South Island 2

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Arrived here in Queenstown after a longer than expected drive from Franz Josef; only because I hadn't looked at the map too carefully and should have realised it wasn't quite as straightforward as I though it might be. But what a drive - through beautiful podocarp forest towering over the road for kilometre after kilometre. Spectacular.

We'd walked up to the viewing place for the Franz Josef Glacier after breakfast at the Rainforest Retreat (which was good place to stay in FJ. They upgraded us so Lyn was very happy that we had bathroom facilities in our room. Friendly staff and comfortable surroundings). The glacier has retreated kilometres since the first photo was taken in the 1860's but it's still possible to see its grandeur and what must have been as it tumbles down the mountain in the distance. We were lucky because about 10 minutes after we'd got back to the car the cloud slid down the mountain over the glacier for the rest of the day.

That was Franz Josef for us - a quick overnight stay then off south to Queenstown.

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