Craft Beer, Snow-Capped Mountaintops, and a Leaky Van

We chugged along in our little home-on-wheels up to the famous Milford Sound. There was so much to be seen on the drive, we made several stops along the way to take it all in. We found a day walk that sounded nice, up to Lake Marian, and since the weather was beautiful, we took advantage of it. That was definitely worth the hike!! A 400m ascent lead us to a pristine lake filled by waterfalls flowing down the steep cliffs and snow-capped mountains in the background. Some of you might recognize my facebook photo. It was breathtaking.
As it was late when we got back to the van, we decided to find a place to camp for the night. We were awoken to heavy rains and thunderstorms on the outside (and inside!) of the van. Everything was soaked by morning and the rain was not letting up! All we could do was continue our journey up to Milford Sound. It poured the whole way, but one amazing aspect was that all the waterfalls were in full force and the drive in the alpine environment was just incredible. There was fresh show on the mountain tops, from what we could see between the clouds, and keas (alpine parrots) were hanging around the tourists waiting for some food scraps. We had done a cruise of Doubtful Sound several days before (which was just amazing – see the pics of the double rainbows with dolphins swimming beneath), so we left tourist-packed Milford Sound in search of some sunshine. It took a 4 hour drive to Queenstown to find some, but we were able to dry out our van and bedding!
Finally in civilization again, we decided to check out the nightlife in Queenstown. Walking around, we stumbled upon something right up our alley – Dux de Lux, a microbrew pub, with a reggae band playing that night! After 2 nights in Queenstown, and an unsuccessful search for free wifi, we headed to Arrowtown, a quaint little historic village, where we spent a night, and then it was off to Wanaka. Desley had gotten in touch with her brother who lives in Wanaka, and we went to visit Dale and Cherie and their family when we got there. They were just wonderful, offering their guest room and meals, and giving us local advice on things to do in the area. The best day was when we did the walk to see the Rob Roy hanging glacier. It wasn’t the best of weather, but we got as prepared as we could, and set off. It was definitely worth walking 3 hours in the rain! The first glacier I ever saw! It was still quite high and far, and since the sky was cloudy, the pictures didn’t come out as well as I wanted, but it was a great walk. We were soaked, cold, and tired when we got back to the van, but we changed into dry clothes and set back into town. We had a reservation at the theatre! You may be thinking, you went to a movie in NZ? Why, you can do that at home! This was a special theatre and we went on the advice of Caitlin! We saw Sherlock Holmes, but we sat in a couch like in our living room, and during intermission, snacked on freshly made cookies! Totally the best thing to do after a long cold walk in an alpine forest. The movie was good too =)