i fought the computer, and the computer won.

the computer and i are having an argument.  it keeps telling me to insert a disk into drive h, and i keep thinking, i did that already.  i think it is an argument that i am destined to lose.  so, sadly, i still have no new photos that i can share with you.

since i left queenstown, i have been having a grand ol' time travelling across this fantastic island.  my first stop was at lake tekapo, home to mt. john observatory, the bluest lake i have ever seen, and the church of the good shephard at which approximately one million tourist buses stop daily.  i only spent the night there, wisely thinking i would easily be bored with the town, and headed the next day to mt. cook.

i am in love with mt. cook, if that is possible with a geological feature.  it's maori name is "aoraki", which means "cloud piercer" and for good reason.  the two days i was there, it was fairly clear, but with occasional bouts of it living up to it's name.  i did two day hikes there and just admired the mountain, wishing i had the skills to partake in some of the more hardcore activities one can do in a place like that.  and on wednesday morning when it was blowing a gale and rock hard snow, i headed to the alpine center where i watched a film about mountain rescuers and another about sir ed(mund hillary).  what a guy!  there are certainly worse people one could look up to as a role model.  besides being one of the first to reach the summit of mt. everest with tenzing norgay, did you know he was also in a party to be the first to use motor vehicles to reach the south pole?  true!  he is also famous for his philanthropic work in nepal, of course.

i could have easily stayed far longer at mt. cook, but yesterday made myself (after two bus transfers) leave to come to wanaka.  it's a mini-queenstown, in that it's a hive of skiing and boarding activity, as well as being close to mt. aspiring national park.  none of which i am interested in right now.  instead i have been taking it easy, and went to puzzling world (a bit of a letdown, i must admit) and am planning for my next leg, fox glacier.  i will head up there tomorrow and on sunday i hope to do a glacier walk, or perhaps if i decide i am adventurous enough, try some ice climbing!  i am also trying to figure out how to get myself to barrytown for knife-making because it sounds interesting, and somewhere near punakaiki is a place called shantytown, which appears to be like a wild west sort of place in the states, except, of course, new zealand style! 

so i am still slo-o-o-wly working myself up to the north island.  i'm taking it cruisey though, which is the new zealand way to be!