wow, so much to do so little time

So I'm currently in the small lakeside town of Wanaka where I stopped to enjoy some of the amazing views and hikes. This afternoon I even went for a run along the lake (its 30 miles long so I barely saw any of it) but I am still hoping to run a half marathon when I get back :)

Since Queenstown I have jumped on the Stray tour bus which has taken me north to Makarora (meal of crayfish in Maori) where we enjoyed a bit of the east coast and saw seals and dolphins (in the distance). Then it was over to Nelson on the north coast where I hopped off for a night to enjoy a sweet little town with great views and also known as the geographic center of New Zealand. From Nelson we headed to Abel Tasman National Park for two nights. During my one day there I went for a water taxi ride quite a ways along the coastline and past two seal colonies before getting off with Steve and Sara for a nice day hike. We enjoyed great views of the coast and even had lunch on the beach where we were joined by the most curious black ducks. Steve and I even went for a bit of a swim in the cold water! At the end of our hike we were picked up by the water taxi again. Oh, and get this, they use tractors to put the taxi boats into the water...and you get on the boat while its hitched to a tractor! So strange...

From Abel Tasman we headed south to a small town of Barrytown, going past a seal colony and pancake rocks on the way. Now Barrytown is a place where the livestock definitely outnumber people and we just stop there to break up our drive...but the coast was beautiful and I was able to fit in a nice run along the beach :) The next stop was the town of Franz Joseph, home to the Franz Joseph Glacier....so guess what our big activity was there??? Hiking the glacier! They provided the gear and guides and we hauled our butts up through the rocks then ice to experience one the fastest glaciers in the world. It was a blast and I continually thought of Kim who would have loved it, even if it's not Rainer ;-) It was a long and exhausting day but it felt like such a great accomplishment! The next stop was a small town called Kaikoura where we took a nice nature walk and rested our bus weary souls.

Here I am in a crooked squeeze...the picture really was taken vertically to the ground :)

Today I hopped off the bus in Wanaka and while I was sad to leave a great group behind it is a beautiful place to stay for a night. It's a little like Lake Chelan but the mountains are even more extreme and the water even more blue :)

Tomorrow I will head to Queenstown and can't wait for more fun there!