TO THE MOUNTAINS WITH YA'!

It's November 4, election day to us, but it won't happen in the US until tomorrow. Here in New Zealand, we leave Invercargill without a hitch but, alas, without breakfast. But I could have kissed Ron's feet when he came back before I was even out of bed with a darn-near decent cup of brewed coffee from a near-by business. Lucky since not much opens early here. We made our way along the southwest coast seeing wonderful waters both calm and wild, the sky with surprises around every corner, rain, clearing, mist and clouds. We've got it all in one micrclimate. We get out our hats and warmest jackets to be ready to jump out of the car any time we see something to be explored such as NZ's longest suspension bridge. Looks like it held cars at one time, but not now. We walk from one side to another over the river and finally see one other group of travelers who've stopped, but mostly we are alone. We reach Te Anau in the early afternoon and are pleased to be in one place for 2 nights in a row and right across the street from a very large and very pretty lake. We reject any lake activities - it's too cold - but we do take a long walk on the lake short to the Fiordlands National Park office and beyond to a bird sanctuary where, sadly, the birds are in cages. It's very nicely maintained and spacious, but we are not keen. We walk home via the Park office to check tomorrow's weather at Milford Sound where we will take a boat cruise through the fiords to the Tasman Sea. Snow tonight??? Gulp. No chains. We walk to town, look around, and select a place for dinner that is run by Italian immigrants. Interesting people. By the time we get home, it's raining in ernest. I refuse to walk back for dinner because by that time it's a deluge and in the low 40's. We're happy to turn on our heated mattress pads which have been standard issue since we left Christchurch. What does that tell you?