Wash & Surf Laundromat/Internet Cafe
Te Anau, Fiordland, NZ
December 22, 2007, 5pm

Greetings from Fiordland! We arrived this afternoon after a pleasant but overcast drive from the Catlins, where we had a short overnight stay. After checking in to our B&B, we got on a boat and headed out across the lake to visit the local main attraction, an incredible underground cave formed fairly recently from glacier water carving through the local limestone. The cave is the home of the glow worms! The local tour company has a pretty good thing going taking squads of tourists out to see the little buggers, but it's actually a really well-done tour and it was a great experience. Somehow, they built a sturdy metal walkway that extends several hundred meters into the cave, suspended above the rushing (frigid) waters of the underground stream. At the end of the walkway, past the rushing waterfalls, is a tranquil flooded cave. A hand-powered raft took us out into the middle and we were surrounded by a little galaxy of underground stars: tiny green lights from hungry glowworms, competing with each other to attract insects onto their thin little sticky fishing lines. Very, very cool.

Tomorrow, we're off to Milford Sound at an ungodly hour: a 6:30 am departure! There's a two hour bus trip each way, so it's important to get off early to ensure we have a decent amount of time for kayaking on the sound. So far, the weather looks a bit iffy -- there's the occasional blue patch of sky, but by and large we're looking at clouds. Still, the sound is supposed to be spectacular in any weather, so we have our fingers crossed!
posted by Tom at 10:59 PM | link |