Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We still have time to mess this up!

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Petty moves from a petty man.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

White supremacy is terrorism.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

You cannot shame the shameless.

You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / On The Road – Paul in St. Augustine – New Zealand South Island Collection

On The Road – Paul in St. Augustine – New Zealand South Island Collection

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On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.

From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.

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Paul in St. Augustine

The South Island is sparsely populated. There were several times during my 10 days exploring where I would not encounter another car on the road for an hour.The Southern Alps were featured in a different submission. Milford Sound, a fiord carved out by glaciers, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

On The Road - Paul in St. Augustine - South Island Collection 6

Sunrise from The Vintner’s Reserve Resort, in the small village of Rapaura. This town is in the Marlborough region of the South Island, famous for it’s distinctive Sauvignon Blanc.

On The Road - Paul in St. Augustine - South Island Collection 7

Planning my route from Franz Josef to Queenstown, the main road to Queenstown is NZ 6. At the lakeside town of Wanaka, an alternate route was suggested, the Cardrona Valley Road, which was describes as ” a road to take if you’re a competent driver”. It is the highest paved road in the country, and twists and turns abound. There was no way I would not take that route. What the guide book did not mention was the Cardrona Valley Bra Fence. Bras began appearing on the fence in 1999, and this is now considered a quirky tourist attraction.

On The Road - Paul in St. Augustine - South Island Collection 5

Start mountain ridges against a cerulean sky.

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Queenstown, from the top of the mountain via tram. The town is on Lake Wakatipu, the third largest lake in the country. Although small, if you can think of an adventurous activity, you can do it here.

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The docks at Milford Sound. From Queenstown, it’s a 180 mile drive. A bus option is available, if you wish. However, your time is not your own. I managed to pass the bus on my trip down. There are several boat tour options. I chose the smallest boat possible, which meant we could get closer to the sides than other boats. Mitre Peak is the tallest mountain on the Sound, and it rises to a height of 5522 feet. Straight up from the water. Here. it’s mostly hidden by clouds.

On The Road - Paul in St. Augustine - South Island Collection 2

There are dozens of waterfalls along the fiord. I like this picture, capturing a rainbow.

On The Road - Paul in St. Augustine - South Island Collection 1

The blond colored boulders are greenstone, locally called pounamu It is also known as jade. Imbued with spiritual significance to New Zealand’s Indigenous tribes, you are allowed to harvest, or ‘fossick’ for the rocks on the beaches of Te Tai o Poutini (the West Coast of the South Island).

On The Road - Paul in St. Augustine - South Island Collection

The end of the fiord, heading into the Tasman Sea. Sydney, Australia, lies 1160 miles to the west.

Reader Interactions

16Comments

  3. 3.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Glorious photos!

    But I must confess that, since I read OTR pre-coffee and with blurry morning eyes, I read The docks at Milford Sound as The ducks at Milford Sound. Because ducks.

  7. 7.

    sab

    Glorious. I thought St Augustine, Florida and then I saw that mountain and thought whoops wrong place!

  10. 10.

    J R in WV

    Great photos. May have been helpful to mention that you were (probably) in NZ…

    thanks for sharing.

  13. 13.

    Paul in St. Augustine

    @J R in WV: Thanks. I actually did mention I was there, if you look closely. However, you’re right in that I did not mention New Zealand by name. Hopefully I said that somewhere in tomorrow’s post!

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    @J R in WV: I mentioned it in Monday’s post!  :-)

    This week brings us birds and junkyards and glaciers, and then we finish off the week with 2 days in New Zealand! 

    But that was 3 days ago, and we have all slept since then.  I’ll add NZ to the two posts.

  16. 16.

    dnfree

    We were not as adventurous as you and took a tour in 2017 to celebrate our 50th anniversary.  Such a beautiful country, with so many contrasts.  Our tour guide said that the reason the South Island is so sparsely populated is the sand flies.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/88169578/sandflies-new-zealands-bloodsucking-summer-nightmare-actually-its-yearround

    It’s hard to describe the beauty to people, but we had a couple of encounters back home where we said to people “Did you see The Lord of the Rings?” And they said “OOOHHH”.

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