Franz Josef - Wanaka

One word - scenery it was was amazing today!

We got on the bus early this morning, I'm only staying on the bus for today then spending 2 nights in Wanaka! Thank God, I really don't like this bus driver!

Anyhow we got on early and drove to Lake Matheson to see the reflective lake. We drove through the town of Fox Glacier where there is another Glacier. The views here were amazing, we stopped just down from Lake Matheson where we got views of Fox Glacier and also Mt Cook, New Zealand's biggest mountain!

Lake Matheson was lovely but there was no mirror reflection as there was a bit of a breeze causing ripples over the water!

We then headed onwards and stopped for photos a fair few times as it was such a lovely day! We went for a walk to a falls and some of the guys went swimming, I paddled but it was bloody freezing! We also stopped at a place called Blue Pools, the walk down was through gorgeous country side and then we had to go across a massive swing bride! SO cool, some people were really nervous as it swings so much but no more than 5 people are allowed on at a time, great fun!

Blue Pools is so named because the water is so blue! Basically the water is so cold that the sun reflecting off it gives it a more blue colour than warmer water! Again I paddled - bloody freezing! But quite a few people went for a dip, lots of shrieks!

On the way to Wanaka we stopped at Lake hawea (might have spelt this wrong!) and the scenery was stunning, snow capped peaks, beautiful lake, gorgeous!

In wanaka we checked into the hotel, yes a hotel! They turn one floor into dorms in the Summer for Kiwi Experience, Only 4 beds in a dorm and en-suite, Some lucky people had tellys too!

I went out for a wander around town and got some groceries (we have fridges in our rooms - so posh), and then came back to the hotel. There were a couple of good movies on in the lounge so I stayed in with most of the bus crowd and we watched movies until late!