Monday, February 14, 2011
The Southern Alps start in the northern end of the South Island around Kaikoura and stretch through the provinces of Canterbury, inland Otago, Westland, and Southland. Its only 80 miles from the eastern shores of the south Island to its highest peak, Aoraki, or Mt. Cook, 12,283 ft. As many as 60 glaciers are locked in the southern alps. Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Area, and the alpine region around it contains the Tasman Glacier, at 17 miles, New Zealand’s longest. 
Much of the region was used in shooting the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The southwest corner of the island, where glaciers over millennia have cut the Alps into stone walls, dropping into fjords, is laced with walking trails that take you into Fjordland National Park (Milford, Doubtful and Dusky Sounds). Full day cruising this treasure.
Fiordland has achieved World Heritage Status and is renowned as the home of Mitre Peak, Milford and Doubtful Sounds. For thousands of feet upwards the eye looks upon straight cut rocky frontages, not worn smooth by time, or by wind or water, but as sharply defined and as fresh looking in all respects as if driven asunder but yesterday. A cherished corner of the world where mountains and valleys compete with each other for room, where scale is almost beyond comprehension, rainfall is measured in meters and scenery encompasses the broadest width of emotions’. The flora and fauna of the area is some of the most spectacular in the world as the sound runs 9.3 miles inland from the Tasman Sea and is surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise almost 4000 feet on either side with lush rain forests clinging to the cliffs.
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