Okay, it's finally time for my NZ photos!

The last few days have been slightly hectic but in the lull before Rupes birthday party tonight I thought I'd squeeze them in (plus it's very, very hot out there and I'm still sunburnt from Saturday and it hurts a bit :) )....

Okay, well I started the day in Queenstown (this would be, um, last Tuesday) and on driving out of the town towards the Fox Glacier (my target for the day) I saw a lone hitchhiker wanting a lift to Wanaka. I'd only rented a small car and with my stuff as well it would've been impossible to fit two hitchhikers in and all the ones I'd seen up until then had been in pairs, so Julia the german got a lift to Wanaka back along the road I'd come down the previous day. At Wanaka Julia decided she wanted to go to Fox Glacier too so we headed north along Lake Hawea where it looked like this:

After Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka the road plunges into Mount Aspiring National Park which was tres beautiful. Here's a shot with Julia in it as well (so that she can download it from here if she remembers how to ;) )

After stopping for some photos as a couple of waterfalls (it's amazing because you drive around a corner and see something that takes your breath away so you stop and take a picture, then go around the next corner and see something even better. We didn't make very good time!), one of which had a nice rainbow appearing at the bottom - so I've included it here and hope it's visible!

After another hour or so's drive the road reaches the Tasman Sea coast and seeing as it was such a nice day I thought I'd make you all want to be there by including a Palm Tree in the shot. It were bluddy hot too....

Another couple of hours and we were at the Fox Glacier which didn't look that impressive to begin with (it's in serious retreat) until I realised that most of the face is covered in grey dust and what I thought was rock was in fact ice as well. You can't judge the scale from this photo (which just shows the path of the glacier on the left) but trust me - it's massive!

I stayed the night at Fox Glacier (because it was my birthday and I wanted a drink), but before we hit a bar we went to Lake Matheson which reputedly has a great photo opportunity where the mountains Cook and Tasman are reflected in the still waters of the lake. Hmmm. Not that evening! Mt. Cook (the tallest mountain in the southern hemisphere) is the snowy one on the right....

The place I stayed in was ridiculously over-priced, but the view in the morning from my motel window was probably worth it.... :)

The next day was a bit manic - got up early to head back to Picton to drop the hire car off and didn't stop that much as I realised I might not make the ferry. I couldn't pass Lake Mapourika without taking a shot though - another beautiful day on the west coast!

Seven's photos. Well most were a bit blurred due to alcohol consumption in the sun but it's a great weekend. However, as the saying goes, what goes on in Hong Kong - stays in Hong Kong. Oh alright, here's one of my hosts, one of Rupert's mates plus passed out girlfriend, plus the Angels who were a crowd favourite. We were dressed as pirates, but you're not seeing a shot with me in it!

And finally, ok, here's some of the pirates still going at 3am. We're all a bit worse for wear.....