Lake Ohau (Contiki Day 12)

We left the boat this morning and made the long drive back through Queenstown to Lake Ohau. Lake Ohau is a large glacier fed lake in the middle of nowhere.

We had a hilarious moment as we rolled out of the parking lot in Milford Sound. As we were pulled out of the parking spot, a penguin suddenly appeared from underneath the bus, and waddled back over to the water. I guess he had been sleeping under the bus, and didn't appreciate his new home moving!

That night we stayed at Lake Ohau Lodge, which is situated right on the Lake Ohau, with nothing but mountains around, and a view of Mt. Cook (the highest mountain in New Zealand). There is where Sir Edmond Hillary trained for Everest (I'm not going to even tell you who Hillary is, you should know). The lodge is one of the most amazing settings ever. They don't have Internet yet, but thats probably a good thing. The staff working there were super cool too.

Today was Derrick and Nico's birthday, so we had a toga party to celebrate. When the birthday guys were blowing out their birthday cake candles, Derrick led the Aussies in a quick "Aussie Aussie Aussie... Oi Oi Oi ... Asssuie ... Oi Aussie Oi... etc). Then Nico performed an awesome routine of the Maori Haka dance. It was hilarious and well done.

(Me wearing my toga on the bar patio... with an amazing view. Yes, that is actually the view from the patio. And yes, I wasn't wearing underwear)