New Zealand or BUST! Why go...not to escape reality, but to find it...to see hitherto unexperienced horizons of beauty...to have the courage to turn against habitual lifestyle and engage in unconventional living...to be wild at heart.

Well I survived the Wildfoods Festival. Now, I did Taste of Chicago twice, so my standards are pretty high. I felt that it wasn't worth $20 US just to get into the festival. Once inside, the food was wild (I tried Crocodile and Shark and some NZ tree). People were eating grubs and sheep tails and horse and of course...goat testicles. I had none of that, thanks. By about the 3rd hour of the festival, I had spent enough money. Oh, and it got progressively less classy...people throwing-up and wrestling. I did like the costumes though. How often do you share a urinal with the Ninja Turtles and some Smurfs?

As much as Hokitika felt like a town that existed to rip off the tourists, Franz Josef was a nice little place with reasonable internet, entertainment and accomodation. I even went out at night and saw a whole bunch of glowworms for FREE. They look like little blue LED lights just hanging out in the woods. Quiet amazing accually. Then I went on to Fox Glacier. This was a great experience. Over half the group were Americans (even the Guide was from Texas). That is not common. We were all young and fit and covered a ton of that ice cube. This glacier is unique in that it is only 250 Meters above sea level.

I could give a lot of other facts, but just check out the pictures! Then I went on to Lake Wanaka. Nice little town and beautiful area. This part of NZ has some landscape simularities to Idaho. Arid mountains that are away from the heavy rains of the coast. I had a nice little walk and ended up talking with a British artist about his paintings. They were amazing and he taught me a couple things about modern art and what good composition looks like. I have found that 9 out of 10 British guys are cool while 9 out of 10 British women are annoying. Those gender tendancies reverse when we talk about Irish men and women. So I'll have to marry an Irish girl and get some buddies from the UK.

I am in Queenstown for the night. Tomorrow I go to Milford Sound. Expect the best pictures yet when I get back. Everyone I have spoken with says that Fjordland National Park is a thing to behold. Queenstown on the other hand reminds one of Lucerne--although people complain about the prices here, and I have found cheap food and cheap internet. Enjoy the pictures, and I will try to have some more news by the 15th.