Here, among slopes and peaks of the Southern Alps, the place of humans in the universe is as noticeable as anywhere. A pompous beginning, but I’ll try to show what I mean using simple examples.
Zoom, zoom, zoom. All the photos are clickable.
This is how the river that flows from the Tasman Glacier, which lies on the footstep of the highest part of the Southern Island of New Zealand, looks from an airplane. On Google Maps satellite photos you can see that the dusty cobalt current tinges the ocean with a turquoise color at the mouth next to Christchurch. The same waters are the cause for the formation of Lake Pukaki, which I really love for amazing photographic material.
I have already been at the source of this nameless river several times. One of the favored places in New Zealand for hipster repose from city life.
Look to the right: thawed waters from the glacier form a lake with black icebergs.
On the left, under a layer of volcanic rocks, lies the Tasman Glacier. In the distance the peaks of the Southern New Zealand Alps.
I will allow myself a small trick. Before scrolling down, look at the boulder in the left corner of the photo and estimate its size in meters.
And now zoom, zoom, zoom.
There were barely enough megapixels on my old Canon 400D to document the tourist who decided to take a walk on the rocky surface of the glacier. The photo is clickable. You can distinguish the colors of the clothes.
Returning to our starting points, a panorama to reinforce the effect.
But that is not all. Let’s turn to our left and see what is happening on the lake at the moment.
Do you notice anything?
Let’s try looking a little closer.
Still a little closer. Do you see the whitish chunk of ice in the background?
There is an inflatable motor boat with tourists “hiding” behind it.
That’s how we live. We return to the car by a treaded trail to come back to the habitual workday rhythm in a couple of days.
