More rugged and beautiful scenery

I mentioned yesterday that eleven members of our group were hoping to go on a glacier helicopter ride.  In fact, this morning's weather was perfectly beautiful, and they were able to fly.  They flew from Franz Josef glacier, near our hotel, to the nearby Fox Glacier, where they landed on the ice.  They all had a fabulous time.  The rest of us hopped on the bus and picked up the helicopter group at Fox Glacier, and then continued our tour.  We rode through more of the Southern Alps, saw some waterfalls, crossed many rivers, and saw three amazing, turquoise lake.  The first two were Lake  Waneka and Lake Hawea.  Holy cow, they are breathtaking.  For one thing, the color is astonishing.  For another thing, they are huge.  Lastly, there is nothing around them.  They're basically in the middle of nowhere, and have no homes around them.  The third beautiful lake we saw was Lake Wakatipu.  That's the lake that Queenstown sits on the edge of.  We're staying in a motel that looks out on the lake, and it is just as gorgeous and huge and turquoise as the other two lakes.  Queenstown is a pretty and popular city.  On this perfect Saturday, there were lots and lots of people wandering around the shops and at the edge of the lake.  I hope the pictures I took today capture the beauty of what we saw.