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Published: January 31st 2006
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Hi everyone!
Last time, I promised pictures of glaciers and here they are. Quickly first though, we did a little day hike around Lake Matheson. It's a famous spot for viewing Aoraki Mount Cook, the tallest point in the country. Nearby is Mount Tasman. Both are named after major European explorers who helped discover of New Zealand.
January 26th marked Caitlin's 23rd birthday and her first in New Zealand with perhaps more to come in the distant future. As a birthday gift, I had gotten a bottle of Marlborough sauvignon blanc that we drank the night before our adventure. Combining this hangover with my intense (but waning) fear of heights and Caitlin's fear of anything loud and mechanical (just teasing, actually, it's of helicopters), we were asking for a rough ride.
To complicate matters, I had also finally broken my cheapo 15 dollar pair of sunglasses. They absolutely recommend bringing sunnies on the helihike so I in a desperate attempt to salvage the cheap pair, I managed to some how superglue my fingers together! When it comes to super glue, Murphy's Law always applies. This was BEFORE we drank the wine. See Caitlin's future blog that
Lake Matheson
A popular image capturing Mount Cook and Mount Tasman. On a still day, you often get mirror images reflecting off the water. will undoubtedly have a picture of this debacle...
The next morning, we drove an hour down the road to Fox Glacier from Franz Josef Township for our 9 am departure. I sprang for a fantastic new pair of sunnies, complete with a protective hardcase. I learned my lesson the hard way. We boarded a rickety old tour bus to take us to the helicopter pad. They outfitted us and a few dozen other hikers with snow socks, boots, and gave us a disturbingly short safety speech on helicopters. Though I was most worried for the Japanese contingent who didn't seem to understand much of what our Scandinavian guide was saying. Yikes.
Within a few minutes, we were on the helipad where a few extremely loud helicopters landed quickly and a little too close for comfort. We boarded, our pilot greeted us and we were off! The pilots obviously really enjoy their jobs, because during the rollercoaster ride, they'd glance over their shoulders and grin at me desperately trying to keep down my breakfast. At breakneck speeds, they scooted over the mountains that nestle the glacier and the amazing waterfalls that eventually join the underglacial river. I
Expensive Views
Think of how much money I've just saved you! actually even managed to smile and have some fun while the horizon pitched in the distance.
One rollercoaster ride later we landed and our guides handed out our instep crampons. Our group of about 12 had an American guide named Mike, who's been to 47 states excluding Louisiana, Maine and Hawaii. Caitlin took offense when he tried to explain that he just hadn't had the TIME to get up to Maine when he'd been in New Hampshire and Vermont.
The next few hours were an amazing, surreal journey over ice formations. The pictures aren't even close to the feeling of being on this incredible prehistoric chunk of ice. First off, the temperature is hard to convey. It is sort of strange to feel a blistering hot New Zealand sun on top of you, but intense cold coming from below your feet. The sheer size of these crevasses (cracks) and seracs (towers) is immense, awesome, amazing. The brilliant blue of the glacial water was unbelievable.
The chemistry nerd in me reared its ugly head when I asked Mike why it was so blue? His stammered answer was, "All ice is blue! The question is why
the top ice is white?" I was not satisfied with this Raffi type of answering a question with another question so I scoffed under my breath, "Hmph. I wonder if it's Rayleigh scattering." Mike said, "Uh, yeah maybe? That sounds good, I'll use that in my next tour!"
If anyone REALLY knows why the glacial waters are so blue, let me know, eh?
The day after the helihike, we checked out of Franz Josef and drove down to the trailhead of the Copland Track. The plan was to hike up to the Welcome Flats Hut, stay two nights and walk back down. Caitlin was excited by this hike because of the amazing glacial rivers that we followed for much of our hike, the moutain views and the natural hot pools by the hut. Ahh, relaxing.
The hike was nice, aided by amazing weather and friendly hikers. We got there early and set up our tents under the Bivouac Rock, a huge rock overhang by a friendly little stream. We had a great time relaxing, drinking in the alpine views, chilling by the river and building little fires to keep the mozzies and sandflies away.
Glacial Lake
Puddles, really. ICE COLD puddles. I only regretting not bringing s'mores supplies but the marshmallows in New Zealand are different and they just wouldn't have been up to par. The last morning, I took a relaxing dip in the hot pools and took in the sunrise before walking back down the mountain. Beautiful!
The hike down took an hour less than up, which was a pleasant surprise. We boarded Chipppy with a German fellow, Hannes, we'd met up at the Welcome Flats Hut who needed a lift south. Technically, I suppose he was a hitchhiker but no worries, mom. With three people packs in the tiny car, he couldn't have hurt us if he tried. I doubt he could have MOVED if he tried.
The drive down from Welcome Flats down to Wanaka was a gorgeous mountain pass going through the Haas Pass. It skirts along the Mount Aspiring National Park, loaded with beautiful lake panoramas and waterfalls just minutes away from the road. We stopped often and drove along blasting John Mayer. When Hannes told us he was a devout John Mayer fan, that was enough of an indicator of his good character for me! Apparently John Mayer is still
sort of underground in Germany so he was happy to hear everything I knew about my favorite artists and guitar inspiration. At one point in the car ride, while I was bellowing "'83" and snapping photos, I said to Caitlin, "I'm pretty much in heaven right now".
We've been in Wanaka for two nights. It's a great little town, a mix of a college and ski town set by a beautiful lake! There are an abundance of foreign restaurants (not easy to come by in NZ outside of cities) and great day hikes. Yesterday, we did the Diamond Lakes walk, summitting Rocky Mountain. From the top, I saw the perfect cone of Mount Aspiring. It's often compared to the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps for its conical shape. Even the nice hostel we stayed at was called Matterhorn South.
I wish I could stay here longer, but we are off to Te Anau, a little hiking town at the heads of the Milford and Kepler Tracks. Both are Great Walks and Caitlin is doing the Kepler while I kayak around the fiords. HOPEFULLY I can do both the Doubtful and Milford but we'll see how pricey these
Copland River
Glacial Rivers guided trips have become.
Okay, enjoy the pictures! I hope all of you are doing well.
Much love
meesh 😊
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Hazel
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Hi, Michelle. Enjoyed reading your journals. The pictures are amazing. Wish I was there.