January 17, 2013

The day was partly cloudy, with the cloud ceiling at a fairly low level, i.e., lower than many of the peaks of the South Island alpine region. Temperatures were cooler, in the mid to high 60s.

I leaped out of bed this morning and dashed over to the window to see what the weather conditions were like. I saw a partly cloudy, mostly blue sky; I was hopeful that the helicopter ride to the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers would happen after all. However, after I hurriedly dressed and went down to the dining room, our driver told us the helicopter trip would not be taking place because of low visibility at the glacier sites due to a low cloud ceiling. Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, I was very disappointed, all of us were who had hoped to visit the glaciers. I was particularly eager to see the Franz Josef Glacier because the surrounding mountains had been used in the lighting of the beacons scene in The Return of the King.

As our travels to our next destination got underway, I could indeed see that the clouds obscured the tops of the peaks where the glaciers were located. Even if we had taken a helicopter ride to the glacier sites, we would not have been able to see anything other than a thick fog. As the day progressed, the sun burned off some of the fogginess, and we were finally able to appreciate some of the spectacular beauty of the alpine region of the South Island. I was able to take a few decent photographs with my iPad from the moving bus, and these appear below.

I also have attached an example of the peaks under heavy cloud cover so you will be able to see an example of what we had been seeing -- and not seeing -- for the past couple of days. In sum, today's report will be shorter than some of my recent updates because I have the pictures that are able to speak the thousands of words far better than I am able to write.

Shortly after lunch we arrived at Lake Wanaka, and boarded a boat to take a trip across the lake and visit a small island, Stevenson's Island. The lake, like much of the surrounding landscape, was a creation of glacial activity many millennia ago. Lake Wanaka is an astounding 311 meters deep, almost a fifth of a mile! It is the fourth largest lake in New Zealand. The alps that are the backdrop of Lake Wanaka were used in The Two Towers for Gandalf's flight to Rohan after his escape from Sauron at Orthanc. When we reached Stevenson's Island, our guide provided an interesting and detailed nature tour, ending at the top of the island with a splendid view of the surrounding area.

Wanaka was our destination for the day, so after we returned from our cruise on Lake Wanaka, we traveled a few minutes to our hotel for the night. I took advantage of the time between our arrival and dinner to soak in one of the hotel's hot tubs, a very relaxing way to end the day. After dinner I exchanged some email messages with my travel planner in New Zealand about arrangements in Queenstown, our next destination. We will be spending three nights in Queenstown with no planned activities, so I have filled those days with some very exciting plans of my own. I will write much more about them in the days to come.

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Last revised: August 5, 2015.