Queenstown and Milford Sound

QUEENSTOWN AND MILFORD SOUND
November 5-8, 2012

The Wakatipu Basin where Queenstown is located has some of the most beautiful scenery in New Zealand.  It was a major source of gold during the 1870 gold rush.  The spectacular Remarkables Mountains (Kawarau) were formed by faulting and folding.  During the last ice age about 15,000 years ago, glaciers covered most of the area.  The Remarkables were used by Peter Jackson for many of the background scenes in the film Lord of the Rings.

Here is a picture of Queesntown and the Remarkables.

These look like nice people. 

The Remarkables and Lake Wakatipu outside our restaurant window at the top of a steep gondola ride.

Here are some goats that we spotted on the way up next to a platform used for bungie jumping.

We rode a bus west to Milford Sounds, a boat in the Sounds, and then flew back to Queenstown over the Southern Alps in a small plane.   It was amazing.

This is a Kea.   It is reported that the bird has actually used its sharp beak to tear the rubber off of car windows in order to get to food left inside the vehicles by hikers and backpackers.

On the boat ride in the Sounds, we saw some lazy seals.

We saw hundreds of waterfalls cascading down the face of steep mountains.  The boat at the base of the falls is big enough to hold 250 people. 

Kayakers look tiny compared to the huge mountains.

The plane we took back to Queenstown.  It was a fun ride, but several of the passengers were terrified of the wild views below.

Doubtful Sound.

From the cockpit of the plane.  We got very close to the tops of the mountains.

Sutherland Falls in Milford Sound is one of the highest waterfalls in the world.  It drops almost 2000 feet from the glacial Quill Lake.  One of the best pictures I took from the plane.

Proof that we made it back.  This is right after Grandma got out of the plane and kissed the ground.

We took the USS Earnshaw to the end of the lake to watch sheep being sheared.  The Earnsaw is on of the few remaining steam ships left in the world.  You could see them shovel coal into the steam engine.

This was one of the most beautiful places we have ever been to in the whole world!!!!