Thursday 17th February

We had a very lazy start to the morning as the mist was right down and we could not see the mountains.  Linda was ironing some of the clothes that she had washed last night before 9am!

We went into Franz Josef for our breakfast at the restaurant that John our Argentinean Receptionist had recommended.  Ian had the Aviator Breakfast, which was huge and Linda had her toasted muesli served with banana and a plate full of toast.

We wandered around the shops for quite a while before the mist decided to lift.

We then drove out to the car park near to the foot of the glacier.  It was now extremely hot and the hour and a half that we took to walk to the glacier and back began became a bit of a challenge.  We should have taken the water bottles with us but I don’t think either of us realised quite how far we had to walk.  However, it was well worth the walk when we got to the base of the glacier. 

It was very different from the glacier that we walked on in Canada, partially because that was a steep uphill walk but also because the one in Canada was way above the tree line and was so barren.

After visiting the glacier we went back to the chalet to change into something cooler and to have our lunch in comfort.

We then drove out to Okarita, a lagoon next to the sea which had been a centre of activity at the time of the NZ gold rush.  Only 3 buildings remain of the once thriving township, although there are a number of holiday cottages.  We had been led to believe that we could visit the lagoon and do some bird-watching.  However, that was not quite the case; the lagoon was on the other side of the river and only accessible by boat.  We did get down to the beach and saw some amazing drift wood on the beach. 

 Ian walked along the river bank and took some photos of wading birds while Linda soaked up some rays.

Back to the chalet to collect our swimwear and then we drove back into Franz Josef to experience the thermal pools.  There were three pools at different temperatures, 36º, 38ºand 40º C.  It was wonderful to just relax in the warm water and Linda found that she was floating, something that she has never experienced before.  After an hour and a half in the pools we were beginning to get a little wrinkly (no comments please!) so decided to leave.

We went to the same restaurant as last night as the food had been so good.  The food was still excellent but the service wasn’t as good as the staff were totally different.

A little bit of packing was done tonight as we are moving on again tomorrow.  We have had such a lovely relaxing time here that it will be hard to leave.