Abel Tasman/Franz Josef Glacier und Fox Glacier: Franz Josef, the patriotic emperor-glacier

After two cold and mostly wet weeks on the North Island our welcome-weather on the South Island wasn't much different, stormy, cloudy and cold. Aber at least we could already see a glimpse of the amazing landscape we were looking for in New Zealand already from the ferry.
That little beam of hope turned into a bright morning of sunshine the next day and thankfully stayed like that for the next couple of days, first in Able Tasman Nationalpark in the north of the South Island and further on down the west coast until Franz Josef Glacier. I twas almost as if the South Island sun was saying: "Sorry about my sister up there in the north. She's having a rough time with her boyfriend, that bloody moon-guy, that's why the weather was so bad there. But you're here now and I'm gonna make up for it, big time."
However, the increasingly beautiful scenery wasn't the only highlight on our way southwards worth mentioning here: On the morning of our departure from the Abel Tasman area hero L and dumbass M (the names have been changed to protect the innocent) get up and go into the kitchen to have breakfast. Also, Dumbass M plugs the laptop into the outlet so that they would have fully charged laptop for the journey. So they have breakfast, they pack their bags, they check out and then they're on their way southwards which turned out to be once more a beautiful scenic route along the coast. On their way they pass beautiful beaches, an amazing coastal scenery with cliffs and the so-called Pancake Rocks. So the travel on the whole day and it's already dark when they reach their destination, the town Franz Josef Glacier, named after the nearby glacier. They get a hostel, they check in, they store their food in the kitchen, the unpack their bags. Suddenly here L, who's usually the one to carry the laptop in his bag, realises that it's not where it's supposed to be: "Hey, M, have you seen the laptop somewhere?"- "No, I'm actually also just searching for the laptop cable that should be in my bag..." You can also hear their brains working as both of them realise that moment that they have left their laptop in the other hostel that morning. That other hostel, that is now 500km away. 500km one-way, that is. A short call to that place confirms it: The laptop hasn't moved since this morning, it's still standing there on the kitchen shelf with its charging light beaming brightly green as if to mock the two, saying: "Alright, fellas, that was nice, a nice day of charging, I really feel refreshed now, you can come and pick me up now!" So, really having no other choice, hero and dumbass set out in the early morning hours on a 6-hour-journey back to the north, this time with no stops for touristic highlighs on the way, pick up their laptop and drive back south, for another 6 hours. What's left after all that is a wasted day for both of them, around 100$ in gas bills and the hope that an incident like this is the best medicine for the forgetfulness of a certain dumbass...
But at least, in the end everybody and every machine who was supposed to be there, was there, 2 human beings and 1 Laptop enjoying absolutely gorgeous weather at the Franz Josef Glacier (and feeling very patriotic so close to something named after "our" former emperor ;) ). After what felt like at least half a million pictures the journey continued the next day to Queenstown, apparently the extreme- and funsport capital of New Zealand, maybe even the world. We'll see...