Windy roads and glacier walks

What a time the south island has been so far! I had a fantastic stay with Bonnie in Marahau and we did a great day hike in the Abel Tasman. Crystal blue ocean against golden beaches-can't beat it. Unfortunately the next day was quite rainy, and our excursion to see golden bay and Bonnie's favorite beach turned into a great day in the car! Lots of sheep and fog to be sure. Monday was gorgeous of course, and we got to go up and see a natural spring, as well as the view that I would have seen the previous day. A trip into Nelson had us visiting with her friends and a great pad Thai dish. She dropped me off at my hostel, and we said au revoir for the time being! It was great seeing a friend from the states here! My bus from Nelson to Greymouth was long, but a pretty ride. Saw some great forests, both for commercial logging and the natural bush. There were some windy crazy roads that the bus took at speeds that I would be uncomfortable with in a car! When we hit the west coast it was absolutely stunning. The Tasman sea rolls right onto the beach in ferocious waves. It was a lot more turquoise and blue in color than I thought it would be. My trusty camera snapping away photos, we stopped at punakaiki for the pancake rocks and blowholes which were quite cool. I had planned on going back there that night, but I wound up not wanting to do any more sitting in a vehicle for the day. It was another 30 minutes to Greymouth where I picked up my rental car! It's a silver quirky looking thing, but works just fine! I explored Greymouth for the rest of the afternoon and then went for short drive to get to the queen elizabeth walkway. I sat on some rocks and watched the waves crash for quite a while, before heading up into the bush for some views up and down the coast. The hostel had free soup for dinner, and had a party going on that night. I met some great people from all over, Israel. France, the netherlands, it's neat how traveling brings people together! Tuesday, I was off early to head down to franz Josef glacier/township. A stop off in Hokitita to view the beach some more before heading of to Hokitita gorge which was absolutely stunning. Turquoise waters and white rocks disappearing into the river. A swing bridge was fun and gave views of the farmland as well as the twists and turns of the river. Back in the car again, with a stop off at lake Ianthe for a bite to eat with a view! The day was thankfully gorgeous. Mre windy and misty roads took me further down the coast, with a turnoff to get to okarito which was well worth the extra kilometers. A steep hike up took me to a viewpoint where I could see the lagoon and the Tasman sea. Culd hear the waves crashing even from so high above! Had there not been some low lying clouds I could have seen the southern alps! I pretended. Merge beach time afterwards where the crashing waves were again amazing. Onwards to franz Jozef where I checked into my hostel, the glow worm cottages. In a room with 6 other people. Some free internet was a plus, as well as more free soup! I took a walk that gave me a view of the Glacier that I got on today! Despite the mist, it was quite stunning. Despite a bad sleep due to some loud snoring, I was up and ready to go for my glacier walk at 830. It was still on despite the downpour. Luckily ,they outfit you with good gear, though it was a bit smelly. A 2km walk to the glaciers edge, through rainforest and open valley before we put on our crampons to get on the ice. I was the only American in my group! Everyone else was from Europe! Being on the glacier was so cool. Periodically it would sound like the ocean surf and that was the ice below us melting. At one point you could see the ice falling and crashing down with a big boom, made me feel quite small in the world. We got to go through this really tight cavern, barely wider than your shoulders, and then haul ourselves up the ice wall before crawling through a cave. Quite the adventure. A big bummer was that there were tons of other groups on tours so we had to wait at times. But it did give me time to snap snap awga! Am nos up to 800 photos Over the past 5 days! I wish I could post them but I didn't bring my computer so I can't load then. I got free entry into the glacial hot pools which I took advantage of. A hot soak was definitely in order after the 4 hours hiking in the rain. However, an hour was plenty ,as I was about to turn into a prune! Back on the road to drive the 20km to fox glacier township where im spending the night. I drove up to fox glacier viewpoint but because of the rain I couldn't see much. The hostel im in is super nice. In a 5person room, so hopefully no snoring tonight! I make my way down to Wanaka tomorrow, with stops along the way. It's supposed to be a nice day so im hoping for a sunrise walk around lake Matheson to get some great views and reflections of the southern alps and mt. Cook. Oh, I forgot! Met people from Seattle yesterday. Crazy. They saw my uw sweatshirt and said they had to comment. Small world. Anyway ,that's it for now. Traveling around on my own is quite the adventure. I am so thankful for the experience tho and honestly ,the surrounding sights couldn't be better.