The World Wide Webb

​Wanaka at least made it ever so slightly easier to leave this morning as the sun was hiding behind the clouds. Thankfully, it had reappeared by our first stop of the day - a stop just for those feeling adventurous. I decided that I wanted some adventure, and braved the scramble across some rocks and through an icy stream (which was…. Refreshing….. for the feet!). It was well worth the cold feet for the waterfall in the chasm though.  Just a few minutes down the road was the Fantail Waterfall  that did not, in theory, require one to get cold and wet feet. It turned out that you could get much closer to the waterfall if you did get your feet wet though. So I did. And it was totally worth it again. The hat trick of waterfalls was accomplished at Thunder Creek Falls. Kreig got us to sample some ‘bush food’ - I.e. edible plants founded nearby. The pepper plant definitely left me reaching for my water bottle. He did, however, make it up to us by also providing us with lots of New Z...

​The sun was shining brightly in Wanaka again this morning, making for perfect conditions for the half hour boat trip to Mou Waho island.  The island is predator-free, meaning that  birds in particular are able to thrive there. We had a guided nature walk as we ascended the island, gaining about 300m in elevation. The views from the summit were extraordinary, and it was lovely to just sit there for a while taking it all in. On the way down we stopped at the glacial lake on the island. Pleasingly there is a small (unnamed) island in this lake (the Arethusa Pool) on the island (Mou Waho) in the lake (Lake Wanaka) on the island (New Zealand South Island). This made me happy. What made me even happier was that there was also a geocache nearby. Walking downhill was definitely easier going than uphill, and we were soon back at the boat for the short journey back to Wanaka. People were doing various different things this afternoon (by the sounds of it, I missed a trick by not opting ...

​I was very excited for the Queenstown Parkrun this morning - partly because it is my first Q run, but mainly as I had read online that it is a particularly beautiful course. It absolutely did not disappoint, taking me through the gardens and then by the lake. The weather was perfect, and it was even more special as Graham from my tour group came down to cheer me on.  I completed the course in a decent time for me, despite slowing down to take photos on a couple of occasions.  There was then time for a quick breakfast before we got on the bus to Arrowtown. I loved Arrowtown - it is very much a two-street town, but with lots of history (by NZ standards!) and a kind of Wild West vibe. There were some lovely shops (I may have brought another Christmas decoration. My tree next year is going to be something special), including an amazing chocolate shop. I can confirm that the deluxe hot chocolate is delicious. Dana also helped me to find a geocache. I have now converted a few peopl...

​From Queenstown, it is a 300km+ drive to Milford Sound, making a day’s round trip quite a long day. We were promised that it would be worth it though! It was therefore a 6am breakfast before getting onto the coach to start the adventure. The first two hours were pretty uneventful. There were some nice views of lakes and mountains, but the really good stuff came after our pit-stop at Te Anau.  It was chucking it down with rain, but this only served to make the waterfalls even more spectacular. We made stops at Mirror Lakes (that were not very mirror-y today), Monkey Creek, and various other places to admire the incredible views of waterfalls pouring off the mountains. Our driver and guide for the day, Brendan, did a cracking job of pointing out key features to us - I can honestly say I had never heard of tree avalanches until today, so I definitely learnt something new.  Going through the Homer Tunnel was also a highlight, and the views coming out of the tunnel led to an audib...