Mountains and Glaciers...

I really cannot write enough positive things about how great it is here in New Zealand. It is definitely my favorite country so far and Kepler Track and Fox Glacier are two more reasons why I love it here so much.

Chad and I took a nine hour day hike through the famous Kepler Track which is one of the most beautiful walks in the world. You hike through lush green forest for the first 2 and half hours or so and then suddently the forest clears and you can see beautiful mountains and green valleys in every direction. The view is incredible. So of course we just had to climb up one of the mountains. After hiking uphill for a few more hours, we finally made it to the summit of Mount Luxmore -- 4,500 feet above sea level. The view was priceless and we just decided to chill atop the summit for awhile. Unfortunately, since we were only doing the day hike, we had to climb all the way down and do the entire hike again in reverse. It was a challenge but well worth it.

Fox Glacier is just one of the many glaciers here in New Zealand and I decided to do a full day hike on top of the glacier. We were equipped with special equipment so we would not slip on the ice. This is one of the coolest things I have ever done (no pun intended). I was literally walking on top of ice which has been there since the prehistoric era. I even got to squeeze through some narrow ice crevasses. The only problem is that the weather is constantly changing on the glacier. One minute it is 40 degrees and windy and I am wearing four layers and the next minute it is hot and sunny and all the layers come off. But what an experience and I can't wait to post the photos!