Ball Birds

After yesterday’s scuba adventures, today was quite tame in comparison. It snowed overnight at the higher elevations, so I woke up surrounded by newly-decorated peaks. The clouds cleared throughout the day, so today’s adventures mostly revolved around walks along the water to enjoy the changing light, as well as conversations with the local weka, a species that my mom would describe as a “ball bird”; they are birds about the size of chickens that look a bit like they were assembled in Jim Henson’s creature shop, with round bodies, big feet, and stubby tails, but they made for good morning companions. With no native land mammals (aside from a couple of bat species) New Zealand has evolved some odd and fearless birdlife, and it’s been a pleasure getting to know them as they come to visit while I’ve been out hiking.

One random note about Milford: one of the informational signs along the harbor was discussing the Maori creation myths about this place. In their telling, the fjord was created by a powerful god, but upon seeing it the goddess of death feared that it was so glorious that people who came here would never want to leave, and so filled it with biting sandflies to encourage people not to stay too long. Luckily the sandflies haven’t been too bad while I’ve been here, but good thinking on the goddess’s part for planning in advance to prevent overcrowding.

The skies are (shockingly) mostly clear at the moment, with the forecast calling for more of the same tomorrow, so with any luck there should be some amazing views and a bit of hiking in the high country along the Milford Road tomorrow as I retrace my path north to Arrowtown.