NEW ZEALAND #1 The West Coast

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Hi Everyone

We're well into our 18 day tour of New Zealand's South Island.

Have picked out a few highlights to share.

Hope you enjoy them. Remember to click on first photo to view all as a slide show in larger format.

Please add a comment after the last photo if you wish.

Cheers from Garry & Jan

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Photos

Castle Hill
Day 1 on the road through the alps, from Christchurch to Greymouth. Our first walk was at 'Castle Hill'.

Castle Hill 2
Eroded limestone - resulting in these unusual and imposing formations. Ended up like a hilltop maze. Once amongst these monoliths it was difficult to get bearings.

Lake Brunner
Just before reaching the west coast we detoured to Lake Brunner - a great tourist magnet, shown off brilliantly in this idyllic weather.

Franz Joseph Glacier
On day 2 we explored the track to Franz Joseph Glacier. Quite a long, fascinating walk to the viewing point, 500m short of the ice front - clearly for safety reasons

Mt Tasman & Mt Cook
Gorgeous pastoral views everywhere. This was taken near Fox Glacier with 2 of NZ's highest peaks forming the backdrop.

Helicopter 1
With near perfect weather the time was right for a helicopter flight around Mt Cook - this is a view of the alps featuring the Tasman Glacier.

Helicopter 2
We landed high in the accummulation zone of the Fox Glacier - brilliant scenery thanks to the weather.

Lake Matheson
An afternoon walk around Lake Matheson provided many photo opportunities with reflections of the nearby peaks dominating.

Fox Glacier
The hike to Fox Glacier took us to within 100m of the ice wall - massive but dangerous. Signs everywhere referring to tourists killed when venturing beyond the defined trails.

Mountain Hike
We explored a challenging track that ran up along the side of the Fopx Glacier valley. Here Jan is trying to find a crossing point at one of the raging streams that intersected the track.

Lake Hawea
On the road to Queenstown we passed through the Hawea & Wanaka area - reflective lake views resulted in many roadside stops.

Lake Wanaka
Did a challenging hike to Diamond Lake, Wanaka, on our day drive to Queenstown. Again the beautiful weather made the experience that much better.

Comments

[Ian]

NZ
Picture postcard shots! Weather sure influences the travel experience.

[Michael & Julie]

Fabulous!
What great weather and scenery! More please.

[Gordon]

A Beautiful Place
Never been to N.Z. but it looks like a truely beautiful place. Makes you wonder why Duncan would want to live in OZ? Thanks for taking the time to share with us....Gordon