South Island #2
From Te anau we headed to Queenstown, which was absolutely freezing!! It was a nice town nestled in amongst the mountains and lakes, with a definate aspres-ski vibe. We decided not to go skiing as it was the first day that the slopes were opening and it was a Saturday so we figured kiwis from miles around would be descending on the slopes. MArk wanted to go on the jetboat- which is supposed to be a white knuckle ride through the canyons doing 360 degree turns at breakneck speed. Unfortunately the next morning they didnt open because of the ice, and by 12 o clock when they again cancelled the trip as they couldnt get their vehicles out of their drive because of the ice, we cut our losses and drove to Wanaka, the next town over, where it was surprisingly a lot warmer. There wasnt much there but we went to the pub to watch the rugby and amused ourselves the next morning at the sports centre with archery and rifle shooting. From there it was a long and windy road out of the mountaisn before we hit the coast. The main point of interest on the west coast is the glaciers and we booked a half day hike that took us up onto Fox glacier, which was both exhausting and amazing, while staying at its neighbour Franz Josef, which we didnt get as close to but was equally stunning.
Our final stop was the north coast, where we drove out to the northernmost point and went for long walks on abandoned beaches, and where we spent a day trekking through the Abel Tasman NP which gave stunning views of the coast all around. However, we were exhausted after just one day, and the blisters I had as a result made me glad we hadnt signed up for a four day trek with a tent!!
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