Arrowtown

Arrowtown is a small town outside of Queenstown and it used to be a gold mining town. It is preserved in a similar state as some of the gold mining towns in California, which is to say as mostly tourist traps with kitschy stores. Although Arrowtown did have a great bakery for pies. We managed to take in the kitsch and make the most of it. Although the nicest attraction were probably the wildflowers along the creek. SV liked them but was tired so she got a piggyback ride from TV. Although she started being a bit cheeky and tickling his ear.

Haast to Wanaka

Making our way back from the west coast across the Haast Pass is a gorgeous road. We stopped to photograph a great waterfall which went under the bridge before lunch. After lunch we stopped to see the blue pools which had that wonderful aquamarine colour from glacial run off. There were even some good sized trout that we could see in the clear water.

We then decided to push on to Wanaka, home of Puzzling World. Puzzling World is a great family stop where we got to play with all sorts of puzzles before going into various rooms with illusions. We finished off the visit with a walk through their maze and then a few more puzzles over a couple of refreshing beverages.

A small horse and the beach

The west coast has some spectacular beaches, and is kind of reminiscent of California's north coast. We wanted to visit the beach at Haast to get a better view, but first we had to get past the guardian of the path. He was a little horse though, and SV was a bit uneasy around him. Eventually we made it to the beach to look for shells and dip our toes in the water. SV actually really liked that. Eventually we found a place to camp and SV got to play with her new toy.

  

Salmon Farm

After heading south from the glaciers we ran across a salmon farm. We decided to stop and have a look at all of the fish and taste some of the goodness. SV really enjoyed watching the fish, but not as much as the chocolate covered ice cream bar. She finished off with a cool beverage as we headed back to the car.

Hiking to Fox Glacier

Unlike Franz Joseph Glacier, Fox Glacier is accessible by foot. Unfortunately a guide tour is required to actually walk on the ice, but we managed to hike quite close to it. It gave us a good vantage point to see a large part of the glacier and the surrounding valley.

SV Christmas party

Today SV had her Christmas party at school and all the parents were invited. We all had fun, especially SV. She got to play in the jumping castle, ball pit, big kid playground, and even got a tattoo and face paint. Let's just say it didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

Sunset at Lake Matheson

We drove to the town of Fox Glacier (can you guess the name of the glacier???) and made it just in time to visit Lake Matheson for a spectacular sunset. The golden light was quite amazing as it mixed with the mist coming off the ocean, but SV was not impressed and instead cried in the camper van for a bit. Eventually she was persuaded to come out and she enjoyed the sunset reluctantly at first before fully embracing it. We did a short hike to get some wonderful views of Mount Cook as it was reflected in the lake.