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Today I have run out of superlatives. Today was one of my most wonderful ever. Today we sat in a helicopter looking down on Franz Josef, Fox and Tasman Glaciers, admired Mts Cook and Tasman and walked on virgin snow and ice on the Glacier itself. It was all just so incredibly, wonderfully, awesomely stunning!
We’d had big discussions on which trip to have, and whilst we’d have liked to go on the ‘see everything 40 minute’ trip, we decided that the ‘see both glaciers 30 minute’ trip suited our budget a little better. We were delighted when we got there that only 2 other people had booked onto the flight at 9:30 (they will only take off if they have a minimum of 3, and the maximum no of passengers is 6 - which must be very crowded). We were even more delighted when we were quietly told by the office girl that they had booked and paid for the 40 minute all-inclusive trip - so we got it too for no extra charge!! How lucky was that?!
We were also extremely lucky because there wasn’t a cloud in the sky - the sun was beating down from
an azure sky and the snow glowed brightly in the sunshine. I was surprised by the aqua blue colour of some of the glacier and joked about the fact that it wouldn’t be white if it was in England. I was informed that until a few days ago, it had been quite brown due to the bush fires that they’ve had - but luckily it had snowed the last 2 nights which had put it back to pristine white. Less than an hour after we landed we noticed that the clouds had started to form round the mountain tops, so we were really very lucky to get such a good view of everything! (lucky is obviously the word for the day!!)
The flight itself was incredible - John got to sit in the front for most of the journey, but we did swop round with the other couple after walking on the glacier. It was really easy to lose perspective and forget the size of what you’re looking at - it was almost a shock when the pilot pointed out a helicopter which had landed on the glacier ... it looked like a gnat! We couldn’t fly round Mt
Cook because of the wind (it felt a little wobbly at times), but we got a good view of it. We also flew over the rain forest - amazing that a glacier could terminate in a rain forest! We also got a good view of two kettle lakes - lakes that have been created by melting glacier, rather than fed by rivers, and are effectively puddles. It was all fantastic, and we asked if we could go again for free!!
Before we left Franz Josef we stopped to look at their 2 beautiful churches. St James Anglican Church - officially designated Historic - was consecrated in 1931 ... my dad’s older than that and no-one calls him Historic ... well not to his face if he’s wearing his hearing aid anyway!! The outside of the church was unusual but not particularly special (it had been built on a budget with donations from the locals) - but it had the most incredible ‘stained glass’ window - a clear window with a fantastic view of the glacier. Interestingly, the view through the front window of their church, as seen from the alter, was used on New Zealand’s 1946 ‘Peace’ stamp to
celebrate the end of WW2. By 1953 the glacier had receded from view ... but by 1994 it was back - how does that square with global warming eh?! (Addendum: John is highly embarrassed - his photos of the window didn’t come out very well ... he says sorry!)
As we set off, there came the familiar sound of crashing from the back as sodoku books, pens and magazines cascaded onto the floor. After 8 weeks of careful tutoring, we still don’t seem to have been able to get past the basic ‘leave it on the side, it will slide off’ lesson! John’s response was his well practiced Catherine Tate ‘bothered!’
John says he can’t believe it (he’s sounding more like Victor Meldrew every day) - yesterday we barely took any photos, and today has been one photo shoot after another. We passed and quickly stopped at Urupa Maori Cemetery - fascinating for the spiders’ webs catching the sunlight as well as for the mist rising up as the day warmed the soil ... very eerie! We also stopped at Bruce Bay where passers-by have stopped and created monuments out of the driftwood and stones piled up. They
were such fun and a glorious sight ... but unfortunately the sand-flies were lying in wait for anyone daft enough to stop, and we were soon scurrying back to the van.
We drove through Mount Aspiring National Park admiring the snow capped peaks of the mountains (wow!). We also noticed that the rivers are almost turquoise blue and clear - we have obviously left behind whatever it is in the hills that make the water grey. The Haast Pass, including both Thunder Creek Falls and Fishtail Falls almost finished off today’s trek. We are now camped on the banks of Lake Wanaka - listening to the wind blowing madly. Changeable, the weather here!!
Due to all the mountains, we’ve barely been able to hear the radio today, but we did manage to catch one bulletin by Radio New Zealand (our station of choice) (because John gets really, really fed up with all the adverts on the other stations). The news bulletin started with the oil slick in America and finished with a fire in a hay barn on North Island - 3 firetrucks were attending and the fire chief advised that everything was under control, but that the
smoke may cause a nuisance. I just love it!!
I’d better close now, John’s pointed out that these blogs are getting longer and longer as I ramble on - and I have some research to do - reading all of the NZ Caravan Club magazines that Alan & Jos gave us to see if I can find any sites for us to stay at ... I did hint that John could help, but he said it kept my mind active and stopped me going senile ... and surprisingly he can still walk!!
That’ll be #12, the Glaciers ticked off! And #22 South Westland, which has been declared a World Heritage Area.
Oh and creeks ... probably too many to mention today: Kiwi Jacks, Stinky, Hare Mare, Dusty Millar (spelt with an ‘a’), Dismal, Boggy and would you believe, another Doughboy ... what am I missing here? Oh - and we also saw a Thomas Bluff!
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