The Inspiration: Nostalgia etc.; I did warn you. Once upon at time exactly two years ago, I stopped at an intersection near Victoria Forest Park, New Zealand. We got out of the car, and I approached a man walking down the side of the road, and said, "Excuse me, is this the town?" It was a reasonable question. Other than the "T" intersection of the highways that matched the map, there were only three buildings to indicate any sort of town-ness. The man laughed, and told me it actually was Springs Junction, and asked me what I had been expecting. At the puzzling advice of the woman from whom we tried to rent a motel room, we pressed on to Reefton for food and shelter that night. The next day we drove to Punakaiki, and then south down the coast to Franz Josef. Since I'm all misty-eyed over it, and I'm not sure you actually exist, lovely reader, I'm going to show off some more of the photos that are inspiring me. It's also worth noting that neither words or photos could ever adequately capture the beauty of that landscape.
This was on the "highway" across central New Zealand.
The plains run right up to the mountains, and make the geology lessons about the power of glaciers make sense.
This drive was unbelievable
As we got closer to the coast, the snow on the mountains vanished and was replaced by vegitation that looked delightfully prehistoric.
Here's me at the Pancake Rocks, which are amazing rock formations on the west coast. It was freezing cold, and raining, and I was so happy to be there.
The Maori name for New Zealand translates to "Land of the Long White Cloud," so when the views were obscured by fog I felt like I was at least having an authentic Kiwi experience. It actually added to the landscape, and gave it a sort of mythical property. This is one of my favorite photos.
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