Posting from Fiordland

Hi to all our readers, Phileas here. We are sending this blog from a small town called Te Anau which is on the very edge of one of the most beautiful places in the world, Fiordland. We are staying just up the road in Tui View Cottage, Lake Manapauri but there are no facilities there so we have driven here to blog and e and shop. Anyway, back to the Fiords or Sounds as they are called here. For geographers out there they are technically fiords but when they were found by the early explorers they called them sounds because they didn't know what a fiord was!!!

As you can see this is a Fogg photo of a pair of bottle nose dolphins which were one of the many beautiful things that we saw on our recent overnight trip to one of the fiords, Doubtful Sound. It was so named by our favourite navigator James 'Thomas' Cook who when he saw it back in the 1770s was doubtful that he would sail out of it if he ventured in. He missed a treat but he was probably very sensible.

This is the Fiordland Navigator, the boat on which we travelled through Doubtful Sound. We had a cabin with en suite facilities and along with 70 or so other people discovered this extraordinarily beautiful place. I find it difficult to find the words to describe what we saw and most importantly the emotions that this place engendered. We will put some more photos in which will I hope give you an idea of the majesty and power of the Sound. All I can really say from a biologists point of view is that here was a unique ecosystem full of endemic plants and birds that is as it was when Cook and previously the Maori first saw it. Totally virgin rain forest full of mosses, ferns, mountain beech, rimu, kiwi and other endangered birds and just for a moment we were able to be part of it. This photo was taken when we left the boat and went out in a small tender which allowed us to really see up close the plant life which grows without soil directly onto the bare rock. If you read back to my blog on Rangitoto this will be fully explained as it is no different here on the granite to the lava of Rangitoto.

The trees hung to the sides of the fiord and created a beautiful texture of shapes and colours, a textile artist's dream ( Fogg says!!). They are virtually all evergreen and, despite living on such a difficult surface, big.

We did not see many birds as a number of them are either nocturnal or ground dwelling (flightless) but we could hear their calls which in many ways was more moving if somewhat tantalising. There is of course the issue of introduced predators such as stoats, rats etc which feed on these ground dwelling birds. This is a real problem in many parts of NZ but here as in the north small islands are being cleared of predators and endangered birds are being reintroduced.

In places the trees can no longer maintain their grip on the rock and they fall down the side of the Sound taking other trees and plants with them. This is known as a tree avalanche and it leaves great scars like this one. Fortunately this does allow us to see the regeneration process, secondary succession, taking place as mosses and then ferns start to recolonise the scar. This photo also shows the steepness of the walls of the Sound.

I am going to pass over to Fogg now so I hope that all our readers are well and send you all my best wishes.





I have to tell you that Phileas (Kate) is making a video as we go along and I (Mike / Fogg ) am making the still photos of which I have to say I am pretty proud although the ones of the Dolphin took about twenty or so goes until I got what I wanted. The time lapse of a digital camera is irritating at times like these. Second guessing the movements of a Dolphin is tricky. Doubtful Sound is the most beautiful place I have slept in. truly awe inspiring. How to cope with it artistically. I have no idea but I think I will attempt when I get back to UK.

We stopped in the Sound and all the machinery/engines on the boat including the generator were switched off and we were asked to keep quiet. No photos. Nothing. The silence at first was deafening and slowly the sound of the small waterfalls and birdsong started to gently emerge and we were completely surrounded by only the sounds of nature and the visual majesty of the great walls of the fiord mountains rising above us on all sides. It was a moment of complete wonder and something I do not think either of us will ever forget. The crew were marvelous and the magic of the place was revealed to us through their sensibility and care. Now we are in a bach (small house) on our own and we are truly 'winging it'. It is and still remains an incredible journey.

So this is now Fogg signing out until our next installment. Very best wishes to you all
x