A Few More Days in New Zealand

After I got off the internet last time, we continued south to Fox Glacier. We hiked around Lake Matheson, which is supposed to be the most photographed lake in New Zealand. It is beautiful and reflects the snow capped mountains. Normally you can see Mount Cook and Mount Tasman, but there were some low clouds, so they were just our of our sight. It was still extremely beautiful though. I am taking so many pictures, I may run out of storage space soon :)

We drove a little ways further and parked at another camp site along Lake Pukaki. It was beautiful int he morning with fog rising off the lake and the sun rising. Sunday was mostly a driving day. We drove all the way down to Queenstown. It was a beautiful drive through mountain passes and up gorges. We passed river and creeks that were a turquoise green color. All the water here is extremely clear. We passed two huge lakes called Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. We stopped in the town of Wanaka and hiking a little ways up a river that flows out of the lake. Then we continued to Queenstown, arriving after dark. Even in the dark, I could tell it was a beautiful place, and that was confirmed this morning. I keep thinking I've found my favorite spot or the most beautiful place, but then I find another place that is even more beautiful.

Queenstown encircles a lake and is surrounded by snow capped mountains. There are lots of ski resorts all around. The town centre is filled with shops and restaurant, ski rental places, and lots of places to book bungy jumping, sky diving, etc. Our plans got changed a few times today. We planned to take a plane to the Milford Soundy in the Fiordland area, then a boat cruise there. But that got canceled due to a storm front to the south. So we've made other plans. Right now, April and Thad are with Skyla at an indoor water play area for kids. After lunch, we are going to do some fun things that I will write about next time :)