Mountain Crossings to a lazy rainy day in Franz Josef

Dearest blog,

Life in New Zealand is going superbly. Today is our first day of rain and we have really been unable to do anything because it is chucking down rain. We are in Franz Josef on the West Coast known for its glacier. Today I was going to go on the heli-hike (15 minute scenic helicopter ride up the glacier where they drop you off and you hike through the caves and ice formations) and kayaking but the rain has canceled all plans. Fortuntaley we scheduled two nights in Franz Josef so we will try it all again tomorrow.

As for the we part, a group of us met on the first/second day of our journey on the bus and have tried matching our schedules. Currently there are seven of us (prior we had nine) that have been staying in the same places, doing the same activities, and even cooking our meals together. Very briefly here is the crew:

Kate: 26 year old English girl who is a dental hygenist.
Liam: 19 year old English bloke who will be studying business when he returns (Kate's brother).
Sara: 19 year old Swedish girl who will be studying economics beginning this fall.
Wilhelm: 20 year old Swedish guy who will be resuming his studies in Nano-technology.
Janet: 23 year old Irish lass who is entering into her two years of practicals for her law degree.
Kwan: 31 year old English girl who is secretary for a project management group.
Me:.

Dearly departeds:
Alison: 23 year old English girl...meeting her again in Queenstown
Kendell: 23 year old English girl...perhaps meeting her again in Australia

The group dynamics are pretty good. We are all pretty independent and have been rearranging our schedules to fit the group's. No one really likes traveling alone and we have found a good group. It sounds like we will all be together until at least I leave (as most of the group leaves a day or two after me). I am glad to have found this group. Some of us may meet up through Australia as well...good times.

For those of you unaware, I have been traveling with a bus company called Magic Bus. You basically purchase a package (a route through New Zealand) and hop on and off the bus whenever you want. With my package, I have 11 mandatory stop overs (buses stop here for the night) but can do them whenever I want. The bus stops at other places along the way that are of interest to us tourists so we can see them. The bus also helps us book our accomodation, events, and activities for us. I find it a happy medium between the Kiwi Experience and Intercity.

As for what I have been up to since my last post. The mountain crossing was absolutely amazing! The trek took about 8 hours and we literally crossed a volcano (yes another volcano, after Tanzania I said I would never need to do another one, but this looked so great). I was literally Frodo when he crossed Mt. Doom. We passed Emerald Lakes (they are named that literally because of their color), Red Crater (again the color), and several sulfur vents before finishing up the hike with two hours downhill through a subtropical rainforest (something similar at least).

From here we went to Wellington and had a rushed evening to try and see everything. I visited Parliament and the Beehive, Ta Pa (I do not have my jounal here so I am guessing at names) Museum (cost NZ$371 to build and has been voted one of the best in the world), the cable car at night, a couple of drinks with Camille, Adam's former roommate, and a sampling of Wellington's night life. I was hoping to stay longer but the group was pushing forward so I decided to follow suit and only stay one night.

The next morning we took the 3.25 hour ferry crossing and entered the South Island through Picton. Onto our bus again straight to Nelson. We took a quick stroll through the city and had some gorgeous biscuits (US translation...really good cookies). We made chicken fajitas for dinner and then sat in the spa and sauna. Wilhelm and I met two Mauri fisherman who were departing the next morning on a three week fishing journey and had some interesting chats.

The next day, my birthday, we went on a five hour hike in the Abel-Tasman National Park, home to some of NZ's greatest beaches. We had lovely weather so all was good. For dinner we had Thai delivered to our hostel (the best hostel I have ever stayed) so we had no preparations to do after our hike. I concluded the evening with a bit of reading and a nice relaxing spa/sauna. I will be going out in Queenstown and Sydney for my birthday as the atmosphere will be more appropriate.

On to Greymouth and past the Pankake rocks while driving down one of the top 6 world's best ocean roads according to Lonely planet...and man is it amazing. We also stopped at a seal colony and I heard hundreds of arr arr arrring. Once in Greymouth, a wee town, we went on a brewery tour and had an all you can eat bbq.

This brings us to today...Franz Josef and rain!

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes! 24 is here! and what a great 23 I have had so far! There is no doubt that this next year will be ranked up toward the top too!

Less than two months and I will be home to celebrate with you all!