The Lake, The Sea, The "Guest", and the Loss

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We didn't have wifi yesterday, so I didn't get a chance to blog. I wish I had, because yesterday was such an enjoyable day for us. Spirits were high and we were in full memory making mode. We made the drive from Fox Glacier to Wanaka today, and when we arrived at our B&B and reconnected with wifi, we found out that despite the efforts of our pet sitter, my parents, and our vet, one of our kitties passed away today. To say our spirits are dampened is an understatement. As overwhelmed as we were last year dealing with our losses and taking on the care of two of my sister's cats and grandma's cat in addition to our own cats, we love each one of them and do our best to provide them with a good home. We are sad for us, and for Lady - we hope she felt loved and cared for in our home, and wish we could have been there for her in her final days and hours. Sigh. Now I will try to relive the joys of yesterday, because they were grand. (Thanks for listening.)

We woke up on our second day in Fox Glacier to clear blue skies! I looked out the window of the kitchen to see the snow capped mountains that were only a few hours before hidden by the clouds and fog. I bolted out of bed, got ready, and packed up, rushing Aaron along to do the same thing so we could get on our way. Lake Matheson was just a short drive down the road, and that was our first stop. You go to Lake Matheson for the view - the view of the mountains, and the reflection of the view in the waters of the lake. In the ever changing climate of the West Coast, by the time we got to the viewpoint, a 40 minute hike around the lake, the clouds were obscuring the mountaintop view. The reflection of the clouds and trees was still beautiful, though, and we enjoyed the quiet solitude rural lakes impart on those who take the time to walk around them.

After our morning hike, we headed back to the cabin for a lunch of leftovers from the night before and for a 30 minute rest.
Next on the list was an afternoon at Gillespie's Beach, a Tasman Sea beach 30 minutes down the road. We left the cloudy township and headed west toward the sun. The beach was perfectly secluded, down a dirt road, across the cattle guards, and in a 'town' with two houses and an old cemetery. We started out walking a trail to an old gold dredge. We love the Discovery Channel show, "Gold Rush", and this was a page out of NZ gold rush history. Very cool to see the old dredge and wander what life was like here in this village 85 years ago. We continued along the trail and found ourselves on a beautiful, secluded, rock covered beach. There were only a handful of people around and we enjoyed the afternoon hunting cool rocks, climbing boulders to get better views, watching a seal "haul out" on the shore, seeing distant Dolphins jump out of the water, and walking in the surf. One thing about walking in the surf...those rocks on the beach were thrown up there by the Tasman. Ouch!!! I've never been beaten up by the sea like that before! Wowza! That experience promptly explained why no one was surfing in the perfect waves! We ended the day by walking through the old miner's cemetery. I used to think cemeteries were creepy, but now I find the history associated with the people who have gone before us quite interesting. Especially in places like this.

We headed back to the cabin, cooked dinner, and looked forward to a quiet evening relaxing before today's drive. That relaxing evening didn't last long. It must have been around midnight when we heard a thump on our porch. Long story short, a drunken German tourist got lost on his way "home" and landed in a chair on our porch. Three hours after his arrival, and after repeated attempts to wake him, we finally got him to wake up enough to move him along. He wasn't doing very well, though, so we decided to walk with him to where he belonged. Keep in mind it's now 3am. He was adamant that he belonged in unit fourteen. Unfortunately, the British tourists in number fourteen didn't agree. So, we and our drunken German continued to wander through the campground. We decided to drop him off in the dining room. We figured he would at least be warm in there and have picnic tables to rest on. Lo and behold when we opened the door one if his buddies was there! Yahoo! They had lost him earlier in the night and the reunion was a happy one for everyone. Though, I doubt one person remembers that whole experience today. So, we got very little sleep last night, but we have an interesting story to tell.

We are hoping for sunny weather tomorrow so we can enjoy the outdoors again. Today was very rainy. A fitting day to match our mood. We did manage to get out tonight for a walk along the lakeshore here in Wanaka and dinner at a NZ steak restaurant. Our B&B is very nice, and it's nice to be in a home tonight with kind people around (and on the second floor where drunken German tourists are less likely to search us out).

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