Day 22

When I went on the bus to Milford sound I randomly met Norbert again, cool!

I arrived at Milford Sound Lodge and went for some tramping (and got lost in the area)

When I got back to the lodge I had some local beers with a guy from Australia, a girl named Seda from Turkey (they were a couple) and two guys from Thailand and Singapore.

The glowing worms at night

Day 22

360 degree panorama from Milford SMilford Sound in New Zealand, December 2010. Shot with Leica D-lux 4 on small tripod

Day 21

I hiked to the top of the gondola and down again. It was a beautiful view of Queenstown.

Later I met Katalin from Hungarian and we went for a walk in Queenstown Gardens

Day 20

The beach in Wanaka

Anna and I hitchhiked to Queenstown (most pull overs invited us to lots of bbq's and we just wanted a ride, haha)

Anna and I met up with an english guy named Ally and we decided to go on a road trip to Paradise where parts of Narnia and Lord of the Rings was filmed. Paradise is near Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu and it is one of the most beautiful places anywhere in the world.

Ally is in love with his new car

We didn't make it all the way to Paradise (the picture shows why)

We went out for the famous Fergburger and wine at the beach, love it!

Day 19

Next destination: Wanaka (pop 5000).

During the 6 hours bus ride we made a stop at Knights Point that reminded me of the 12 apostles in Australia.

We made a stop in Haast region. The picture gives you a glimpse of the stunning nature refuge with enormous stands of rainforest thriving alongside extensive wetlands.

Thunder Creek where Norbert and Kimberly are getting their cameras ready for action! We saw lots of beautiful waterfalls on our way :)

This is a picture of Wanaka lake where I just checked in at YHA Purple Cow.

Day 18

The glacier hike on Franz Josef was an unforgettable experience! In small groups we walked a couple of kilometres through the rainforest and rocky hills to get to the ice. I joined group two together with a girl from England named Kimberly.
Our super cool and enthusiastic tour guide Kai from Singapore had a big axe with him to cut our way through the ice! Only that way we could get deep in the heart of the glacier. We walked up, down, under and between what they call huge waves of ice. I was amazed. On our highest point approximately 600 meters above sea level we had lunch.

Close to the ice we added crampons to our enormous heavy hiking boots so we could keep grip on the ice.

 

I brought a can of tuna and some biscuits that was so needed that it felt like a feast.

On our way back Kimberly and I met Jean and Rich from Toronto who are on their honeymoon. They were really good company so we went out for pizzas and beers at the nearest restaurant where Kai also joined us.

Later I jumped in the hot pools to relax together with Kimberly, Anna (a Swedish girl from my dorm) and Norbert (a Hungarian guy also from my dorm). Indeed a perfect way of ending a day of hiking.