Milford Mariner

Map of the South Island: we've driven from Christchurch through Arthur's Pass to Greymouth and then down to F.J. Glacier and now Queenstown. Tomorrow we will be in Lake Tekapo and back in Christchurch on monday. Should clock in at over 2000km for the trip.

Traveling in the off-season can be great to beat the crowds but you always end up with the not- so-picture-perfect weather. We got trapped in the rain on the Westcoast and haven't been able to escape it since Greymouth. Arrived sopping wet in the Franz Josef Glacier region and post-poned our planned full day hike until tuesday. When we got around to doing it, so much damage had been done to the Glacier that we spent a fair amount of time waiting for the guides to carve out new steps. However, it was my first glacier experience and despite not having a washroom available for 8 horrendously long hours, it was well worth it.

We arrived in Queenstown for the next few days where we are still currently residing. Cute town of 3500 people so we keep recognizing fellow travelers from up north and promptly avoid them. Just kidding. Upon cruising into town in our Corolla, we noticed one of the bungy sites on the side of the road. This turned out to be the start of three bungy jumps for Tero of 43m, 47m and 143m heights, respectively. Of course, being NZ, these aren't just regular bungy jumps. You can jump over the river and get dunked in, run off a ledge over sharp, pointy rocks, or just plummet 143m towards the ground. I made for an excellent spectator.

Last night we boarded the Milford Mariner for an overnight cruise in the Fjord. Strange word but we think it's a narrow inlet of the sea between steep slopes. Our fellow 'backpackers' turned out to be an Australian Senior Citizens group and we were most certainly the youngest on the boat. Despite the rain, the waterfalls were stunning and they were everywhere you looked. When I get a chance I'll be scanning one in to show you all.

Off to Lake Tekapo tomorrow for a potential 3 hour hike. We say 'potential' because really, after a full day of driving you are quite exhausted. Case in point - today. I think we changed drivers 4 times as opposed to twice like the previous day on the trek out to Milford Sound!