Nature is a powerful thing; It creates, destroys and shapes the world around us and whilst it can, and often does, obliterate our man-made constructions and lives in it's ferocity it is capable of great beauty also.
Whilst in New Zealand recently we visited a place called The Chasm. It's a result of nature's relentless power, tenacity and perseverance; It makes a person feel very small and insignificant when one considers the immense power required to create it and the thousands of years it took to do so.
Below are a few images I took of The Chasm. Yes, I know they're not great, but I'm a not great photographer, so they came out perfectly not great. I also took some video which I set to some music; You can see it below if you're keen. (The video is also perfectly not great.)
The Chasm is accessed by a short 400 metre walk off the main road. We found a park in the designated area, a car park large enough for tour busses and RV's, and were fortunate enough to be the only people there at the time. Just how we like it.
As we walked along the well-maintained track and deeper into the very lush native forest we could hear the birds calling and rushing of water; A peaceful combination, but it was cold! Before long we found the source of the water; A series of fast-flowing, gushing, waterfalls that rushed on down the mountain. The Chasm.
The cool thing is that the thundering waterfalls fall away almost vertically and then simply disappear into the rock only to reemerge a little father on. It's amazing how fast-flowing the waters are, and looking over the edge of the footbridge's left me thinking I was glad not to be in the ferocious flow. It would be unlikely a person would survive I think.
The image above was taken from the middle of the main footbridge. You can see, in the lower-front of the image, where the water drops down vertically into the rock.
I took this image below facing the opposite way from above, looking down-river. It was about an 11 metre drop to the water and as you'll see in the video it was swirling around a bit. To the right of shot you can see some caves that have formed.
The Chasm itself was formed over may thousands of years of the Cleddau River being forced through this narrow, rocky valley as it makes its way down from high above in the Darran Mountains.
The waterfalls have been formed by the build up of water of course, but it's the abstract rock formations that make this place special.
The water has picked up small rocks and gravels on its downward path and has scoured the river right down to the bedrock. The patterns in the rocks have formed by way of these small rocks, pebbles and gravel being swirled by the ferocious waters and powerful currents. As they swirl around in the small nooks and gaps over the passage of thousands of years they have smoothed out basins and little caves are formed. My photos don't do the natural sculptures justice.
The Chasm is notoriously difficult to photograph as the shapes and patterns are all below where a person can access so shooting from overhead is the only way. Climbing off the path and risking a potential fall into the water will almost certainly end in death. Visitors are warned not to stray from the path.
You can take a look at the little video I did below if you like. It only goes for a couple minutes and shows the flow of one section. There was a more ferocious section of falls down a little further but due to the trees and very steep angle, (we were almost directly above), the video didn't come out very well.
Above is the bridge from where I shot the video (on my phone). To the right of the bridge you can see a person just about to walk over. This gives perspective on the depth of the chasm below the bridge. I would say it was about 11 metres (36 feet) to the water below, and how deep from there no one knows.
The Chasm sits within the Fiordland National Park and is on the way to Milford Sound. It is north of Homer Tunnel and you'll not miss it as there's only one road to and from Milford Sound.
Homer tunnel was opened in 1953 and cuts right through the Darran Mountain range right at a spot called Homer Saddle.
It is a 1.2 kilometre long, single lane, tunnel and operates only between certain hours. It has a stop light system allowing traffic to flow only one way for a given period of time; Ten minutes one way then ten the next and so on. Above you can see the south (Te Anau) side of Homer tunnel and the opening at the base of the mountain. Yep, it was cold.
So, that's about it...The next best thing to being there I guess. We had a great day; Sure it was long, but we had a few pretty cool adventures and saw some amazing things including Milford Sound itself which I'll write about at some point in the future.
Thanks for reading.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised.
Be well
Discord: galenkp#9209