Avalanche Peak Rain Check

After our stay in Fox Glavier, we hit the road north. We missed our planned destination due to the fact that there was nothing there. So we left the township of Haast with population 62 and are now staying farther north in an animal themed old monistary style backpackers. Lets just say-monkey room last night and elephant room tonight...get excited! We were turned away from Avalanche peak which would have been an 1100 meter vertical climb due to 120km/hr wind gusts. We made the best of it and hit some lower elevation waterfall trails that were completely flooded. We even made up a new word: crail. A trail that is pretty much a creek. We will be having spaghetti for lunch and dinner (and in Smith's case breakfast as well) because we have a HUGE vat of it. As for the rest of our rainey day, we are warm and cozy, clean and showered, and watching "Flight of the Concords", only the best of New Zealands TV.

Heading North>> glaciers and beaches

Smith and I have made it to a small town called Fox Glacier where we are going to stay in a backpackers tonight. We are both pretty tired after our vigorous hike yesterday up Mt. Roy. It took us 4.5 hours round trip. What a view when we reached the top. A 360 degree lookout onto Wanaka. The blues of the water contrast with the greens of the eart. We had a very low key New Years Eve at Albert Town Tavern where we had a dance and drink with some locals! We hit the tent pretty early and are movie watching on an overcast day today. I love being with Smith and traveling with him. He always looks out for me and is a blast! Happy 2010 to all!

"Scotland on Steroids"-tourguides words

Smith planned an awesome journey from Te Anua to the Doubtful Sounds which is in the heart of fiordland. We woke early to catch a boat to a bus to another boat in which we toured the sounds for 3 hours. It was am awesome journey with mountains rising stright up out of the water! We saw seals and made it all the way to the Tasmanian Sea! We were able to stop all along the way to take pictures and view the scenery. There was a nature guide with us who pointed out all of the animals and plants as we passed by. After our trek, we got some exercise along a beautiful lake, cooked up some dinner in the car, and headed to Queenstown where Smith had a backpackers booked. Little did we know it would be the most hippie/out there backpackers EVER, but just add it as another different and unique experience. We are giong to play golf today and hike up the gondola path. We will camp out tonight to have to peace and quiet away from the other crazy travelers!