mike & rhonda's latest adventure: Albertans Travelling to Another Continent to See Glaciers??

Beyond the glaciers (more on that later) we have seen some magnificent scenery on the South Island. After leaving Nelson, which we thought would be a wonderful place to live, we drove to Greymouth on the west coast via the Buller River Gorge. It was a very scenic drive. We stopped to cross New Zealand's longest Swing (Suspension) Bridge and did a short bush walk. Our next stop was at Tauranga Bay to see a seal colony but most of them must have been out fishing since we only saw about 10 of them on the rocks and in the water. It was nothing like we previously experienced on the California coast when we saw thousands of sea lions on one beach. Then we checked out the layer-weathered Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki which were interesting to see before spending the night in sleepy Greymouth.
The following day we continued driving down the west coast to Franz Josef, famous for it's glacier. With the forecasters calling for rain AND a Superbowl the next day we decided to get our glacier hikes in while the sun was shining and it was a good decision. Neither the Franz Josef or the Fox glaciers seemed as massive as ours but due to the warmer weather there was some calving activity and lots of melting ice creating waterfalls and fast rushing rivers. It was also nice to be able to walk up close to the glaciers wearing shorts and a t-shirt. We woke up the next morning to a heavy and steady rainfall that continued all day, our first encounter with poor weather on this trip. But as they also predicted, there was a Superbowl game starting at noon so the day was not lost (for sports fans). The pub right around the corner from our hostel was hosting a Superbowl party and with two large screens and many other TV's, and a rainy day, the place was packed turning it into a fun and noisy atmosphere to enjoy the game.
Yesterday we had a beautiful drive (in the sun again) further down the coast to Haast and then inland through the Haast Pass with it's incredible mountain and waterfall views. We stopped 4 different times to do short walks to Roaring Billy Falls, Thunder Creek Falls, Fantail Falls and the Blue Pools, accessed by another swing bridge. Our resting place was Wanaka, a lovely town on the shore of a Lake Wanaka. Today we did a fabulous hike (10 km) up to the Rob Roy glacier. It was an hour drive along a mostly gravel road to get there but it was worth the effort. The roaring Rob Roy Creek, numerous waterfalls and another swing bridge made for an exciting trip. The views at the top of the trail were spectacular, with too many waterfalls to count emerging from the rock face below the wide glacier. One of them had a 200 metre drop.
Tomorrow we will make the short drive from Wanaka to Queenstown, the self-proclaimed adventure capital of the world. We plan to be spectators rather than participants, saving our money instead for cruises in Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound after we leave party central.