Blogs from Fox Glacier, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 11

Day 539 (18.09.08) From Haast we drove northwards to Fox Glacier where we'd made the walk to the terminal face on our last visit. We'd noticed that there was also a road to a glacier viewpoint so we drove up there. From the end of the road there are a few walks you can do so we walked down to the viewpoint for a great view of the glacier snaking it's way down the valley from it's large snow collection area up on the mountains. We continued along the river to a swingbridge and then turned back to the van. Along the way back we could hear a lot of birdsong and spotted a couple of Tuis, native birds with two small white puffs under the chin (we'll try to get a picture for you sometime!) ... read more

Another day, another sub zero morning, this time in Queenstown, a centre for adventure tourism.Queenstown is built around an inlet on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin lake shaped like a staggered lightning bolt, and has spectactular views of nearby mountains. Skiing, jet boating, bungy jumping, mountain biking, tramping and fly fishing are all strong promotional themes. Queenstown is a major centre for snow sports in New Zealand, with people from all over the country and many parts of the world travelling to ski at the four main mountain skifields (Cardrona Alpine Resort, Coronet Peak, The Remarkables and Treble Cone). We are up and about very early as we have lots to cram into our schedule today. It is Sunday morning, freezing cold, but the sun is shining (again), no traffic ( unlike when we arrived last ... read more

NZ Day 4 Will Power, Determination, and Wool That’s what got me through the day. Today we woke up bright and early but not too early because we were already across the street from where our glacier adventure would begin. I had pb toast and a nice cup of tea. We didn’t see any of the forecasted snow that was supposed to come overnight so we were excited for the day to come. We suited up in many layers and headed across the street to the glacier guide headquarters. There they suited us up with waterproof jackets and overtrou (over trousers), hats, woolen mittens and wool hiking socks as well as hiking boots. They also gave us Crampons (a spikey thing that you strap on the bottom of your shoes so that you can walk ... read more

It's about time for an update! No photos this time I'm afraid - I have so many that they're going to take ages to upload so I'll do a big job lot when I have some time - probably when we get back to Christchurch. I'm now in the South Island which is absolutely beautiful! We ended our stay in the North with a great night out in Wellington: a meal in a local restaurant and then drinks at the bar where we were staying which was surprisingly stylish aside from the long table that made up the dance floor! It was ladies night so we had free sparkling wine, and then there were lots of games to be played including a dance-off which Lisa won - her prize was a $50 bar tab so she ... read more

Time for a challenge, anyone? From Queenstown we headed for Wanaka, a small town about two hours north, along a series of ridiculously windy roads (did I mention we were out late the night before?). It's a cute enough place, surrounding (surprisingly) Lake Wanaka, and among its attractions is Puzzling World, a quirky place for those fond of getting lost. The main draw is a large maze when adults and kids alike wander around (unfortunately its a wooden construction, in my opinion any proper maze should consist of hedges), looking for the four corners, before finding their way out again. Myself and Sib (Claud was asleep in the back of the car), managed to find three, then decided it was too hot and we were too tired, and so we nipped out the emergency exit. There ... read more