So after my time in Fiordland National Park I went back to see Ginny and Gerry, Eve and Paddy at Halfway Bay Station.  We enjoyed a great meal and some Emerson's Pilsners and the following day I went on one last sheep muster in the high country with Gerry and his new shepherd Mark.  The top photo is the walk down after getting the mob through a tricky gate to graze the high country for the summer.

I ended my trip in Queenstown and went on an epic mission to bid farewell to the country I've come to love.  Yesterday I walked up the 3,000 + foot elevation gain to the top of The Remarkable Mountains which stand proud over Frankton, Queenstown, and Lake Wakatipu.  I made it to the top for an illuminated late day view over the valley below and bid farewell to the sun as I made my way down the back side of the range to Lake Alta.  After a good long drink of ice cold water from the lake I started down.  I descended the ski area nestled on the back side of the range and ran the access road out the 12km to the main road, and the remaining 6km back to town.

The run was amazing, two hours of bliss.  A breeze in my face, hair blowing in the wind, Lake Wakatipu below, the amber hue of tussock and silhouetted speargrass on ridgelines.  Miraculous mountains to the west, snow capped Alps to the north, the TSS Earnslaw returning from it's sunset cruise, and me in a zone of my own, rolling down.  The sun set transforming the sky from pale blue and orange to a glowing fire in the west, and endless pastel shades of purple to the east.  The first stars showed in the north, and I followed an upside down Orion to the north, while the Southern Cross watched my back as I churned my way over the Kawarau river and up the low lit slopes of Frankton.

Thanks for everything New Zealand!