It was overcast in Christchurch, but that didn't dampen our spirits. We spent a couple of hours at the Antarctic Centre near the hotel. (Fantastic! Everyone should see it!)
On the drive back to Queenstown, the scenery was typical South Island beautiful. We made frequent stops for Pat (see his blog: PeeNewZealand for more photos and his unique perspective on the visit), so they got to see a bit of most of the towns along the way--at least the toilets anyway. We arrived just after dark in Queenstown and went straight to our hotel. Their office closes at 5:00, but we had picked up our room key on the way out of town the day before. We still managed to get a pretty swank meal in town and had a lovely view of the town after dark:
The next day was a whirlwind of activity: going up the skyline gondola to view lake Wakatipo,
(Ok, so here's a better picture of the lake)
riding the luge,
touring a vineyard,
jetboating,
and driving to Te Anau to visit the glow-worm caves. Our poor travelers weren't getting much rest--but then, they didn't come here to rest.
The following day we had booked a day trip on Doubtful sound. The rain that had started to fall on Te Anau stayed mostly on the west side of the mountains. We got a bit of rain on the boat ride across Lake Manipouri to the bus that would take us over the pass and down to Doubtful Sound:
It made the islands and shore appear and disappear in a misty fog.
The view at the top of the pass overlooking the sound was a bit foggy, but still pretty.
Fiordland is a temperate rain forest. I think visitors were surprised at just how chilly it was. Jackets, especially waterproof ones, were a must!
At Doubtful Sound we borded another boat:
The shore and islands come straight down into the water with no beach.
On the way back over the pass, the fog had cleared and we had a pretty view of Doubtful Sound.
Next day we drove back to Invercargill. New Zealand hedges are mostly trimmed--English style.
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