Day 26 - Milford to Lake Tekapo

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Not so much time to write here, so I'll just upload pictures with brief captions. The drive is over 500km on narrow country roads - very pretty drive, but a long day at the wheel.

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Photos

Milford Sound in the morning
Looking just as tranquil as yesterday

Sailing on the Tasman Sea
It's early,and I'm not fully awake, but the strong sea breeze will sort me out

Vollendam at Milford
The Holland America Line ship Vollendam on a cruise from Australia (4 days away) is dwarfed by the Milford Sound

Time for a shower
Our sister ship gets up close to a waterfall to clean the decks

Odyssey Peak
A parking place off the road leads to a short walk through the forest for a view of another peak

Snow at the foot of the Homer Tunnel
A steam normally carries melt water away but today there is only steam coming out from underneath the snow

Cascade Rock
Today it's a gentle trickle, but when it rains here (220 days a year), the water gushing off this rock face is spectacular

Cascade Creek
just as the name suggests

Kingston
This peaceful town on Lake Wakatipu is an ideal spot for 'free camping'.

The Kingston Flyer
In the good olf days, Kingston was linked to the rail network and boasted the fastest locomotive in the land. Now, the short preserved line has gone bankrupt, but the rolling stock survives

Lake Wakatipu
Returning towards Queenstown, the road is so quiet yet so beatiful to drive along.

Heading towards Twizel
The landscape here is flatter, and the roads even more empty

Mount Cook
At 3754m, this is NZ's tallest mountain. Seen here about 50km away from Lake Pukaki, it dominates the horizon for a good half hour of the drive

Mount Edward
In the evening sun, this ccompletely bare mountain appeared nearly golden

Low cloud near Lake Tekapo
This seems a feature of the Tekapo area - unusual cloud movements