Much to my dismay, the polarmuse has returned from whence she came and alas, I am left to my vices. I give you today a very brief summary of the time spent under the last half-moon.

Above we see the illusive yellow-eyed penguin, one of the rarest penguins in the world. This one is on his way to work. He was spotted in the Catlins at the petrified forest as we rounded the bottom corner of New Zealand’s South Island.

We got really good recently at cooking with flour. It’s SO easy and saves heaps on bread/pasta costs etc. We perfected the van crafted tortilla most recently. Tortillas mean burritos.

We fed these Germans their first burritos. One the lefts is Julian’s first bite. On the right Lennart enjoys refried beans thoroughly. They will now go tell Germany about tortillas.

Thanks to Christina’s persistence we made it safely back to Kaikoura to go whale hunting (with our eyes). Here is a sperm whale going on a deep deep dive.

Now it’s time to find work. It’s looking like I’ll be picking fruit. Peaches? I hope.

And here’s what I’ve been listening to:

The Monkees – Long Title Do I Have To Do This All Over Again

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Lightspeed Champion – Marlene

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Passion Pit – Little Secrets

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Well as you might have assumed, my faithful followers, I have been involved in an in-depth liaison with my good friend Wünderlust for the better part of the last two months. Accompanied by my polarmuse, Christina, Wünderlust and I have explored the darkest crannies and the most illuminated knooks of New Zealand’s south island. As usual, there is simply far too much blabber required to sufficiently detail the precise events that have made up our journey. So, in an attempt to keep you all jealous and keep your eyes watering I’ll leave you with the following photographic highlights and a rough play by play. And just so you know, I am well.

After an over-indulgent week in Kaikoura we dove deep into the petrol-deprived tangles of the Marlborough sounds. Good tramps, free camps and plenty of lovely views abound. Following this, a week or so was spent in the grips of Golden Bay counting rock archways and flirting with Abel Tasman National Park. The above photo is an image of the actual Fairyland at dusk (it happens to be located in Nelson Lakes National Park).

Eager to leave the bush (and escape the sandflies) we made a push for the west coast. As it turns out, the west coast is the best coast in more than one country. We camped numerous nameless beaches working our way down to glacier country. Above is the much-loved Franz Josef Glacier in all of its receding glory.

The glaciers were DAMN impressive and only a short drive to the nearest beach! My kind of ice. I was a little disappointed in the lack of activity in which the glaciers took part. It reminded me of when you visit the zoo and the damn panda is just sleeping in the corner. DO SOMETHING you lazy panda! sike. I loved them, and in all reality they were very active; landslides, glacial melt and whatnot. This is a close-up of Fox Glacier.

And what would a season in New Zealand be with out your own private glow worm party? Just a minutes drive south of the glaciers we discovered a beautiful wooded dell. A nights stroll reveals a secret bioluminescent disco. Above is a 60 second exposure taken of the root cluster of a fallen giant.

If you look in the center you can see his little glowing butt. He’s been decorating all day.

The next few days were consumed by the Copland Track, a 7 hour, 11 mile hike up the luscious Copland Valley. The trail follows the aquamarine colored K— river nearly up to it’s origins in New Zealand’s Main Divide and ends at the Welcome Flat hot pools. These beautiful snagglies are members of the Sierra Range and would reveal themselves from behind the puffies from time to time.

That’s right, I said the hike ends at a series of sexy natural hot pools that are all varied in temperature to fit your soaking needs. This is a view from one of the hotter pools looking out across the valley. Thanks Zeus.

The water pouring out of the spring was attractive to this blood red algae. Truly bizarre. I’m not sure nature gets much more magical than this.

And here I find myself today, in Lake Wanaka, a lovely lake town. This is the lake itself reflecting up a storm (no pun).

From here we will move south to the very very bottom bottom of the south island. Christina leaves in 2 weeks which will make me a sad panda. Shortly after her departure my mom comes! We’ll run around a bit but I’m running out of money and soon I’ll need to find a job. Anyone wanna hire me..? I’m crafty..