13 March; Trees, beach and glacier (1)

Today we drove from Queenstown to Franz Josef Glacier via Wanaka. Again about 500kms. There were plenty of breathtaking moments. Like the view over the valley from the lookout point just outside Queenstown. And the rolling green hills when descending into Wanaka. It felt like being in the folds of some gigantic green sheets, Harri says; see the Lord of the Rings films! Then the rugged beach and pillars of stacked stones, apparently the thing to do to leave your mark on the beach, at Bruce Bay. And, last but certainly not least, Fox Glacier and its valley. More on the glaciers tomorrow after our helicopter ride...(weather permitting, fingers crossed!)

But what I would really like to mention today are the trees. We saw tall trees, short trees, bushy trees, skinny trees, leafy trees, spiky trees, pine trees, birch trees, eucalyptus trees, palm trees, fern trees, dead trees, fern-covered trees, moss-covered trees, red moss, green moss, long-leaved ferns, maiden hair-like ferns etc. Harri counted at least 9 different species of fern within a space of 2m; he is already designing his next green house... So it felt only right to conclude our tree day in a tree house, our accommodation for tonight :-)

Also some observations on the local wildlife:
- Farm owners would sometimes water the fields with huge sprinklers at the same time that the cows/sheep were grazing.
- There are different coloured sheep: Were they different species, or did it reflect the different lengths of wool (longer wool been on the sheep for longer and closer to the mud, therefore dirtier/darker)?
- There are black cows with white faces and white sheep with black faces
- We have discovered differences in the local possum (or small rodent population) in our last 2 days of travel. In the Christchurch area, the rodents were relatively small and grey. Closer to Queenstown, larger, gray and with bushy tails. Moving away from Queenstown towards Wanaka, even larger, darker in colour and with smaller tails, and somewhere on the coast, smaller and black in. All this based on a close analysis of the well spread specimens laid out for us along the roads... Well is the local birds of pray didn't snack of them first. The damn birds would rather be exhibited also alongside of the road than move out from the way of the cars. Unless you had a camera at your hand.

Pics to follow in a moment!