Moutain hiking. Believe it or not this shot was at midday. 

For much of the time the weather was horrible. That did not stop me from getting some hiking in, but it was not the best hiking I have been able to do. Most was in the South Island, near Mt. Cook park and the glaciers. Note the absence of anything resembling snow.... 

Another shot of Lake Kaniere near Hokitita. 

This lake was near Hokitita where I spent my first night on the South Island. There were some short hikes but nothing really distance-grabbing, so I gave up the goal to beat 60 miles of hiking on this trip, since it was obvious I was going to be spending much of it in the car. It took me 4 days to get here. 

This was the photo I was readying for when I shot myself driving. A cow traffic jam, not unlike those I have encountered in Wyoming...sense a recurring theme here? 

I accidentally took this photo of myself driving, when coming upon the next photo and readying the camera.... 

Still en route to the West Coast of the South Island, passing Wyoming-like scenery. 

This was about hour 4 to the west coast of the South Island, and it was starting to look a lot like Wyoming, so I was staring to like NZ a whole lot more.  

The entry into the South Island at Picton was nice, and there were some Maori onboard with a guitar strumming and singing. It was quite weird wearing 5 layers of clothing and hearing music that would have sounded more appropriate in Hawaii than New Zealand in Winter, but therein lies the considerable spread of the Polynesians. 

I took the ferry, and the rental car, to the south island only to learn later that this is taboo. You're supposed to return your rental car at the North Island ferry terminal and pick up a new one at the South Island. I did not, and paid an extra $150 NZ to tote the car across. Once I was over I learned about this and had to pay again to get back to the North Island, with the vehicle. 

Driving along the Coromandel peninsula. 

Another view of the Bay of Coromandel. 

Futher along the Coromandel, I sat a while on this beach...its waters looked steely cold, appropriately. It was 5 degrees Centigrade. 

The Coromandel Peninsula was my first destination and that was nice, I had 2 hours of sunshine that day and my first glimpse of the beautiful scenery. 

This is a steaming mudpit near Rotarua. There is a huge concentration of geothermal activity here, though in winter, to one who wears glasses, it is more a nuisance to walk through than a wonder, for all the time spent wiping my glasses clean.