From Te Anau...

I am writing from the Te Anau Laundromat/Internet shop on main street. Just returned from Milford Sound, a fancy little fiord with millions of waterfalls. The best part was when we briefly reached the end of the fiord, where the Tasmanian Sea begins. Quite rough water! Was like riding one of those Viking boats at a rollercoaster park. I think I can handle 30-foot seas.

Yesterday we went to the Aurora Caves... inside is a place called the Glowworm Grotto, quite amazing! Very dark inside, ceiling speckled with thousands of glowworms, like looking at the night sky. That's their evolutionary advantage, actually; insects lost inside the caves try to get out when they see the stars, but get trapped by the glowworm's sticky threads. The glowworms make food come to them... the tour guide said they're some of the laziest creatures in the world. If only I could make pizza come to me.....