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Showing posts from February 4, 2024

Tolin's 2024 World Cruise blog posts, Days 30-33 Feb 8-11, 2024, Milford & Doubtful Sounds, NZ

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Milford Sound   is a  fiord  in the south west of New Zealand's  South Island  within  Fiordland National Park ,  Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) Marine Reserve , and the  Te Wahipounamu   World Heritage  site. It has been judged the world's top travel destination in an international survey (the  2008 Travelers' Choice Destinations Awards  by TripAdvisor)  and is acclaimed as New Zealand's most famous tourist destination.   Rudyard Kipling  called it the  eighth Wonder of the World .  The fiord is most commonly accessed via road ( State Highway 94 ) by tour coach, with the road terminating at a small village also called  Milford Sound . Milford Sound runs 20 miles inland from the   Tasman Sea   at Dale Point (also named after a location close to   Milford Haven   in Wales)—the mouth of the fiord—and is surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise 3,900 feet or more on either side. A...

Tolin's 2024 World Cruise blog posts, Day 29 Feb 7, 2024, Botanic Gardens and Cable Car Ride, Wellington, NZ

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Wellington  is  the capital city  of  New Zealand . It is located at the south-western tip of the  North Island , between  Cook Strait  and the  Remutaka Range . Wellington is the  third-largest city  in New Zealand, and is the administrative center of the  Wellington Region . It is the  world's southernmost capital  of a  sovereign state . Wellington features a temperate maritime climate, and is the world's windiest city by average  wind speed . Māori oral tradition tells that  Kupe  discovered and explored the region in about the 10th century. The area was initially settled by  Māori   iwi  such as  Rangitāne  and  Muaūpoko . The disruptions of the  Musket Wars  led to them being overwhelmed by northern iwi such as  Te Āti Awa  by the early 19th century. Wellington's current form was originally designed by Captain  William Mein Smith , t...