I have only four days left of my Kiwi Experience trip and it feels like we've rushed through our South Island portion of the tour. The south island is much more scenic than the north when comparing lush ocean side and mountain scenes. It reminds me of Nova Scotia joined with British Columbia. We're surrounded by water, the towns are small, and mountain ranges can be seen from anywhere, but the mountains just aren't large enough to compete with BC.

This morning we took a detour from Franz Josef to Lake Matheson. The lake is formed from glacial waters and it allows for beautiful reflections when there is no wind, such as now.

Above is just the mountian's reflection.
Below are four of the other Kiwi Experience passengers at Lake Matheson.

Yesterday our group spent the day at Franz Josef where we were able to do a full day hike onto the glacier. We were divided into groups based on our "perceived" competence. I chose group one, not because of my superiour glacier hiking abilities, but because I had heard it wasn't that hard. And it was great! We got to go further and faster than the other three groups and climb through ice tunnels! The ice tunnels were full of melting water, so I don't know how much of a bragging right that brought after we were soaked through, but at least we didn't have to wait around for the other groups!

Above are Jen and I at the beginning of the Franz Josef Glacier hike. The company equipped us with mitts, hiking boots, a rain coat, water proof pants, and crampons. For those who don't know, myself included until two days ago, crampons are attachments for the bottom of your boots that, when hooked on, give amazing grip. They have eight metal, talon-like spikes that proturde outward from the boots' sole. Our guide made sure to emphasize that the spikes go away from the sole, apparently it's common for people to try to attach them with the spike pressed into their boots. I'm not too sure where the logic is there, but Ouch! The crampons were fantastic, they gave you a false sense of mountaineering experience as you clung to impossible edges and bounced around the glacier.

This was our guide Britt. I'm guessing he was explaining something important we needed to know to avoid dying, but I was far too busy taking pictures of everything.

I had my moment trying to be artistic. I didn't quite make it though.

Mareika, Sam and I at one of the "scenic lookouts" along our drive to Franz Josef.

Possum's were imported to NZ for the fur trading industry but have since become a pest and a threat to the natural eco-systems. To combat this Kiwi's have taken up eating possum pies. Apparently they taste better then they sound, but I was not adventurous enough to try one out.

This evening we arrived in Wanaka. To get here we had to drive through Mount Aspiring National Park. Above is just one of the views from the bus on our way through.