Day 12: Franz Josef
We got up extremely early this morning to make the 4-5 hour drive to Franz Josef, to make it in time to do an afternoon activity. We started our drive out in the dark under the thousands of stars through precarious mountain roads (as usual), and it was so interesting to be surrounded by mountains but not be able to see them. We had the fortune of enjoying the sun rise over the mountains and hit the tips of them, illuminating everything around us. Again, just breathtaking!
The drive, like every other drive, was spectacular. We drove through more rainforests and mountains, forests filled with unique towering trees (the vegetation in this country is so different!), lakes and rivers, and the Tasman Sea. We didn’t stop too much, seeing as how we had to make it to the town by a certain time, but we did enjoy the scenery.
When we got to Franz Josef, our tour (which we will only tell you about once we do it) was cancelled due to weather conditions. So we opted to drive to another little town down the road, where we walked on the shore of the Tasman Sea with the tides coming in at full force onto the shore. There, we made another rock stack (this is starting to become a little thing we do)! Then, we did a trek into the rainforest and reached a lookout point, from which we could see the sea filling up rivers into the town, and a lagoon by some cliffs in the distance. Every place we visit in New Zealand still manages to amaze us. You would think this would get old at some point, but it simply hasn’t!
We went back to Franz Josef, visited some hot pools, had some dinner, sat in a sauna and hot tub, and slept a much-needed sleep!
Tomorrow is going to be a big day!
We got up extremely early this morning to make the 4-5 hour drive to Franz Josef, to make it in time to do an afternoon activity. We started our drive out in the dark under the thousands of stars through precarious mountain roads (as usual), and it was so interesting to be surrounded by mountains but not be able to see them. We had the fortune of enjoying the sun rise over the mountains and hit the tips of them, illuminating everything around us. Again, just breathtaking!
The drive, like every other drive, was spectacular. We drove through more rainforests and mountains, forests filled with unique towering trees (the vegetation in this country is so different!), lakes and rivers, and the Tasman Sea. We didn’t stop too much, seeing as how we had to make it to the town by a certain time, but we did enjoy the scenery.
When we got to Franz Josef, our tour (which we will only tell you about once we do it) was cancelled due to weather conditions. So we opted to drive to another little town down the road, where we walked on the shore of the Tasman Sea with the tides coming in at full force onto the shore. There, we made another rock stack (this is starting to become a little thing we do)! Then, we did a trek into the rainforest and reached a lookout point, from which we could see the sea filling up rivers into the town, and a lagoon by some cliffs in the distance. Every place we visit in New Zealand still manages to amaze us. You would think this would get old at some point, but it simply hasn’t!
We went back to Franz Josef, visited some hot pools, had some dinner, sat in a sauna and hot tub, and slept a much-needed sleep!
Tomorrow is going to be a big day!
Our rock stack (to the left) against the Tasman Sea
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