Still gutted about missing out on the glacier, I woke this morning to the sound of pouring rain. It still hadn't stopped. In the night I was woken by the whole room flashing with light followed by the loudest thunder I've ever heard. Then the rain chucked it down even harder. It hasn't exactly been the nicest weather for outdoor activities. Apparantly rain is usual in that part of New Zealand but our bus driver told us that it is the worst just now was he has seen it in a long time. How unfortunate for me.
Anyhow, I ran onto the bus, got a bit soaked and sat uncomfortably in my seat. We had quite a long journey today so I was hoping that I dried of quick. We made our way out of rainy Franz Josef and down towards Fox Glacier Villiage, the 2nd main glacier in New Zealand. Normally Kiwi Experience buses stop here to check out the reflection of Mount Cook on Lake Matherson but it definatly wasn't happening today. We stopped in at the cafe there for breakfast while the driver went and refuled the bus. I had a bagel with cream cheese and jam for the first time in my life, it was so good.
We were picked back up and headed on through the rain, which got worse and worse. We were supposed to make another stop at Thunder Falls or something but our driver decided he just wanted to get us out of the area as fast as he could. The road was getting pretty dangerous, there were debris falling from cliffsides onto it and rivers were very high. The 2nd Kiwi Bus that's travelling with us had stopped before us for lunch. They ended up getting stuck behind for about 4 hours because the road was blocked. Luckily for us, we had the more experienced driver and he was on a mission to get us past the worst areas.
We made our lunch stop after we had past the worst and were entering the Otago region. After that we headed straight on to Wanaka. The drive up to the town and the town its self are really really nice. Theres the massive lake next to it and the whole place is surounded by really stunning mountains. It's a shame it was so dreary outside and raining. Hopefully the weather will clear up tomorrow and most definitely when I head down toward Queenstown (which it should do).
The hostel im staying at is suprisingly nice for one of the Base chain, which I now hate so much. It's all really shiny and new since it opened up recently but I'll probably not be liking it so much when it gets busy and messy later on. Me and my new Irish pals booked accommodation at a smaller hostel for tomorrow in Queenstown so it'll be nice to have a break from the mass crowds again. I need to book my bungy and my canyon swing too so I'll speak to my bus driver about it tomorrow, he should be able to get me spots on both of them in the next few days. I'm very scared for them now, especially the bungy.
Tonight we're heading down to the cinema here. Its really small and only has one screen but it's quite unique by the sounds of it. It's all reaally old fashioned style inside, you sit on sofas and stuff and there's a car you can sit in too, and at half time they stop and come round selling apple pie and icecream and stuff. Im quite looking forward to it. I forgot the name of the film were going to see, I've not really heard much about it, but it'll be something to watch if nothing else!
My Uncle Paul got back in touch with me, unfortunatley and so bloody inconveniently; the week I planned on visiting him is the only weekend of the year that everyone has to work, it's stock taking weekend or something. This will mean that yet again I have to change my plans but it shouldn't be too bad. he says he can arrange flights for me down and up to Auckland. The only downside is that I would miss stopping in Kaikoura on the Kiwi Bus but I wasn't all that fussed about stopping there anyway. Once I've decided what I'm doing and sorted it out, I'll let everyone know.
