Ice and Rain

Right, so at the end of my last post, we had gotten to... the middle of nowhere, New Zealand. We were gonna stay there for a little while. After a night in Barrytown (seriously. Nowhere.) we headed down to Franz Josef, a town that exists almost entirely to support tourism for the stunning Franz Josef glacier. Named after the emperor (maybe) of the Austrian (possibly) who "discovered" it, the Franz Josef glacier is... big, and moves... fast. Obviously the very knowledgeable guide who took us up the glacier was wasted on me-- this is what I get for not taking notes!
Basically we had a full day off in Franz Josef to do whatever we wanted... some people from the bus did a helihike, which is essentially like heliskiing-- you take a helicopter quite far up the glacier and then get to explore around for a few hours. The helicopter lets you get to a part of the glacier that is almost impossible to get to on foot, because in the middle the crevasses get really deep etc. But I opted for the slightly tamer full-day hike. After a 45 minute walk (through rain forest! Very unusual to have a glacier next to rain forest. Something to do with the mountains and coast) to the beginning of the glacier we strapped on our crampons and began to climb up. Guides had gotten there before us to start carving steps into the glacier to make climbing easier-- every day they have to re-carve the steps because the glacier is moving and changing so quickly!
Anyway, it was a pretty cool day that is pretty impossible to describe with words, so here are some pictures:

Glacier from afar
Crevasse-y!
Me with an ice pick that, ok, I didn't really use.
So that was a great day, and after a good night's sleep we headed off the next morning to Makarora another... place in the middle of nowhere. Sense a theme?
But the next day was EXCITING. We woke up and it was pouring rain, which didn't put anyone in the best mood, but as we started to drive the rain stopped and the sun started coming out. We got to Wanaka, where we had an hour-long stop, and there were finally some fall colours! I guess there are more trees that change colours down in that part of the country... it was really nice to see some of the reds and oranges that we Northern Hemispherans associate with Autumn. By the time we headed back off the sun was out in force and we started passing through some gorgeous scenery-- lots of mountains, lakes, and hills that made the phrase "It's just like Lord of the Rings!" become slightly over-used. We were also going through orchard country which meant a stop for some fruit-buying as well as delicious ice cream.
THEN we got to A.J. Hacket bungee, which is the first commercial bungee site ever. They jump from an old bridge over a canyon... watching person after person fly gracefully off (and survive) from the sidelines almost made it seem tempting, but actually going up ON the bridge to watch was absolutely terrifying. I decided I was definitely not the extreme sports type.
And then we got to Queenstown.
Now, a word on Queenstown. Among backpackers, Queenstown is one of the most-talked-about destinations. Perhaps because of its proximity to the first bungee, or maybe because of its location on a lake surrounded by mountains, it is the capital of extreme sports in a country in which just about every town offers a skydive or bungee jump. For this reason, I guess I was expecting a pretty big, touristy town. I was very pleasantly surprised.
To start with, we got there in the evening and by the time we were all checked into the hostel and settled down, it was dark. We did have a very good dinner at Fergburger (my first real burger in what felt like forever and wow, was it good!), but I didn't really look around Queenstown until the next day. And the next day it was raining. Not a light drizzle, not a warm rain. It was freezing. It was pouring. I should have hated Queenstown. I should have looked outside, and then done what a few other people did-- spend the day reading or catching up online.
But I only had a day there, and I wanted to look around. So I headed out into the rain. And, against all odds, I was completely charmed by Queenstown. True, clouds obscured most of the (surely beautiful) mountains around the lake. And yes, there was no point in doing what I had planned (riding the gondola up a mountain to get panoramic views) because the top of the gondola was sitting firmly in clouds. But after getting used to feeling colder (and wetter) than I had in a long time, I really liked the place. Maybe I liked the fall colours or the many outdoorsy shops that reminded me of a small-scale US ski town, but Queenstown was one place I decided I definitely wanted to return to-- but next time in ski season, to take advantage of those mountains!
The best view I could get:I considered staying a couple nights longer, but then I remembered that no matter how charming a place is, doesn't mean I wouldn't have gotten bored after a day... and besides, maybe seeing it in sunshine would have ruined it!