. As we emerged, the driver played the tape of the song “Looks Like We Made It.”

By the time we got to our boat, I felt as if I’d been traveling all day. I had developed a terrible cold & eventually used up an entire roll of toilet paper blowing my nose before we got back to the hotel at 7:45 PM. The driver told us that although a sound & a fjord both had extremely steep walls, the sound was “V-shaped” at the bottom & the fjord was “U-shaped.” Fjordland Park lived up to its reputation. The clouds cleared enough to add dramatic shadows & texture as we craned our necks to see to the top. The weather was balmy & we spent a good deal of time on deck. The waterfalls were plentiful & varied from a powerhouse that was taller but much narrower than Niagara Falls to those barely sensuous strands of water-trickle that slithered & meandered down the crenellated cliff face. The wildlife was sparse, but we were treated to several fur seals sunbathing on a rock. Ever the small world, we met some people from Sun City in Las Vegas. They lived in Summerhill friends of ours live. They didn’t know them & we didn’t get their name. They’re all involved in the computer club there so I’m sure they will get in touch.

On the way back to the hotel, we were reassured to see that although New Zealand does not have poisonous snakes, it does have ominous road signs. This one read, “ Slow! Watch for Road Slump.” Evidently, due to the changing weather conditions, roads can be undermined & start to lean one way or another.

Toby