A trip around the South Island

My friends Jesse and Lisa are in New Zealand right now on their honeymoon, and they graciously decided to put up with me for a couple days while we went on a whirlwind tour of the South Island by car. They had already spent 4 days on the Milford Track and a few days in Queenstown, so it was time to explore. These photos are over a three day period:


(between Queenstown and Wanaka in the Crown Range)





(Wanaka)






(Blue Pools)


(Knight's Point on the west coast. Next one too.)






(At Fox Glacier. Last stop for the first day before bedding down at Franz Josef Glacier. Walking up to the terminal face is like walking into a meat locker...chilly.)


(Also at Fox)


(Also at Fox. The deep blue in the clouds at the right side of the image was remarkable. We couldn't figure out what caused it but it was striking.)


(This and the next five are from Franz Josef Glacier. Socked in by clouds, too, but that didn't detract from the glacier's dramatic presence.)












(Back to the coast near Greymouth)


(Not only do they drive on the wrong side of the road here, but most rural bridges are one lane with signs indicating right-of-way. Even better, some of them are shared with a train. The train gets right-of-way...)


(A tasty treat)




(Part of the panorama from the Mt. John observatory. We're on our way to the east coast now after crossing the gorgeous Arthur's Pass area. Will revisit that part of the island on my bike.)


(A couple of shots from the surreal Lake Pukaki. The most amazing aquamarine lake...)



That's all for now!