Kea, the alpine parrot of New Zealand
新西兰高山鹦鹉

Homer Saddle

Most highways of South Island of New Zealand have only one lane in each direction and the bridges and tunnels have only one lane to share for both directions. There is no traffic light for the single-lane bridges. Drivers need to make sure there is no car on the bridge before enter. Some long bridges have islands in the middle. Though the highways are narrow, they are very well built and maintained.

There is only one single road comes from Milford. The road passes Homer Saddle through Homer Tunnel. There is a big parking lot near the tunnel. The view at the parking lot is magnificent. There is a huge cliff facing the parking lot. Several waterfalls on the cliff and a large heap of snow underneath. The view of the parking lot is much more beautiful than lots of scenic areas around the world.

There is a warning sign by the parking lot. I guess it says something like take your own risk to continue. Because many people were hiking to the waterfalls, I paid no attention to the sign. There is no trail to the waterfalls, we need to find our way between the boulders. The view of the waterfalls on the top of the snow is great. But later, I found there is a big cave under the snow. If the snow collapses, it can be dangerous.

Back to the parking lot, I saw a Kea, the alpine parrot of New Zealand, on the top of a car. Kea is smart and curious, and sometimes annoying.

荷马鞍

新西兰南岛山多水多，道路曲折，大部分公路每个方向只有一个车道。有些桥梁隧道两个方向共用一个车道。单车道的桥没有红绿灯，要看清楚桥上没有车才可以上。有些较长的桥会在中间留出错车的空间。新西兰公路虽然不宽阔，却修建维护得很好。

Milford在海峡边，从那里出来就只有一条公路。公路需要穿越一个山口，叫做Homer Saddle，荷马鞍。大概是因为山口如鞍状而得名。山口处有一处隧道叫做荷马隧道。从隧道出来有一个大停车场，可以停车休息看风景。附近有一处悬崖，悬崖上有几条瀑布，瀑布下一堆积雪。新西兰南岛路边的风景秒杀很多其他地方的风景区。

很多人把车停在这里爬山到瀑布下的积雪处。停车场有个警告牌大约写着什么什么后果自负之类的话。看很多人往山上爬，也懒得看警告就去跟着爬山了。山是野山，没有路，爬起来没有想象的简单。爬到雪堆上看瀑布很壮观。但是从瀑布附近的雪堆上下来看到雪下一个大洞，洞里流着融化的雪水，背后也冒出了冷汗。如果雪堆坍塌也是很危险的事情。

回到停车场时看到车顶上一只Kea，新西兰高山鹦鹉。据说这种鹦鹉聪明又好奇，因为聪明会做些坏事也惹人厌。