Happy Birthday to Gma!

We are now in Glenorchy, off the beaten track, away from the crowds at Queenstown. Today we zoomed along the braided, glacial fed Dart River / te awa Whakatipu waters 35km by jet boat. Breathtaking scenery and an exhilarating ride, with some super fast 360's, deep into Mount Aspiring National Park and Te Wahipounamu UNESCO World Heritage area. And a leisurely downstream funyak for two, navigating through side streams and dramatic hidden chasms. The untouched natural beauty NZ is so famous for. We actually paddled to Paradise today, then returned to Glenorchy via a 4WD bus – and a drive back to Queenstown for the night.

FYI A “braided” river is a network of small river channels and temporary braid bars (islands) wandering across a wide, flat river bed.

Before leaving Queenstown, we stop for an early morning FergBurger (no waiting lines!) and a good long soak in an Onsed Hot Tub with our morning coffee and chocolate ice cream. What a great way to start our day!

Starting with a drizzle, it becomes a pouring rain day – a good day to travel in our warm dry car. It’s a 4 ½ hour drive to Fox Glacier (considered to be one of the most beautiful but challenging drives in NZ). We make a quick stop at the charming town of Wanaka to check out the lake and try out the Black Lips Porter at Rhyme x Reason, one of the many local craft breweries Wanaka is known for. We continue on our roadtrip with panoramas of jagged snow-capped mountains and rivers running rapid. With the constant heavy rain, there are soooo many waterfalls! Water is gushing down the cliffs right along the side of the road – many so close I could reach out and touch them but thought it was better to keep the window closed - some even provided a good car wash. We drove across the Haast River Bridge (the longest single lane bridge in NZ) and along the Tasman

Sea, back up the mountain and then we are suddenly down in the village of Fox Glacier.

Soon after we settled into our room, they closed the road (see the sign?) from Queenstown due to flooding. And, about an hour later, the road to Franz Josef was also closed. We were told the area had over 24” of rain today. We’re not snowed in, we’re flooded in! Will we be able to go on to Franz Josef tomorrow? Stay tuned…what will tomorrow bring?
XOXOXOXO Gma & Gpa