On to Queenstown

January 19th: We were on our way from the west coast to Queenstown which is over the mountains through the Haast Pass. It had been raining hard since yesterday afternoon and when we got up this morning, those of our group who had signed up for a helicopter ride up to the glaciers to walk on the ice were disappointed as there were no flights going because of the weather.  More rain falls on the west coast of the South Island than anywhere else in NZ, or in many other parts of the world. 

London, England -23 inches

Milford sound - 272 inches

We were scheduled to go to hike around Lake Matheson but we voted on it when the rain was coming down in sheets outside our bus. All but one voted to drive on, so we did.  By the time we got over the pass it was dry again and really quite pleasant in Queenstown, the centre of extreme adventure sport. This is where bungy jumping was invented. I will give that a miss!! The Milford track is adventure enough for both of us.

We did have a couple of interesting stops for little walks before reaching our destination. First stop was to see Thunder Creek Falls.  It was a very short walk and a million other tourists doing same thing.  

Next stop was very neat. Lots of great undergrowth under huge trees.  Lots of folks going down with their swim gear for a dip.  

Such an interesting walk through the fern tree forest.  So many different varieties - from small ones to those over 10 feet tall.  All so different than the ones we usually see at home. 

Two suspension bridges. The water was a beautiful shade of turquoise.

We arrived in Queenstown by 6:00 and checked in. This is the 2nd hotel we have been to that charges $5 for Internet for 24 hours but it's the first one that has highspeed so we can get this blog uploaded quickly. Some of the places we have been in it has been painful.

Tomorrow, Jan 20th will be a free day but we 3 will spend it getting ready for our hike. We will be out of Internet contact for 4 days so no blog. Only taking our day packs so no iPad either. One other from our group is coming with us, Linda from Ireland. The rest of the group will be in Queenstown doing day walks for 3 more days.  Then we will meet them again in Te Anau after our 'epic' hike. 

Kia Ora!