Sunday, February 16th, 2003

Time	Event
9:22a	Glaciers everywhere you go Quick note before I head out for the day. Happy Valentines day to everyone! We're in Franz Joseph at the base of the NZ alps. It's pretty chilly this morning here and in about 2 hours we're going to take a helicopter up to the top of the Franz Joseph Glacier and take a hike over the glacier and through ice caves. Then a quick ride back to town on the helicopter. I can't wait - everyone says if you do only one thing in NZ this is the thing to do! I can't believe I have less than 2 weeks less - time is just flying along but I'm having a wonderful time and every day you think the scenery can't get any better but every day it does. The night before last we stopped over night in a town named Mahinapua that had about 30 people or something and there is only one hostel that the Kiwi bus is the only tour that stops there. This old guy Les runs it and cooks a huge steak meal every night then throws a Poo Pub party and everyone dresses up in plastic bin bags (garbage bags) in some sort of costume. My friend Sarah went as Frodo and I went as an Elf with a long black plastic dress. Then you drink lots of local brew to forget how foolish you feel wearing a plastic outfit. It was quite fun and it's right on the beach and across from a lovely lake rimmed with forest with mountains in the background everywhere you look. So who knew the view could get better but here in Franz Josef it is amazing! Now I'm off for some breakfast and coffee then for some high flying fun! Sweet! Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
5:54p	quickie I'm in Wanaka on the south island. They have the 3rd largest lake in NZ but it's ringed mountains. Yesterday I was in Franz Josef which has a bunch of glaciers. My friend Sarah and I took a helicopter up to the top of the Franz Josef glacier and did a 3 hour hike on the ice. It was AMAZING and then when done we caught a ride from there in the heli again to Franz Josef. Then today on the way from Franz Josef to Wanaka the bus stopped for a slash and dash (restroom break) at Makarora and coincidentally they have a small airstrip across the street and were looking for 2 people to fill 2 seats in a small plane for a scenic flight from there to Wanaka so Sarah and I grabbed them for NZ$40 each and got a FABULOUS flight over to the Wanaka airport just out of town and beat the bus to the Wanaka Hotel (where we are hosteling tonight) by about 15-20 minutes! The views were amazing! I took about 30 photos while we were up. Anyway Sarah is here keen to go grab some dinner and I'm with her on that and then we'll meet the mates for a handle or two at Paddy's Pub (the place to go in Wanaka) before going to bed for a 9am start to Queenstown in the morning. Will update later - until then - Cheers! (Comment on this)

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