The South Island

I breezed through Christchurch and took the Tranzalpine to the west coast of New Zealand. The route passed through the Canterbury plains following the Waimakariri river up to Arthur's Pass. From there, you can see the mountains which make the south island look a lot like Patagonia. I'm currently in Franz Josef which is a small town and home to one of two well known glaciers in NZ. I refrained from doing any glacier walks in Patagonia thinking that I could do one here. I booked a half day on the ice which was just enough for me. The FJ glacier is nice, but it pales in comparison to the Moreno glacier in Argentina. The unique thing about the FJ is that it ends in a sub-tropical rain forest. It is strange seeing the ice and thick trees and ferns all in one place. I was blessed with great weather today. No clouds and you could see for miles. In Switzerland, if you heard helicopters during the day, it meant that some one was hurt or missing. In Franz Josef, helicopters in the air means good weather and visibility for aerial tours. There were heli tours leaving every 15 minutes from the town. It was a good day to be out.

One thing I've noticed is how good the hostels are down here. I have never been to a place where the facilities are consistently good. My YHA hostel in FJ has an awesome kitchen. You should see some of the meals people are cooking here. Friggin' Gourmet!!! From my perspective, travelling is too easy here. No one is paranoid about losing their belongings. Shit such as ipods, passports, cameras, etc. are just scattered everywhere in these dorm rooms. The hostels are top notch, transportation is well orchestrated so connections are always on time, and there is no language issue (for me at least). This has not been adventure I was looking for, but more of a vacation.

Technical Issues!!!!!!
I'm going to euthanize my ipod after this trip. I've had that thing for at least 5 years and the battery only lasts 3-4 hours. I have also decided that my pictures are quite limited compared to the live view. Maybe I'll buy an SLR camera once I return to the states. I just can't fully capture the scenery the way I want with my current camera.

FJ is only a two night stop. I'm off to Queenstown tomorrow.