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My amateur's impression of the geomorphology of the South Island is that the mountains in the west owe their existence to uplift caused by plate tectonics and much of their shaping to glaciation.
Water erosion, which has been very important in the formation of Australia's landscapes, seems to have not had enough time to greatly modify the glacial landscapes (there is some very flat land on the South Island which suggests deposition beneath lakes with subsequent uplift).
There is some, but not much, glaciated landscapes in Australia, so I found the South Island New Zealand landscapes fascinating.
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Our family (two grandparents, two parents and two kids) travelled in a hired people-mover through the North Island.
In the South Island we hired a slightly smaller people mover and a trailer for the luggage.
We travelled from the North to South islands without a vehicle on one of the ferries.
Queen Charlotte SoundThere is something to see all the way on the three to four-hour ferry voyage between the two main islands, from Wellington on the North Island to Picton on the South Island. Near half of the time is spent in Queen Charlotte Sound, a particularly beautiful part of the world. |
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This panorama was taken soon after entering the Sound.
The land visible (in the high definition copy of the image: click on the image to see it in high definition) through the gap on the left is probably the North Island.
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There were quite a few houses built on the edge of the Sound and at the foot of the very steep hills. The cost of getting either a road in, or getting building materials and machinery in via the water of the Sound, must be huge, but they would be beautiful places to live.
When you see Picton from the Sound you might think that any rout out of the town would have to be very steep. In fact there is a railway as well as a couple of roads, so there must be some routs that are not particularly steep. We picked up a hire car and trailer in Picton, then went on to Nelson via the road that touched on Mahau Sound and passed through Havelock. |
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The city of Nelson from what was advertised on signs as 'the centre of NZ'.
It turned out that 'the centre of NZ' was defined as such by surveyors. They divided the country up into districts, and of these Nelson was the closest to being at the centre of the country. The point at the top of this hill was made the central point around which all the surveys of the district would be organised. One of the most interesting things about Nelson, to me, was the Boulder Bank, which, to quote Wikipedia, "is a very unusual naturally formed landform. It is a 13 kilometre long stretch of rocky substrates which begins at the Mackay Bluff and ends at the Cut of the Nelson Harbour". The SW portion of the Boulder Bank can be seen in the middle distance in this photo.
The snowcapped mountains of the Arthur Range can be seen in the distance.
It seemed that, weather permitting, snowcapped peaks could be seen from most places in the South Island.
The city was behind the photographer.
I felt that the view in the direction opposite the city was more attractive than the view toward the city.
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A panoramic view from 'the centre' in the direction opposite Nelson.
Haulashore Island, in the centre of the photo, used to be connected to the Boulder Bank, seen here further to the right. 'The Cut', to the right of the island, is an artificial gap cut through the Boulder Bank to improve shipping safety. Before The Cut was constructed shipping had to go through a treacherous gap between Haulashore Island and the small rock visible to the left of it.
A link between South Australia, my home state, and Nelson is that both were commercial projects of Edward Gibbon Wakefield (who had an interesting past,
Wikipedia records that "Despite being imprisoned for three years in 1827 for kidnapping a fifteen-year-old girl, he enjoyed a distinguished political career.").
The South Australian colony was established in 1836, Nelson in or about 1841.
Japanese garden, Nelson
It was quite a good garden. I'd recommend a visit to anyone who has a bit of time to spend in Nelson, although it's not up to the standard of the
one in Cowra, NSW, Australia, or of course some of those in
Japan.
Our accommodation, Nelson
Pancake Rocks
The high definition image will show yellow-flowering gorse on the left, on the far side of the road, which, as previously mentioned, is a major and very wide-spread problem in NZ.
Much of the road we took from Nelson to Fox Glacier closely followed the western coast of the South Island; this was typical of the topography.
Challenging country for road building.
This is a common plant that was used by the Maoris as a source of fibre.
See below for more information about NZ flax.
The photo also shows the trouble taken to produce a safe and convenient access path. Note the NZ flax in the middle distance. |
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Glacier countryLike most of the world's glaciers, with our catastrophic climate change, the NZ glaciers are in quick retreat. Long ago those in this area came down to the sea, now to get to them you have to take a long walk up into the mountains. |
Franz Joseph glacier vicinity
Note the bright orange lichen on the left. A similarly coloured lichen grows in South Australia, but only close to the sea; typically from a metre or two above high tide to perhaps ten or twenty metres above the high tide level. Just a little of the snow-capped mountains peaking through between the foothills and clouds.
A group of four-wheeled motorbikes were disturbing the peace.
A little further on the sound of scenic flight helicopters almost constantly disturbed the peace.
