Sunday, April 30, 2006

The Journey South


Just call us the car trouble troubadors. Day one of South Island adventure #2, after taking the overnight ferry from the North Island, at about 5 AM the temperature gauge of our engine crept upwards as we were making our way over the hills from the ferry to the West Coast. We gingerly steered the car towards the nearest town, Westport, thinking, "my god not again". The worst was true: we would have to wait 5 days and plunk in a reconditioned radiator!

With quick thinking, we bought 2 bus tickets and headed down the West Coast anyway! Here are the pancake rocks, located in Punakaiki National Park. Can you figure out why they call them that? This is a very popular tour bus stop. We spent the morning here, and then hopped back on the bus to take off down the beautiful west coast with the eventual destination of Arthur's Pass.





These pictures are a bit out of order. Back in the car after Arthur's pass we booked it down to Queenstown. We stopped at the breath taking Fox Glacier on the way down.




Again, out of order. After the Routeburn, we got back to Queenstown to discover out car needed a jumpstart. The day was perfect to take pictures of the Remarkable mountains, which form that city's picturesque backdrop.



AA to the rescue!
The Remarkables outside Queenstown.

Athol!!! We will miss the annual journey this year, but at least there is an Athol in New Zealand to make us feel better.

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