South of the glaciers
Trip Start
Jan 11, 2009
1
9
53
Trip End
Apr 12, 2009
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Haast,
South Island,
New Zealand
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Since we were up early, we drove 10 minutes out of town to see a sunrise view of the Franz Josef glacier and surrounding mountains. We ended up stopping for the view in front of a farm house where their goat was waiting for breakfast, on a perch. It was absolutely adorable. There's this goat, watching the sunrise, on a stand - we literally thought it was a goat statue.
Then, down the coast to Bruce Bay and a hike to find penguins at Monro Beach. Unfortunately, the penguins are a rare find this time of year, so we didn't see any, but the beach was gorgeous. There was a guy scuba diving for crayfish (same size as lobster) - he got an entire bag of them for dinner for the entire family. We chatted with them - very nice folks - they actually don't like eating them, but their extended family does, so they catch them for fun for others to eat. It was also nice to see a calm beach after only seeing brutal waves on the west side of NZ.
Not to play up the Lord of the Rings or anything, but we have to tell you a story. We were staying at a place which was run by someone who looked just like a hobbit. Really!! When we vacated the room, we were in a rush, and left B2's wedding ring behind. We realized this during the day, and called twice, but to no avail. As the day wore on we found our selves chanting "Filthy little hobbits stollzz it from usss." Alas the one true ring belonged to my father so it was a sad loss.
