Day 3- Camper Van

We made brekky and sat along lake wanaka with coffee and PB&J sandwiches. I cannot explain how beautiful and peaceful it was. That is until Celia decided to feed the ducks which then attacked us.

We spent some time at lake Hawea. What makes these lakes so incredible is their vastness- they are huge and are surrounded by mountains. Whether the mountains are covered in rain forest, or pine trees, or they might be rocky and at times tan colored as explained before, they are always massive and completely entrap the water. When the sun hits the water, everything seems to glow. NZ has more water than I ever imagined and yet I never get tired of seeing the lakes.

There was a sadness that we felt. It was funny that Celia commented on it and it was exactly what I was feeling. We saw such amazing natural parts of the earth, but knowing we might never see any of them again was somewhat sad. Don't get me wrong I feel very fortunate to have at least seen them with my bare eyes... but to be so moved by them and more than likely I wont have the opportunity to experience them again is a hard feeling. How do process all that you have seen in such a small amount of time and keep on going to see more?! You can never have too much time in a new place, eh, unless it stinks.

As we drove we saw more fall foliage. The leafs are really changing in color. Today we saw more reds, orange and golds. It reminded me of NMH and the drive up to Boston. Along the drive were steep mountains, right up next to the highway- which by the way is a two lane highway, being very curvy roads! There were falling rock signs, but unlike the states, their was no netting to catch the falling rocks. It was just a 'beware you can die' signs.

Along the highway was a little scenic turn off. It was a look out called Hardana Valley. It was a hill that looked out onto Frankton. We walked up the steep hill- the first bit of excersize any of us has seen in months! Sadly we were out of breath. Once we made it up, it was another spiritual moment for me. The pictures will have to show all that I saw. Everywhere you look in NZ you can't go wrong and the longer I am here the more breathtaking it seems to get, even if I look at the same thing.

We also passed lake Hayes and Wakatipu- which is massive! As I said before I can't get tired of spending time at lakes. One is more beautiful than the next.

We stopped in Queenstown for lunch. I love Queenstown- by far my favorite citry in NZ and maybe the only one I like. We went to the famous Fergburger. A little burger joint that every backpacker loves- they are massive burgers for not much money! It has nothing on Corner Bistro, but they were good! I had the Southern Swine- a burger with bacon and avocado!

We made it to our final destination for the evening- Te Anau. It seemed pretty cool with bars and restaurants, but we were pooped and called it an early night! Before heading to the camp site we went to see about tours to Darling Harbor. Well, there were none available for 3 days- and that was the whole point of leaving the cool Queenstown to and going to Te Anau... but I booked the overnight cruise for three days later and we decided to spend the night and head back to Queenstwon in the morning. We could have saved ourselves the three hour leg if we had just enquired abou the tour in Queenstown like we originally planned on doing- doh!

That night was PB sandwiches and more star gazing- the milky way was still visible!!!