I've written about orange lichen in a page on Kangaroo Island, South Australia. |
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Fox GlacierFrom about eight in the morning to five or later in the afternoon scenic flight helicopters can be heard in the Fox Glacier township area. I haven't heard that electric helicopters are yet viable, but small electric fixed-wing planes are; although I think that most of the present viable models are two-seaters aimed at pilot training.It would be much quieter if the ICE-powered (or turbine-powered?) helicopters were replaced by electric fixed wing aircraft, which I would think would be well suited for sightseeing. Wikipedia has a page listing the many electric aircraft that are being produced or at the development stage. |
Lake Matherson, near Fox Glacier
My wife and I were continually impressed by the epiphytes that grew all over the trees and rocks in NZ forests. In our home state, South Australia, trees typically host very few, if any, epiphytes apart from some of the hardier lichens. A photo of typically epiphyte-free Australian trees is shown on one of my pages on the Flinders Ranges. |
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The tourist information talks of mirror-like reflections of the Alps in the lake's water. In fact ducks, hoping for a free breakfast, were continually swimming in front of the viewing area making ripples. |
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The sun about to rise behind the Southern Alps, from Lake Matherson.
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The Southern Alps from the main road near Lake Matherson.
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Fox Glacier township vicinity
Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand (far higher than any in Australia), could be the pyramidal peak in the centre of this photo.
We tend to think of our mountains as being fixed and stable.
This gives a hint of how dynamic they really are.
Fox Glacier access trail
When we were there the main walking path beyond the car park was closed due to erosion from the river that flows through the lower part of the valley, so we had to detour through round-about trails that allowed visitors to see the terminal moraines that had been left by the glacier in the past. The section of the trail shown here goes along the top of the moraine that was left at the foot of the glacier around 1750. A little further down the valley was another moraine that was left around 1600.
In the last ice age the glacier got all the way to the sea.
EpiphytesAn example of some of the epiphytes growing on a tree trunk on the Moraine Trail.Other photos also show NZ epiphytes, on this page above and below this, and also on the North Island page.
On an earlier visit to Laos, we ate beneath a huge tree covered with epiphytes.
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A distant view of the Fox Glacier from a viewing point in a small public park.
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An evening view from near the motel we were staying in.
Fox Glacier township was where the street lights can be seen in the distance. The cycling/walking trail on the right started from near our accommodation and went into the town. |
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Haast PassThunder Creek Waterfall near Haast Pass
The waterfall is accessed from the main road by a walking trail a few hundred metres long. The road along the west coast of the South Island doesn't go a long way past the little town of Haast (which hosts a good information centre and cafe).
Another road crosses through the mountains to Lake Wanaka, Lake Hawea and the town of Wanaka via Haast Pass.
Blue Pool, on the Haast Pass road
The Pool is accessed by a walking trail a few hundred metres long from the main road. The colour of the water made me think about what the cause was. It crossed my mind that there might be a trace of copper in it. In fact the colour is not due to a trace of copper or to the Rayleigh scattering that makes the sky blue. It is due to vibrational transitions of the water molecules, as described in Web Exhibits: "Blue water is the only known example of a natural color caused by vibrational transitions. In most other cases, color is caused by the interaction of photons of light with electrons. Some of these mechanisms are resonant interactions, such as absorption, emission, and selective reflection. Others are non-resonant, including Rayleigh scattering, interference, diffraction, and refraction. Unlike with water, these mechanisms rely primarily on the interaction of photons with electrons."If you can follow all that your grasp of physics is better than mine!
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Lake Wanaka from the eastern side, before the road turned off toward Lake Hawea.
While the lakes in the North Island were volcanic in origin, I believe those in the South Island owed more to glaciation. As mentioned elsewhere on these pages, my impression was that the geomorphology of the North Island was largely volcanic modified by aqueous erosion while that of the South Island was probably block-faulting related to plate-tectonic subduction with the subsequent erosion being mainly glacial. |
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Lake Wanaka from near the motel that we stayed in in the town of Wanaka.
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Another view of Lake Wanaka, this time from near the playground and restaurant area of the town.
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Puzzling World, Wanaka
Puzzling World had much to interest and amuse a family group like ours; we must have spent two to three hours in it.
Note that Beth has Pink Panther, from which she has been almost inseparable for several years.
Cardrona ski-fieldCardrona and Cardrona ski-field is south of Wanaka on the way toward Queenstown.
The ski-lift we used had both gondolas and open seats; we travelled in a gondola. The altitude of the resort area was about 1650 metres. Rather surprisingly, to me at least, while we had seen snow at 1000 m on the North Island, we didn't see snow until about 1300 m at Cardrona; much further south. |
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Fun in the snow!
At the top of the ski-lift. The snow was fairly icy on top, but Julia found snow soft enough to make a little snowman by digging below the icy crust. By that time Denece and I had had enough of the cold and went back down to the resort for some shelter and a hot coffee. |
This post and those on the above photo were carved in Maori style.
Crown Range Pass area |
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The Crown Range Summit Pass, at 1076 metres above sea level, is crossed by the highest sealed road in NZ.
