Queenstown!!

Today was always expected to be a long day. 8 hours roughly over 350 New Zealand kilometres, from Franz Josef to Queenstown, and that would be as long as the quickest route was open and not shut due snow.
We left at 8 ready to roll, with rain falling all around and the valley filled with clouds. We stopped at several locations on the way, including Thunder Creek Falls, Blue Pools and Ship Creek. All gorgeous locations but the weather was a bit of a shame. They provided nice short bursts to escape the van and its confines. A quick pie for lunch, and we got to the Crown Mountain Range. Ringing to check it was open we were ready to go and it would then only be an hour until Queenstown. We got to the top of the peaks, and slight wet snow began to fall. A slow journey over the top and we could see Queenstown in the distance. We arrived and unpacked before dolling up and heading into town for Sachins 21st Birthday celebrations - dinner and drinks!! We had a table booked for Winnies - a gourmet pizza restaurant in the heart of the town. Queenstown is a bustling and busy tourist city centred around alpine and other extreme sports. The atmosphere was fantastic, and we generally shared large pizzas with various toppings! Desert was a pavlova organised by Rachel which was delicious. We then went on to the base backpackers bar and got in a few rounds of drinks and had a great dance. One bar later and 1am we decided to head home ready for the next day. It was a fantastic night out though. :)