Fiordland National Park

January 25 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 45 °F

From the NZ conservation website, "Fiordland National Park (established in 1952) has spectacular ice-carved fiords, lakes and valleys, rugged granite tops and pristine mountain to sea vistas."

From Wikipedia, "Fiordland National Park is a national park in the south-west corner of South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest of the 13 national parks in New Zealand, with an area covering 12,607 km2 (4,868 sq mi),[1] and a major part of the Te Wāhipounamu a UNESCO World Heritage Site established in 1990. The park is administered by the Department of Conservation (DOC). The southern ranges of the Southern Alps cover most of Fiordland National Park, combined with the deep glacier-carved valleys."

Visability is compromised today due to weather.

Mirror Lakes- crystal reflections. A nice boardwalk through the trees.

New Zealand is comprised of 600 islands!

I was at 45 degrees latitude south, the farthest south I may ever get unless I go to Argentina, Chile or Antartica. 45 degrees is half way between the equator and the south pole.

Lake Gunn is named after George Gunn, 1861. The group had fun skipping rocks on the lake.

Purple and white Lupines line the sides of the road. So pretty.

Fox View- beautiful overlook

Huge Waterfall! Called Falls Creek. I was scouting my spot for cold plunging in the Holly Ford River.

Darren Mountains are made of solid granite.

The sun finally peaked out at 11:48 am.

Glaciers on top of the mountains appear as snow, but it is ice that's been there indefintely.

Monkey Creek. Monkey was the name of the explorer's dog who got washed away in the creek. The orange stuff on the rocks? I looked it up.... "The orange "stuff" on rocks in Fiordland National Park is almost certainly a lichen, specifically types that thrive in the wet, coastal, and subalpine environments of the South Island. It is often mistaken for moss or algae, but it is actually a symbiotic partnership between a fungus and an alga (or cyanobacteria).

Kea birds made their assistance, playing and messing on top of the cars that were in front of us on the road. Yes, they landed on moving vehicles.Read more