First 3 Days in New Zealand

Day 1

I landed in Auckland and got a connecting flight to Christchurch on the south island. I met my friends April and Thad Wilson there, and their daughter Skyla who is almost 2. They rented a camper van that we have been traveling around in. We stopped at the Antarctic Center to use wireless internet and have lunch. In the afternoon we drove north to Hanmer Springs. We spent a few hours soaking in the hot springs. I managed to stay awake until almost 8:00. The weather was pretty cool and rainy.

Day 2

I woke up at 3:30. Unfortunately, since it is winter here, the sun doesn't come up until about 7:30. We did a lot of driving this day. We were working our way across the island to the west coast. The scenery was gorgeous with snow capped mountains. We crossed an awesome bridge that people go bungy jumping from. It was tempting, but very pricey :) We stopped at several look outs along the way. In late afternoon, we stopped in Hokitika and walked a path along the beach. I loved it so much because I could turn my head one way and see beautiful, towering, snow capped mountains or turn my head the other way and see waves crashing on the beach!!

We drove a little further and stopped for the night at one of these little pull off campsites they have on the side of the road. There are no hookups or anything, just a small dirt lot and some bathrooms. You pay just a few dollars to park for the night. It was one of the best ones we've seen because it was back off the road and next to a beautiful little lake. There was even a little dock sticking out into the lake. We saw the end of the sunset over the lake. After Skyla was asleep, we laid out on the dock for a while looking at the stars. It was gorgeous and clear! The milky way looked awesome and we saw the Southern Cross. We sang "How Great Thou Art" and stayed there until we got too cold.

Day 3

Today we drove down to the Franz Josef glacier. We did two short hikes to beautiful views of the glacier and snow capped mountains behind it. There were several waterfalls on the sides of the mountains. We saw a little pond with a skim of ice over the top. We stopped at a little old church with a beautiful view of the mountains from the altar.

Right now, everyone else is taking a quick nap while I'm exploring the town of Franz Josef for a little and using the internet. I'm rushing this a bit because I have limited time. I'll try to add updates every few days as I get a chance. We plan to drive a little ways to the Fox glacier and do some more hiking. We're going to see a lake that they say is the most photographed and picturesque lake in New Zealand. Maybe if I have more time another day I'll add pictures.