Our journey continues on the West coast with breathtaking scenery.
Below is the Franz Joseph Glacier. Nowhere else on earth, at this latitude, have glaciers advanced so close to the sea.
In New Zealand you are never more than 130 kilometers from the ocean!
The routeburn track is a three day hike through rainforest/subalpine country. As you can see we had to schelpp all of our stuff including clothing, rain gear, food and cooking utensils on our backs.
But it was worth it. We saw at least 30 waterfalls ranging in size from small streams to an 80 meter fall.
From our bunkhouse on the track we were able to see a full moon rise, which appeared almost as bright as the sun, over the mountains.
This is a very wet area and the mist comes right off the ocean. We were lucky to get some good views through the clouds.
After the long walk we relaxed in Queenstown and rode the gondola to get
our photo opportunities!
This is a Lake Wakatipu.
In Akoroa on the Banks Peninsula we took a wonderful harbor cruise and were happy to see dolphins, penguins and rare birds. The seals didn't seem very excited about the prospect of yet another tourist... but we were thrilled to see them!
And so our adventure in Middle-Earth comes to an end.
But stay tuned for more photos from our journey when we return!
