New Zealand No. 5
To continue with a further blog.
Another early morning drive this time through the spectacular
Fiordland National Park. We started off in the dark and as we
drove along the mist started to clear, and the sunrise over the
mountains was superb.
Mist almost gone and now the sunrise was shining on the mountain
summits.
Fast flowing rivers
Fast flowing waterfalls
Arriving at the Homer tunnel car park, and the good news was,
no one else was present.
Suddenly we were joined by several Kea's. in the car park. Doreen
suggested that she would stay in the car to protect it from the Kea's,
whilst I went to look for the Rock Wren,
New Zealand Rockwren Xenicus gilviventris
Male New Zealand Rockwren near the Homer Tunnel.
New Zealand Rockwren proved to be one of the highlights of our trip as it can be difficult to find in poor windy weather. Its endemic to South Island, and it remains above the bush line throughout its life, and is only the true alpine bird of New Zealand. It nests on the ground in holes and this can lead to predation by mice and stoats and the Rockwren is now classified as endangered. I soon located two close by. When these disappeared, we searched nearby for any further birds but were unsuccessful.
We now headed off towards Milford Sound as we decided to take a tour around the Milford Sound on one of the cruise boats in the hope of seeing the Fiordland Penguin.
Arriving at Milford Sound it was still misty so we decided to go
on the second cruise boat.
Mist now cleared view taken from the landing stage
Views taken from the cruise boat.
Distant picture of 2 Fiordland Penguins from the cruise ship. It is
endemic to New Zealand with the distribution on South Island
and Stewart Island and offshore islands. They have declined
considerably in their range and population and are now classified
as vulnerable.
Rainbow waterfall Milford Sound
