New Zealand, Day 6

Now that Boston registration was actually open, I tried to get it out of the way. Boston was having lots of problems on their site, so it was no-go for me and thousands of others. Glad they have a 5-day timeframe, so I didn't need to be TOO worried about the delay and my not having easy access to the internet away from my phone and wifi connection.

The original plan for the day was to take a plane to Milford Sound and then take a boat/cruise around the sound. Alas, the weather was not cooperating, and my tour was canceled. And my only other available day to do this tour (Day 7) was also canceled in advance because of various conditions. Great. So, what to do for two totally open days?

First off, I made sure to be downstairs at the buffet breakfast when they opened so that I could get a seat by the huge windows overlooking sunrise. Amusingly enough, there were about a dozen or so college-age kids doing similarly and instantly being rushed out by one of the people organizing their outing for the day since the bus was set to leave at 6:35. They were barely able to touch any food by the time they abandoned the restaurant for their tour.

Afterwards, I went into the gym to get my workout out of the way. This really was a great view to have.

There is a trail that takes you around the side of the lake that, round-trip, is about 5 miles and that, on returning would also take me into their Botanical Gardens. Seemed liked a great idea to get miles in and have an evolving view of the surrounding landscape.

The marina was my turnaround point, where there was a cute restaurant, The Boathouse. While it was a little brisk, I chose to sit outside anyway. It was a nice view - why stay stuffed indoors when I'd get warmed up again on the return walk?

The food was quite good, and a decent-sized portion.

Next up was finding my way up one of the town's rather steep hills to get to Kiwi Park. Ironically, the only thing I couldn't take photos of were the kiwi -- since they are nocturnal and kept in an artificially darkened space (so they are awake during the daytime when the park visitors are present), where we are not permitted to take photos or video (given the additional light would freak out the kiwi).