Fox Glacier

We had a wonderful breakfast with our hosts and the other guests at Tichelmann's this morning. Frances had an incredible spread of fresh plums, guava, roasted tomatoes, fresh baked bread, eggs, thick smokey bacon, cereal, etc. We met the other guests at breakfast. In addition to the couple from Nottingham mentioned previously there we two other couples. Roger and Janet from Cheshire, England and Julie and Ojon from San Francisco. Julie and Ojon work for Google and appeared to be in their late twenties. This was by far the fanciest and most high brow place we've stayed in NZ. Tichelmann's B&B offers top of the line accommodations with huge sun -filled rooms, comfy beds, high quality lines, thick towels, lots of small and impressive touches. The house has been completely remodelled and updated but the remodel maintained the period of the original home. After breakfast we started our drive south toward Fox Glacier or as they say here glass-Y-ER. What makes Fox Glacier unique is the location in the middle of a rain forest. It is 1 or only 3 glaciers in the world located in a rain forest. The drive to the area took a little more than two hours. We had lunch in town and then hiked to the base of the glacier. We could see the ice but only groups on guided tours are allowed on the actual glacier. We see enough ice back home so seeing the base of the glacier and later getting a a view of it from behind Mt Cook was plenty. After the hike we drove to Lake Mathison where the the view of the glacier was reported to be very good but required about an hour long walk around the lake for the "view of views." The walk around the lake was great exercise but the view of views was nothing special; we actually got the best view of the mountains and glacier as we drove away from Lake Mathison. Then we were on our way to Wanaka. The drive to Wanaka took over 3 hours but the scenery was great and we made several quick stops to enjoy the mountains. We arrived into Wanaka around 9:00 PM and got checked into Te Wanaka Lodge and headed into town for a late and light dinner. When we booked a night at Te Wanaka they were full but offered us one of their cottages instead. The cottage turned out to be a 3 BR 2 B home with a fully stocked kitchen, laundry, garage,etc. The cottage would be a great option for a family staying in the area for a few days but was far too much for two people spending just one night. Wanaka is a ski resort town but the main attraction in the summer is Lake Wanaka, a beautiful bluer than blue glacier lake. The town looks new and upscale offering trendy restaurants, shops,bars and loads of healthy looking blond people.