48 hours of superlatives

Hi!!!
We left Queenstown early (couldn't wait to get out of there) and on the way stopped along the Kawarau River and stood on the bridge watching bungy jumpers scream their heads off. For all you Lord of the Ring fans, this river is where they filmed the scene for the Pillars of the Kings, which I thought was incredibly beautiful on film. However, it is even more spectacular than that--in fact, it is the most beautiful river that I have ever seen in my life! The film shows it as a grey color, but in fact, it is a milky emerald green. It winds and tumbles and curves all the way down beyond the town of Cromwell. We followed it all the way until we sadly had to turn north. Cromwell is an agricultural area on the edge of Lake Dunstun--lots of fruit and veges and so we stopped in a parking lot and filled a huge ziplock bag with every manner of salad green, poured some good ole Newman's dressing on and shook the bejeepers out of the bag and to the interest of all the Kiwis parked around us as we split it between to plastic bowls on the hood of the car, proceeded to eat and chomp until we could not take in one more green thing. We then headed north on the eastern shore of the lake and made an abrupt turn to the west toward Wanaka (an area where they filmed the Flight of the Ford). The drive was even more amazing than all the others we've taken--if that is somehow possible. The Mt Aspiring Mountain Range and Wilderness was before us as we drove through endless rolling hills of brown, pink, yellow, green topped by blue skies and puffy white clouds. The Clutha River came into view and it is the second most beautiful river that I have encountered. It is a milky turquoise blue with waves of emerald green. We crossed it via a narrow bridge and then curved around and Lake Wanaka came into view with the mountain range jutting straight up and surround the entire lake. The mountains are still snow capped and a warm wind was coming off the lake.
We thought we'd died and gone to the Ritz when we arrived at our hostel. Our room was ensuite!!! Shower and toilet, yeah!!!! Spacious and with a view of the lake. We gathered information from the DOC, left with maps and many plans. We took a brief walk around the lake, hopped in the car and surveyed the area, and then came back to make a fantastic spaghetti dinner that everyone was lusting after.
We met Alex, a 52 yo English woman who is traveling for a year. So, after a wonderful night's sleep, we rallied and packed lunches and daypacks with plans on hiking up Rocky Mountain to view the lakes, rivers, valleys and mountain ranges. We invited Alex and we all had a grand time hiking straight up through grassy areas, along a small lake, up lava and granite rocks and along very narrow cliff side paths. Every turn gave us breathtaking views and a view of more climbing ahead. We reached the summit and it was so worth it. I have never seen anything so amazing in my life. I want it to be one of the last images that I see when my time is up on this planet.
The wind picked up and we sat down in the grass to have our lunch. We left it reluctantly and with great memories. It was now quite hot working our way down the mountain and we looked forward to jumping into the lake. We're all quite sunburned/tanned. In the end, only Joel had the chutzpah to jump into the very cold water--and jump out just as quickly. We sunned ourselves until the later afternoon winds picked up and then came back to make a killer panfried noodles and stirfried vege dish that all the young folk looked at longingly as they stirred their pots of beans and ramen. Tomorrow we will try our hand at flyfishing the Clutha River as it rushes out of Lake Wanaka and then in the afternoon hike Mt Iron. On Wednesday, we leave for Mt Cook. We have invited Alex who will drive with us and hike with us and then we will put her on the bus and she will head south, as we head east. We will celebrate my birthday up there, on top of the world. We plan on hiking to the Hooker Glacier the very next day. The sun is just about ready to set down for the day lighting the clouds a fiery color against deep brooding gray blue clouds. It is paradise!! I love you all. L