2 Week Holiday: Franz Josef to Lake Wanaka

Today started my favorite leg of our journey so far! We are heading into Wanaka and Queenstown in the next two days!! After missing out on my glacier Heli-Hike because of weather I've decided to beef up my adventure!!! I've officially signed up to pilot a stunt plane and bungy jump tomorrow!!! But you'll hear all about that in my blog tomorrow, more about today!

We woke up this morning to make our way to Wanaka. The drive to Wanaka includes stops at some of the most gorgeous lakes in New Zealand. The first stop was Lake Matheson. This lake is called "mirror lake" because the lake contains a mineral that makes it reflect the scenery more than other lakes. The mountains above can be seen as clearly in the water! GORGEOUS! We took a walk along the lake, unfortunately the cloud cover was heavy and it was more difficult to see the Southern Alps than on a clear day. Regardless, it was a gorgeous start to our day! As you know, anytime I'm in the mountains I'm a happy girl.

Our next little lookout stop was at Knights Point where you can stand on the edge of a cliff and look down to the sea. It was, of course, raining and cloudy but I've realized some of our best moments have involved running to take pictures in the rain! So we sprinted to each lookout for photo ops and then ran back to the bus a little damp but laughing like crazy!

My favorite stop today was Thunder Creek waterfalls! It's a 75 meter high fall in Mount Aspiring National Park! It was absolutely stunning! Running down the path tothe falls in the rain may be a highlight! Leading up to the falls we counted 17 waterfalls and then another 5 after! These falls and this entire drive was gorgeous! This national park is where Lord of the Rings was filmed! No wonder! It's breathtaking!

Lake Hawea was our next short photo op stop! It was absolutely gorgeous and I'm in love with this scenery! Our last stop was Lake Wanaka where we will be staying tonight! Lake Wanaka is the brightest blue I've seen in a lake. Not exactly Geist beautiful but it'll do. GORGEOUS GORGEOUS GORGEOUS!!! As we were driving along each curve in the mountainside offered a more stunning view than the last. Sometimes I pinch myself to prove this is real life.

After we checked into our hostel we quickly went down to the beach to take yet more photos! We decided jumping pictures were a must! I honestly don't think I've laughed that hard in a very long time!

I'm missing all of you a ton and wish I could've packed you all in my suitcase! Sending my love home!