The rain finally let up so we could pack up the van and we were on our way south again. Our first stop was the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and blowholes in the Paparoa National Park. It was a beautiful ocean cliff area with unique rock formations that are said to look like stacks of pancakes. They were created through a layering-weathering process called stylo bedding. We didn't think they looked like American pancakes, but were beautiful nonetheless. The blowholes were so loud it sounded like a freight train barreling through. From there, we kept heading south to the Greymouth area and drove up a steep and windy road to the "Southern Alps!" The highest point, Arthur's Pass, was beautiful! We followed the route the Transalpine Scenic Train takes up from Greymouth and back. The area is called the southern alps because of all the steep beautiful mountains, pine forests, and chillier temperatures. Apparently it is a famous ski area. There was snow up on the peaks, but not where we were driving or walking - thank goodness! It just happened to be the first day of the Coast to Coast triathalon held here every year - lots of great athletes sprint, bike, run, then kayak their ways from the west coast (near Greymouth) to Christchurch on the east coast (about 270km). There was a lot of excitement surrounding the event and they were expecting 20,000 people into the area to watch and support the athletes. The campground we stayed at that night (a little bit away from Greymouth because everything was full!) was housing one of the athletes and his support team. It was interesting seeing his high performance kayak and bike. Can't imagine being in such great shape! Up at the pass, we met our first keas, or mountain parrots. They are beautiful birds that love bright, shiny things. They are known for tearing out the trim from around windshields (windscreens here!) and there are signs everywhere not to encourage them by feeding them. They are quite the characters and it was really fun watching them - on someone else's car! After our lovely drive, we picked up our friends Jeff and Kathi (Bold Spirit) at the Greymouth train station and again headed south.

We spent Valentine's Day visiting the beautiful Franz Josef Glacier (picture). It was fitting to be there on such a romantic day because a Maori legend tells of how the glacier was formed from the tears of a young woman weeping for her lost love. The glacier isn't as big as the one on Mt. Rainier, but it was still impressive. We couldn't make it all the way out to touch the ice (we would have had to hire a guide and gear), but got within a hundred meters of it. There were several walks around the area and it felt good to stretch our legs. The next day we were at the Fox Glacier a little further south. It's not as big, but was more striking because there are so many crevasses in the ice. We camped beside a beautiful lake and even had a chilly swim. Queenstown was our next stop and it was amazing to see a pretty good sized city (pop. 8,500) after all the kilometers of empty wilderness. We enjoyed riding the Skyline Gondola up the side of a mountain (much longer and steeper than the Palm Springs tram) and the view of the bay and surrounding area was incredible. There are many opportunities for thrill seeking up on the mountain (Bungy Jumping and then swinging from the cord and paragliding to name a couple), but we chose the milder form of excitement and rode luges (three wheeled carts) down a track with some pretty sharp turns. You first take a ski lift further up the mountain so there is a pretty good slope to help the luges back down. It was a lot of fun and we think we should find a good spot back home to open up a luge track! We didn't spend too much time in the city as we are feeling our days on the south island are going way too fast. Our next big stop will be the Milford Sound in the fiords.