Peaks,Mazes, and Farm Country Jan 5th 2012

After our night in Timaru we were on our way to Queenstown (the adventure city) and but along the way we completed a 4 hour hike to Peak Isthmus near lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. The view was spectacular but it got tougher and tougher as we got higher and higher. We were encountered by mountain sheep (and lots of them) and high winds and we neared the top. Nearly 1300 meters above sea level we decided to turn back around as the winds were picking up. We were both pretty exhausted by this point but proud of our feat!

With some hiking complete for the day we kept on driving and nearing Queenstown we came across a small amusement park called puzzling world, which has fun mirrors, a two story maze, mind puzzles etc. Mark really enjoyed trying out how to do all the hand puzzles and figuring out the maze! We arrived in Queenstown around 9pm at Bumbles (a hostel overlooking the mountains) and hit the hay! Queenstown in wonderfully beautiful by the way!

Oh and we saw some Pioneer signs along the way!!! ; ) Ben, can you figure out the varieties?

Thumbs up for Pioneer!

They were harvesting oats with a combine head

These faces look like they are sticking out but they are actually sunken inwards

Finally taller than Mark!

I dont look like I am far up but here we are almost at the peak of Mt Isthmus

The mountain we climbed...in the picture before this I am halfway up this mountain. Mark and I made it  just past the grey  triangle shape on the mountain (see it just above the patch of trees on the left) 

Mountains, Blue waters, and Hikes- January 4th 2012

Our next stop on the map was Queenstown, but in the meantime we wanted to see the country and do some hiking so we drove down to a town called Aukoura(Beautiful!!) Driving to Aukoura was a little bit out of the way but man was it worth it! Driving through the New Zealand mountain ranges was unbelieveable! We were in awe of how beautiful it was! We had never seen such wonderful landscape in our lives and doubt we will early see such beauty again!

 Aukoura is a small beach town along the peninsula and had some of the bluest waters! From Aukoura we decided to head to Timaru for a nights rest but before that we found a Summit hike up one of the mountains. It was rocky, steep, and had us zig-zagging all the way up but one hour later we made it to the top! The view was spectacular (see photo to catch our drift). We made it to Timaru at about 8 pm at night and stayed at the Old Bank and Tavern Hostel. We made dinner then were off to bed to start out again in the morning.