February 4th, 2009 On The Move Again

Hello Family,

So, I think you all have seen the blog so you kind of know what we've been up to. We'll add a few more pictures asap. We went to Milford Sound, saw glow worms at a funky little hostel, then went to Queenstown to hike the Ben Lomond Track (Dad, you should definitely consider this one when you're here...it took us about 5 hours but it is incredible) and Mount Arthur near Glenorchy.

Then we went to Wanaka to visit Puzzling World and the Paradiso Cinema. The weather wasn't great so we didn't end up hiking, but it was clearly a really nice spot. The drive from Wanaka through the Haast Pass was beautiful even though we couldn't see the mountain tops. Then we headed up to the Fox Glacier and were going to hike to Welcome Flat Hut (a locals favorite with a natural hot spring) but the rivers were really high and it was pouring rain so we decided to pass on it.

Then we met up with a friend of a friend named Ned who is a glacier guide on the Franz Joseph Glacier. We stayed in his drive way in our car for a few days and explored the area. On his days off he took us up the glacier to the a hut. The hut was really nice too. It had two bunks and was stocked with pots, pans, tea, books and playing cards. Ned was also smart enough to bring wine so we had a nice evening.

The next morning we were going to hike up a few mountains, but woke at 5am to heavy rain and clouds so we went back to bed. When we got up the rain had stopped, but the clouds were still really low so instead we went exploring the 'Pinnacles' on the glacier and found some incredible features. We found an iris that was huge and so blue. We'll post the pictures of it. On the way back down the glacier we met up with two other guides on their days off so we got some serious service. They carry these huge pick axes and carve steps into the glacier to make it safe for people without experience. They must have worked three times harder than Gareth and I who were just sauntering along, but they were still moving so much faster than me!

Today we are in Punakaiki at Paparoa National Park. We've seen the Pancake Rocks and I'm not sure what we are doing this afternoon. We're looking forward to starting work hopefully on an apple farm in a few weeks! I love you all! Take care. I think of you a lot!~Sara
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