I had a few choices of what to do yesterday in Franz Josef, but they slowly got narrowed to one by quite a few different circumstances. I thought kayaking on nearby Lake Mapourika might be cool, since it’s supposed to have awesome reflections of the mountains (although it’s probably best I didn’t go, since it wouldn’t have beaten kayaking on Doubtful), but the tour for last night was full. There’s also an 8-hour walk that starts near the parking lot for the glacier, but I didn’t want to do that since my ankle’s been rather funny from the ice climbing (read: it’s got a bit of bruise tinge to it and there’s a large lump right above the ankle bone). So, I ended up quad biking, which was really quite fun and again, something different (although I’ve at least been on a quad bike before). The tour was two hours long and involved bombing around in the Waiho riverbed, across grasslands, through rainforest, and through quite a bit of dust and a little bit of mud. I thoroughly enjoyed going 20km/h through puddles and covering myself in mud, even though the only picture the guide got was a pretty lousy splash (but I didn’t buy the pictures–which cost $20–anyway). It was quite different to the last time I was on a bike, which was essentially only on one terrain–Moreton Island sand. This was definitely bumpier but had a lot more challenges, like crossing rivers and then having to fly up the opposite bank with enough speed that you don’t get stuck. Plus, we got good views of the mountains & the upper section of Franz Josef while we were at it. All in all, a good tour that wasn’t too exhausting, like so many of the things I’ve done here seem to be.

I didn’t do a whole lot else in Franz yesterday besides eating free Chateau Franz soup and taking a long dip in the free spa. Today hasn’t been too exciting a day either, since I spent the vast majority of it on a bus and the rest of it wandering around Christchurch, enjoying the good weather I didn’t have the last time I was here. I’m glad I didn’t try to change my buses/accommodation to leave Franz a day earlier and stay in Arthur’s Pass last night, since it was raining with very low clouds when we arrived this afternoon. Arthur’s Pass is essentially just a small village with lots of tramping tracks around it–many of which are dangerous in wet weather, including Avalanche Peak, which is the one I wanted to climb. It’s probably best I didn’t anyway, with my iffy ankle and the stories I’ve heard about people having to crawl to the top while cheeky keas peck at their packs.

Well, that’s all I have to say for now. Also, I’ve uploaded more shots from my helicopter ride in my Franz Josef album, even more pictures in my Milford Track album, and the first few shots I took of Milford Sound. Enjoy!