Wilderness Lodge

We got up, had breakfast and packed the car so that we could check out before going to do an activity and then moving on. The girls were desperate to go on another canoe ride so Tony agreed to take them again. Meanwhile, my parents and Zeke and I took a 45 minute walk along a path through a rainforest that led to beautiful and remote Munroe Beach. It was an incredible walk through just amazing trees and shrubs that often intertwined or grew off of one another. And the beach was quiet and isolated and just a really special spot. We looked around for penguins that are known to mate and hang out there, but we apparently just missed them. Oh well – still a great walk. And on the way back Zeke and I even managed to get ahead a bit and jump out to scare my dad! Of course he paid us back later…
We met back up with the other three when we returned to the lodge. Not too surprisingly, Jordy had lost it a bit on their canoe ride having been confined in the boat for longer than she wanted to be. We left Lake Moeraki and headed up for Franz Joseph Glacier. We arrived at our hotel and walked around the corner to the little town to get a late lunch. We explored and signed up for a helicopter ride for the next morning to go to the top of the glaciers. We hung out at our hotel for a while and later my parents continued relaxing while the five of us went into town for a bite to eat.

View pictures from our trip:
December Slideshow
January Slideshow