Te Anau

---

This morning we got up and headed over to go on the Shotover Jet. We put on some splash jackets and life jackets. There were only 7 of us on the boat. It was overcast and cold out, and even colder on the boat! They go really fast down and up the river and drive really close by to the canyon walls and through the shallow parts of the river. It was fun, but freezing out. Especially the first run down the river. My ears got cold, my face was freezing and my forehead went numb. It felt like I had the worst ice cream headache! After awhile though it felt warmer because we moved to a less cold part of the river. Also the handlebars on the boat are heated, which was really really nice. We did a lot of 360 spins, and there were a few splashes of cold water. It was a lot of fun.

Then we drove down to Te Anau. We bought tickets to go to their glowworm caves and then we went to Miles Pies, where we got ourselves some super tasty meat pies. Adam had venison and I had creamy chicken. Mine was hot and creamy. Both were amazing. We went on a glowworm cave tour that evening. We took a boat across Lake Te Anau, and then had to duck really low to enter the cave. Adam said, "I bet I'm going to hit my head on the cave because I have my baseball hat on." (He didn't hit his head on the way in, but 3 feet from leaving the cave at the end of the trip he did!) The caves were really cool. Throughout the cave you could see the sporadic glow worm or a few clustered together, and there was a waterfall inside as well. The best part was going on a small boat that was steered in the pitch black by a rope system. The glow worms are super cool. They glow a blue-green light, and clustered together it looks like the night sky. It was nice being in the dark and silence to enjoy it. When we were leaving the caves, our guide put his flashlight up to where the glowworms had put out their fishing lines to catch bugs. The lines are pretty cool to look at, especially when it isn't just one or two, but hundreds all so close to each other. It was really neat to see what they look like.

The place we are staying is okay. The best part is the bathrooms. They have just been redone so they are wonderful. Heated floors, new everything, a t.v. playing relaxing images of New Zealand, music, etc. It's warm and wonderful to a super clean bathroom.

---