Where is Darran?

Today we had an early start heading towards Wanaka. After a short drive, we stopped at Lake Matheson. There we had breakfast and took a hike around the lake. The weather was not that great, but we were able to get some decent shots of the lake and the mountains in the background.

After about an hour or so we headed along our way. We made a couple stops to look at around this very scenic part of New Zealand. Check out some of the pics below.

After arriving in Wanaka, for some reason we began stockpiling booze. We had a decent amount of booze with us from the quiet nights in Franz Josef, but we continued to acquire more for the nights festivities. Errik bought a bottle of Jager and we start drinking around 4. We started off with about a case and a half or two of beer, then transitioned to Jager bombs. There were quite a few of us so the Jager didn’t last long. After the Jager, we made another transition to wine. This is when things started to get pretty sloppy. We started playing drinking games with box wine and people weren’t being shy.

A mid game group shot

Don’t know what’s happening here

Another mid game group shot

After getting pretty toasty, we moved to the bar. Things got sloppy here. I think it would have been ok because I was just drinking a few beers, but Errik kept on shouting Mark and I tequila shots. Attitude quickly deteriorated and I ended up starting an argument with the DJ over his musical tastes. This very heated argument(for me) eventually got me kicked out. I think this is the last picture before getting kicked out.

Out on my own, I somehow convinced people to go to a bar down the street called Shooters. It was full, probably because they were playing decent music, so we had to wait in line until other people left. After about an hour of waiting in the cold, we decided to go home. This was probably what we needed because we were all pretty sauced. Kat ended up going off with some random locals and lost her wallet. The next morning was pretty funny.

Tour so far:

View New Zealand 2009 in a larger map

Today was one of the defining days of the trip. Today we would hike the Franz Josef glacier. There were high winds, rain, and hail. Originally, we were scheduled to do a full day trip on the glacier, but the weather was not cooperative so the hike was shortened to a a half day. It was pretty miserable and after half a day I was ready to go back to the hostel and get in the hot tub. After the hike, we got some groceries and beer and had a cookout. I got in the hot tub and then hit the bed early again. Others got a little rowdy in the pub. Old man got really rowdy. I woke up and he was speaking gibberish and walking around naked. Too funny.

You’re smiling now

Franz Josef Glacier – Doesn’t look that bad from here

Obligatory waterfall picture

Here we go

Making our way along the glacier

That mound in the distance is where the full-day hike goes

Looking down in the valley from up on the glacier

Inside the glacier

A little perspective

Found this nice tutorial on how to run Opera Mini on Ubuntu. If you are on a slow connection or tethering this is a good way to get a decent browsing experience.

Link