This photo was taken from a view point on the road a few kilometres toward Queenstown from the top of the pass. The little town in the valley in this photo is, I think, Gibbston. Elizabeth (with Pink Panther) and Shayne in the foreground. |
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From the same point as the previous photo, this time looking toward Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu, which can be seen in the distance.
Shayne in the foreground. |
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The view of Lake Wakatipu and a part of Queenstown from the motel we stayed in in Queenstown.
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Queenstown, on Lake Wakatipu, had a beautiful setting, but was so heavily developed for tourism that it didn't appeal to me so much as a number of other NZ towns or cities.
Perhaps I was becoming jaded from travel?
Denece and I enjoyed gardens as much as anything else in the cities and towns of NZ. |
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Lake Wakatipu and the (?)Eyre Mountains beyond, from near our accommodation in Queenstown.
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A wide panorama of Lake Wakatipu and the Eyre Mountains south of Queenstown on our way to Manapouri.
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Invercargill
It was not my cup of tea, but did find some machines that were interesting.
This bicycle has a wheel powered by a small internal combustion engine attached.
Can you deduce what the Maori words for fifteen are?
Milford Sound
Valleys formed by water erosion are either 'V' shaped, or flat bottomed. The junction of two valleys in a landscape formed by water erosion typically does not show the sudden drop in altitude that can be seen where this 'hanging valley' joins the larger valley. The glacial landscapes seem to have been little modified by subsequent water erosion. Seen from the road from Manapouri, where we had an AirBnB house for two nights, toward Milford Sound.
I found the road to Milford Sound (which would more properly be named Milford fiord) as interesting as the Sound itself.
Kia; on the road into Milford Sound
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Looking down the Sound from a walking track at the small township at the head of the inundated part of the fiord.
On the right is the dock area for the many boats that do tourist cruises on the fiord.
Left of centre is the impressive Mitre Peak with an altitude of 1,692 metres above sea level. The fiord in the vicinity of Mitre Peak is 512 m deep, so the top of the peak rises 2,204 m above the bottom of the fiord. For comparison, the Matterhorn (altitude 4,478 m) is 2,858 m above Zermatt (altitude 1,620 m). (There is an interesting account of an attempt to climb Mitre Peak on the Internet.) |
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A panoramic shot of Milford Sound from near the car park area.
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A small fraction of the water is taken from the stream that feeds the waterfall and run through a hydro-power plant to generate all the power needed for the Milford Sound settlement.
Photogenically the fiord would have been much better if there was sunshine. Sunshine is probably not common, Milford is one of the wettest places in the world with an average annual precipitation of about six metres of rainfall equivalent. Note the huge section of the mountainside on the right that has slid away into the fiord. There would have been many thousands of tonnes of rock in this landslide. The very informative master of the cruise boat told me that the fiord floor in the area had been mapped using sonar and there was not any sign of the rock from the mountainside there, so presumably it must have fallen while the glacier was still active and have been carried out to sea by the glacier.
There is another waterfall from a hanging valley left of centre.
We were told that penguins can also sometimes be seen in the fiord.
The ChasmOn the road out of Milford Sound
The Chasm itself was difficult to photograph effectively; it needs to be seen to be appreciated.
Note the rocks that have been carved by the erosion from abrasive materials (rocks, gravel and sand) carried by the fast flowing stream.
The vicinity of the tunnel on the Milford Sound road
The western end of the tunnel can just be seen in the distance in this photo (especially in the higher definition image accessed by clicking on the photo).
The amphitheatre shape of the head of the valley is called a cirque and is typical of the heads of glaciated valleys.
While the tunnel is wide enough for a bus to pass a car, I believe the traffic was limited to one-way and controlled by lights during a part of the day.
There was a kia hanging around looking for handouts; not shown here.
Manapouri
We used this place the night before and the night after going to Milford Sound. |
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Livestock in NZ included cattle, sheep and deer.
We seemed to see mostly cattle in the North Island, sheep in the South Island and deer in both. On the way from Manapouri to Dunedin we travelled over flat land like this much of the way. There seems to be an interesting piece of elevated flat land in the distance, between the hills and the foreground plain; slightly tilted in relation to the foreground plain. Suggestive of block faulting. |
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DunedinLarnach Castle
The building and its grounds are available for the public to visit; and it is well worth a visit, even in the miserable weather that we had for our time there.
Curiously the main entrance is not at ground level, but up a flight of stairs on the far side of the stone lions.
World's steepest street, Baldwin Street, Dunedin
According to Wikipedia Baldwin street was recognised as the steepest in the world from 1987 to July 2019, when a street with an unpronounceable name in Wales took the title. This photo was taken in 2019/10/12. |
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We were given this excellent view of a large part of the Westwind Wind Farm as we approached Wellington airport on our way home.
Gandalf and eagles at Wellington Airport, North Island
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Related pagesExternal sites...Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of NZDeforestation and the settlement of New Zealand On this site...Pages that are largely based on a photographic record... |
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