NZ, the ice cold rain (snow) forest and why do my mittens smell like sheep?

Well...a lot's been going on down here, especially with the weather. We left Lake Wanaka yesterday to head up to the Franz Josef Glacier. I thought: "yes! Going north. Maybe less snow and a bit warmer!" WRONG! Instead we drove directly into a snow storm (again!) and this time it was significant, it was sticking to the road and there was a good 3-6 inches of snow/ice/slush to drive through for about 300km. Evan and I are good winter drivers after growing up in NH and Evan slowed down and was very cautious. I was not worried about him. Unfortunately, our "wicked" camper only starts 1 out of every 3 times and we're lucky it runs at all. I was a bit nervous about what it would do in the snow. Luckily, I'm here to tell you about it.

Once we were out of the storm I realized that the trees look like rain forest and not anything like the freezing cold climate we've been in. I decided that this is how the dinosaurs died. They thought it was going to be a regular spring day and then BAM! snow storm, too cold, death. I learned today, however, that NZ gets as much rain in certain areas as the Amazon (rain forest look, explained). I also learned that this recent snow is not really the norm but some sort of fluke this year. Yay!?

So today, we went glacier hiking! I was maybe 80% excited. I've seen glaciers. I've touched them. I even sledded on one (on a flannel shirt) back in the day. Why would I willingly hike on a cold, frozen, wet glacier (when it's probably going to rain or snow again)? Well, I'm glad I did.

The company we went with gave us all the proper waterproof gear, I was all layered up in my fleece and wicking clothes, and I got to wear these massive boots and crampons (not tampons, crampons - spikes you attach to your boots to help when walking on ice). We went up and down, we went through crevasses, we went through tunnels (irises), we saw the bluest ice I've ever seen, we even built a snowman. My toes only got cold when we stopped for lunch. We lucked out big time with the weather. It was relatively warm (but not too warm for all the layers we were all in) and it barely precipitated. We had a bit of snow/hail and a tiny bit of rain but I'd say most of the day was sunny/clear. (Don't worry, it's raining now).

I was also excited about the new glove/mittens I bought myself. They were warm and stayed pretty dry and let me use my fingers to take pictures and etc. And then I wiped my nose a couple times and realized that whoever made my glove/mittens basically took the wool off the sheep, wove my glove/mittens and put them on the rack to sell. By the end my hands and my nose all smelled as fresh(???) as a sheep. Lovely.

Tomorrow we're off to a night in some hot springs and then wine country for a few days before heading to another park for some more outdoorsy stuff. We're still heading north and hoping that at some point winter ends and spring begins (yes, it's supposed to be spring).

Oh, and this just in, we may be spending 4-5 nights in Fiji before heading to Australia. Dream. Come. True. (And SUNSHINE!). I'll let you all know when it's for certain!