More Magnificence

Dunedin was cool, but we felt the need to leave the city and get back to nature (take THAT Thoreau/Emerson!). Before we left Dunedin, however, we went to a local pub with an American couple from the hostel to watch the rugby. So not only did I find out that it doesn't cost ANYTHING to do a working holiday in New Zealand (apparently NZ Immigration grants you a visa the day you apply), I also found out that the female half of the American couple went to the same school as me in London and was there during the same semester! Which means we very likely passed each other in the halls...too weird.

The following morning we drove the Southern Scenic Route to Te Anau. It took almost eight hours, but it was raining a lot so that added much time. It was pretty spectacular so I'm glad we did it. The alternative was to drive straight through the middle, which is just a lot of farmland and not that interesting we were told. We stayed two nights in Te Anau, which is at the base of Lake Te Anau and close to Milford Sound. We wanted to do some kayaking on Milford Sound, but found out it wasn't possible without booking ahead. Instead we took a cruise on the Sound. Unbelievably beautiful. The weather was impeccable, which is funny because it rains there about 150 days out of the year. We were expecting a lot of snow too because the woman at the hostel said she heard from several authorities that there would be, but there was not a flake on the road.

This morning we set out for Queenstown and arrived just before noon. Queenstown is a quaint little town with a kind of alternative/ski bum atmosphere. We weren't sure if we were going to stay because, basically, it costs a lot if you want to do anything in Queenstown, not to mention you have to have balls of steel--it's the adventure sport capital of NZ. We would have been down for skiing but the mountains weren't opening until Thursday. Instead we took a nice walk through the park around the lake and took the gondola up to the summit of a mountain that overlooks the town. We decided to continue to Lake Wanaka, our next destination, because there was more for us to do there that's affordable (hiking/kayaking). So here we are in a hostel in Lake Wanaka called, you'll love this Mom, The Purple Cow! There's also a resident cat named Smokey (the name of one of my childhood cats) and (s)he's a tabby as well!

So tomorrow we might do kayaking if it's available this time of year, or maybe horseback riding. Definitely some hiking and then it's off to Franz Josef Fox Glacier.