Wednesday morning we were up early after a decent nights sleep following Tuesdays exhilerating day. We departed Franz Josef at 8.30am and headed back to Fox Glacier airstrip to drop off some other crazy skydivers. The rest of the group headed to nearby Lake Matheson, where we enjoyed a walk around the lake shore, admiring the still waters clearly reflecting the mountains. After the walk we headed to the cafe for a cookie caramel slice and fruit shortcake. We left the lake at 11.30am-ish and headed through the mountains towards the Haast Pass and Makarora. We made a couple of stops en-route, calling at Knights Point and Thunder Creek Falls for photo opps and Haast Visitor Centre for a lunch break. Shortly before arriving in Makarora we walked to the Blue Pools, having to cross a wobbly suspension bridge on the way. The water was bright blue and crystal clear and some of the group (Jorst, Georgie and Katy) even braved it and jumped into the freezing water. We walked back to the road and got picked up by Dodgy, to be taken to the Makarora Wilderness Resort - literally the only thing in the 'village!' We had an explore and finished off our rice with sweet and sour pork, followed by baking a caramel sponge pudding - yum! Then we headed over to the bar for karaoke, after a few singalongs we retired to bed just after midnight.

This morning we were up and ready for our 9.00am departure. We drove out of the rain (yay!) along the shore of Lake Wanaka, stopping en-route for a few kodak moments. We had a couple of hours free time in pretty Wanaka, the first 45 minutes were spent queuing in the visitor centre, then we explored the streets, stopping to look in the shops before heading down to the lakeside for a picnic in the sun with some of the group (Neil, Sara and Georgie). We left Wanaka at 12.45pm and drove towards Queenstown, calling at A J Hacketts Kawarau bungy jumping site to watch the 'secrets of bungy' dvd then we headed to the view point to watch some nutters dive 46 metres into the valley. One moustached Chilean from our bus had a go and an elderly couple did a tandem jump (braver than us!). It was a short journey into Queenstown, where we checked into Base Discovery Lodge around 4.30pm, catching up with LA Pete in our room, who had jumped a bus ahead of us at Franz Josef, before going out to explore.

Our first stop was a Queenstown institution - Fergburger! The most amazing burgers - almost as big as our heads! We enjoyed a Southern Swine with blue cheese - yum! By far the best burger we've EVER had! After scoffing the lot we wandered the streets and, japanese owned, souvenir shops, sampling the kiwi and honey cookies and taking in the beautiful lakeside views overlooked by the Remarkables (mountain range). We stocked up at the supermarket before heading back to get ready for our night on the town. We headed to the bar just before 10.00pm and ended up at World Bar drinking cocktails from teapots (!?!) and having a boogy - Sarah even crowd surfed! We headed to bed around 2.30am-ish!