Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Te Anau

I’ve been expecting weather problems for a few days now, but it has been very slow in deteriorating. I think that by tomorrow, my sunny skies will cease. I traveled from the Queenstown area southward to Te Anau, a small town on the shores of a Lake of the same name. Te Anau Lake is New Zealand’s second largest. Since it is in ancient Glacial scar, it is long, deep and narrow. The side opposite the town’s location is rugged wilderness all the way to the coast. It forms Fiordlands National Park. The only access into the area is by one road to Milford Sound and a number of famous hiking trails. I went about halfway down the Milford road today until the weather completely socked in, then I backtracked to Te Anau. I’d like to catch Milford Sound on a nice day, but the forecast for the next week is rain. I may wind up diverting to another location and coming back here later in my trip. I will have to see if the forecast improves.

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Last night’s sunset made a nice show on the clouds.

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Lake Wakitipu on the way South out of Queenstown.

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Looking back in the direction of Queenstown.

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A really odd combination of scenery and vegetation. Normally Pandanas Trees are found in tropical locations, not in close proximity to snowy mountains.

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The Eglinton River above it’s entry point into Te Anau.

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The clouds are on the move in force. The closer I get to the West Coast, the more cloudy it gets.

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This is my favorite shot of the day. In the distance, the stormy clouds are boiling up through the pass from Milford Sound.

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The mountains are starting to disappear into the clouds.

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The rain is just a few minutes away, might as well start backtracking.

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