There's a take on the world that only rambling time in a range like NZ's Southern Alps can give. See, this ridge, these crests were all seafloor just two million years ago - not too long ago in geological terms. Geologists get excited about the meteoric uplift of Mt Cook and her 16 sisters: these peaks and ridges are moving skyward at 15-20mm EVERY YEAR.
...and yet the hundreds of Southern Alps glaciers - like Dave and Jim's favourite 'Rob Roy' - right now seemingly have that uplift in check.
There's about the same amount of shaving, shearing and grinding going on as tectonic heave; the ice returning particles of granite and shale - seafloor hardened to stone by cataclysmic forces - back to the sea, suspended in beautiful milky blue glacial juice that makes postcard creeks and streams (with the glittery splashes of pyrite - mountain bling).
There are marine fossils up here, returning to the sea from 3kms up.... and then car licence suspension really doesn't seem to matter.
Nor unidentified gob in temporal lobe.
Nor much else really, other than making time for more mountain time (and a couple of Monteith's Black Ales along the way - a great lubricant of philosophical cogs)
