excruciating beauty

Hi readers

Finally I am able to blog and am using a computer that actually works!  My tiny little ASUS has given up ghost & can no longer cope.  I suspect downloading some of my New Zealand photos has blown its tiny little 400mHz mind.  In a similar manner, it has done the same to me.  We are at a lovely B&B in Te Anau where I am sipping coffee & looking out over the lake to the mountains.  Unfortunately, today is overcast so it is not nearly as pretty as yesterday, when we arrived.  This is probably just as well because I don't know how much more of this SENSATIONAL scenery I can take.  We've just been in Queenstown, which was brilliant.  Yes, it is quite developed but there is so much to do!  There is something for everyone - jet boating, skiing, boating on the lake, art galleries, hiking....  In fact, Spud & I did the Shotover Jetboat on a whim & it was hysterically good fun & I found myself squealing with excitement as we flew through the narrow stone gorge.  The little village of Arrowtown was divine, and moreso because of the changing autumn leaves which gave the place a truly golden glow.  All around us are huge mountains rising jaggedly into the clouds.  On our way to the Milford Track yesterday we drove through a pass that had received a light dusting of snow earlier that morning but in general, the weather has been absolutely perfect.  The drive in to Milford Sound, through the national park is absolutely mind-blowingly magnificent, with huge mountains and valleys formed by glaciers and lakes like mirrors which reflect the mountains while giant trout swim about in the crystal clear waters.  Big sigh.....  Heaven.  Here's what it was like:  it was like the finger of God has reached down and touched this place.  Does that sound poetic?  I've been dying to use that expression in some way or another because it truly is a sensationally beautiful place.  In fact, we did photograph a large rainbow over the water during the morning.  Now brace yourselves for this.  When we finally arrived at Milford Sound, World Heritage Listed, we found it to be a little..... disappointing.  Yes, you heard me.  It was NOT because of the actual Sound or the scenery, but because of the man-made crap!!  We were quite shocked by the noise of the generator behind the poxy, nasty cafe (The Blue Duck - never go there) and bar (a bar for crying out loud!  Why do they need a BAR???) and the sounds of buzzing helicopters and light aircraft constantly flying about while the boats tooted their horns in the little harbour.  It was chaos!  There were hundreds of cars, buses and people.  What a mess.  I think you actually cannot really appreciate the Sound unless you are on the water and we did not have time to fit that in so possibly that was a mistake.  However, we felt we'd already OD'd on natural beauty on our drive in so we were happy enough.  I really think the NZ National Parks people need to review how the Sound is managed.  It was the ONLY disappointing thing about NZ to date.  Anyway, enough about that.  My brekky is ready so I have to say goodbye for now.  I can't wait to post my photos so that you can get an idea of how beautiful it is here and I will do that on Sunday, once we are home.  Cheerio!