Fox Glacier

We decided to do a walk around Lake Mathewson which is renowned for it's reflections of the glacier, and we weren't disappointed. We walked through tropical rain forest trees and plants, every so often catching a glimpse of the mountains in the clear water. The walk took about 45 minutes, and of course it was necessary for the reviving cup of latte at the end!
We continued on the road from the lake and headed to Gillespie beach which had once been home to gold miners. The beach was wild and beautiful lots of rocks and pebbles - most washed flat by the sea, with very interesting patterns.  We are constantly amazed by the few people around and it was no different here - miles of beach with magnificent snow capped mountains behind, a couple of French travellers in a converted van for company. The beach was at the end of a 12km gravel road - pity the car following as we churned up loads of dust!

After lunch we did the walk up to the glacier. It was very interesting and easy to see the erosion talking place. Again, I took lots of photos - you'll have to wait to see them.

We left the following morning to continue our journey down the South Island. It was very foggy for quite a while, but there aren't too many cars on the roads, so it wasn't too difficult and the fog cleared. We carried on heading south following the coast for parts of the journey, stopping in Wanaka for a picnic by the lake. We were soon at our destination and home for three nights, the Hilton in Queenstown. The hotel complex is situated out of town and on the shores of the lake and we had a lovely lake view room complete with kitchen as part of the room (everywhere we have been we have had a good kitchen - very handy). . There is even a 'pub' a few metres down the road which is part of the hotel complex. After a hose down & g&t we were off to the pub for something to eat. A major NZ rugby match was showing live on the TV so we joined in the shouting along with genuine NZ supporters!