Fox Glacier & Hanmer Springs

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Tackling the West Coast

The last time that we traveled through the west coast of the south island we had terrible weather and so decided to skip through it fairly quickly so we were lucky that this time the weather was amazing (especially considering that it has the highest average rainfall for the whole country) and we witnessed the incredible views along the drive from Queenstown to the township of Franz Josef.

The views along the coastal road were breath-taking with untouched wilderness and deserted beaches and the town at the bottom of the glaciers were welcoming and had all the comforts and necessities we needed. We booked ourselves on a half-day trek up the Fox Glacier, the bigger and quieter glacier of the region and after a tough walk up the side of the glacier the rewards were well worth it. The trek on the glacier itself was a fantastic experience, (the fact that Paul 'Bambi on ice' didn't fall over was incredible in itself). The views from the glacier were superb despite the indifferent weather that had arrived and we were really glad we managed to do it after missing out on our previous trip.

Paul

turns middle-aged

The drive up the coast was again great although with spots of rain here and there, however driving through the middle of the country on the way to Hanmer Springs the sun came out and we had beautiful sunshine and no rain at all for the rest of our time on the south island, a rare occurrence for the middle of winter.

As Paul's birthday had arrived again while we were in New Zealand we were both glad that this time we were in a nice town and not the middle of nowhere. *see 'Pauls 22nd birthday - Dargaville: An experience* The thermal spa and hot pools were awesome and we had a great evening of sitting in 40 degree pools and just relaxing. The following day we went for a walk up a hill at the far end of the town for a great panoramic view of the town and its surroundings and walked back through a pretty park to the town for a well-earned smoothie and bite to eat and decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather. We were also lucky enough to be asked to feed two 3 week old lambs at the farm next to the campsite, although our plan to adopt one as a mascot completely failed.

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Comments

[Deirdre]

Your email went into spam Suzi Q!
Hey lovey! I was trolling thru spam and your personal email was sent there so please excuse me for not getting back to you. Totally want to catch up with you. When are you back in UK?????? Love and shoes -Double D xxx