The Gleaming Mountain

1/11/10
Back on a bus, now leaving Queenstown, heading for Milford Sound. The last couple days have been amazing! Word for the trip so far I guess. Arriving in Wanaka was very nice. The town, a very small town, consisting of 3500 people, makes me think that it is very much what a Alaska must be like. A beautiful quiet town. A very brisk, cool, and clean, lakeside town surrounded by beautiful snowcapped mountains. Unfortunately we did not do very much while in Wanaka. The weather once again was horrible. Lots of rain and gusty winds. We spent more time than desired in the room watching tv, and at night I went out to the bar under our hostel to try and meet people. Meet people I did. First night I met a few local guys who were very cool and invited me to go out with them around town. I declined and ended up meeting two very cool girls from Israel. The three of us sat and talked with for a couple of hours. We talked about politics, terrorists, differences and similarities in our countries, cultures, religions, and family values. It was so great to learn about other people and there beliefs. Next night was pretty mellow. Watched a movie in the room and then it was back out for me to meet people. Ran into some English people that we had met in Franz Josef. Had a drink with them and then headed off to a couple other bars to check them out. Found one that we liked called Red Rock, that had live music. Stayed there and danced for a while, went and had a mutton pie, then it was off to bed.