A day of spectacle and awe as we took in astonishing views of New Zealand's Southern Alps.
This national park is a jewel and well-worth visiting. We were blessed with yet another bright, sunny, warm day, and we used it to savor the magnificent vistas of this range and to hike more than we had expected to, along beautifully maintained trails.
I can only share lots of photos with you, as added words would be superfluous, with once again the regret that we happened to visit under the worst possible conditions for photography.
Of the 23 New Zealand peaks taller than 3,000 meters, 19 are in this park, one third of which has a blanket of permanent snow and glacial ice. We would have also liked to hike up the Tasman Glacier, but the road there was closed for unknown reasons.
We got back to our range home by 5 PM, just in time to feed some leftovers to the pigs; play with Pip, the owner's dog; pet Michael Jackson, the adorable alpaca; feed some chickens and sheep, including Rimu the ram; meet James Brown, the black alpaca; and stuff Charlie and Murphy, the two Highland cattle with apples.
We dined divinely at Fishtail, an authentic Northern Indian restaurant, and to top off the day we returned to our idyllic spot on Lake Ruataniwha where this time our ducky friend, who was happy to see us, brought along her three lovely ducklings to make our acquaintance.
Have a blissful day. We did.
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