The Dwarving Effect (or 8 Meters Under Water Without Getting Wet)

During my last post I mentioned we had seen some great sites, but I hadn't downloaded the pictures. Our favorite spot was Lake Wanaka.




The day before, we booked a cruise on the Milford Sound, so when we got there we checked in and boarded the boat. We chose to go with one of the smaller cruise companies that takes smaller boats and gives more nature-oriented commentary during the tour. I couldn't tell that our commentary had a particular nature bent, but mostly I appreciated that there wasn't too much commentary in general. The sound (which is actually a fiord: it was created by glacial activity, which makes it a fiord, while sounds are created by rivers carving valleys which then flood with sea water) was spectacular, but unfortunately the weather once again failed to cooperate and we had gray skies and some rain with high winds. Still, the towering walls were impressive, especially when we saw the waterfalls coming down. They looked pretty, and then the guide told us that one fall we saw was three times the height of Niagra Falls, but it looks shorter because the mountains behind are so tall with such sheer walls. The guide said this was known as the "dwarving effect" because everything looks dwarfed by the mountains. This shot gives some sense of the size of the sound--it is looking back as were just about out into the ocean.



On the way back, Kerrie and I decided to stop at the underwater observatory that's in the sound (or fiord). The observatory is a really cool science station that floats moored to the side of the sound but allows you to walk down spiral stairs to look out the windows at ocean life eight meters below the surface. This is particularly cool in Milford Sound because it gets so much rain that there's a layer of mineral-rich fresh water at the surface which blocks a lot of light, which makes saltwater creatures thrive in shallow water that normally live much deeper water. Outside the windows you can see animals that normally live much deeper.



After we got finished at the sound we decided we needed a stay in a real hotel for one night to warm up and sleep in a real bed. As a bonus, Kerrie found one in Te Anau with a whirlpool bathtub, and after weeks in a camper van, we had a night of heavenly soaking. Next we're heading down to the south shore of the island to drive along the southern scenic route. Then it'll be back up the east coast and back to the north island to fly out next Tuesday.