Rick woke up with a tickle in his throat and as we lay down for the night we fear the worst - aches, chills, sniffles, ugh. Maybe he's finally decompressing from the wedding but we're near three weeks out so it seems unlikely. Maybe it's just all the travel - germs everywhere. And today was no exception. We spent most of the daylight and much of the evening driving - Te Anau to Queenstown and Queenstown to Franz Josef. Covered approximately 500 kilometers and one thing is certain. There is not an inch of this country that isn't poised for a picture every moment of every day. Whatever the weather, sunshine, raindrops or fog, this landscape is by far the most picturesque of any we've ever seen. In the past week we've driven over 1100 kilometers of New Zealand and at any moment we could take a picture worthy of a postcard- its absolutely remarkable.
Due to the topography of Southland New Zealand, there are not many ways in or out of a particular place. In fact, in many cases there is only one way in and out and this was our circumstance in Te Anau. We had to drive southeast through Queenstown to go northwest toward Franz Josef. So we decided to stop awhile and see the sites of this southern city. The winter months bring snowbirds so the town was alive with skiers and snowboarders. Definitely a worthy stop. The rest of our drive followed the curves of any given mountainside but the nerves were worth the scenery.
Winter months coupled with high mountain tops create short days so the lights were shut a bit earlier than we would have liked and had to drive the final few hours of our journey blind. Not sure we want to know what scenery we missed on Glacier Highway. Crossed countless one lane bridges. Swore they were becoming increasingly narrow - became ever grateful for our compact! Fun fact: the large number of one lane bridges in NZ is a result of the proportion of population to necessary crossings (small population and A LOT of water to cross)! Had to stretch those funds and this was accomplished, in part, by building narrow bridges. By the time we found our way to Hotel Westhaven in Fox Glacier, it was after 8:30. This is hours after most businesses, including restaurants, close in NZ. The only vegetarian option on the menu of the only restaurant still open in Fox Glacier was the most massive basket of shoestring fries we'd ever seen - didn't finish - couldn't finish - wouldn't finish - but sometimes its fun to indulge a little especially when you have little 'choice'! It was upon our arrival to the tavern that we realized something was wrong with Rick - he asked for a table next to the lit fireplace. A man who sweats bullets in the cooler section of a supermarket wants to sit next to the fireplace? Uh oh. We never thought we'd be sleeping with a pillow shield between us on our honeymoon! Fingers crossed that a good nights sleep will refresh his system.
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