For anyone that travels the east coast of the south island, I’d like to make a clarification. The north part of the south island on the west side (are you with me?) is not that distinctive.  It felt like we were driving to Idaho.  A gentleman we met on the beach said not to worry, that it just gets better from here on out.  He was correct.  And though it was cloudy we got a glimpse of the white peaked mountains and a glacier and the water that flows from it.  This video is a random waterfall we found.  Look at the color of the water!

It would have taken an hour to get to the glacier and we did not come equipped with time or supplies so we just had to take a picture of it.  The road into the glacier had markers where the glacier use to be as early as the 1700’s.  It is definitely melting. Climate change?

The brochure kept warning you not to break the rules with the admonition at the end that if you feel like you can break the rules first talk to the families who had someone die for not following them.  Rocks and ice breaking were a danger but the big one is that the ice holds back water.  They can often break loose and then you have no time to get away for the icy flash flood.

Here’s hoping Queenstown is safer.