Blogs from Franz Josef, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania
May 21st 2012
George (with commentary by Carla): On Tuesday we go to the airplane museum where there are lots of life-size model planes and some of them are flyable, and one of them is the only one of its kind left in the world. Some of the models are very odd. The drive down from Linkwater to Blenheim took us from fjords, inlets and wooded hills into the big country of fertile plains and vineyards. The New Zealand Royal Air Force has a base at Blenheim as there’s lots of flatness to land planes on. Peter Jackson the film director has also located his WW1 aeroplanes museum here, capitalising on the space available in the same way. It’s called the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre and it focuses on planes and flyers of WW1 both on the Allied and ... read more
May 18th 2012
Well, it's been a while. My only excuse is that I really haven't had a chance to update the blog because I've been enjoying myself a bit too much. Seems fair enough to me. Anyway, think the last time I checked in was in Brisbane so I shall tell you my story from there. After I left mike's I went down to Surfer's Paradise for a day where I took a surfing lesson for a couple of hours and spent the rest of the day working on my tan! The next day I moved on down to Byron Bay and I really loved it there. It was quite a small little place but was really relaxed. No one was in a hurry and I just chilled out for most of the time i was there. I ... read more
March 24th 2012
Franz Josef Glazier its on the west cost of NZ is one of three unique glaziers in the world- the other being 20 mins down the road and the 3rd in Argentina. What is so unique is that the glazier is not in a cold area rather a rainforest tropical one in NZ. The Southern Alps mountains receive so much rain and when it settles on the top of the mountain it settles as snow. This then compacts as ice and slides down the mountain like a river- it is actually flowing! So we booked our guided hike with some trepidation as this was one of the highlights for me and would it live up. The photos show it did, 7 hours hiking on snow, crawling through crevasses and climbing through naturally made tunnels. The day ... read more
March 18th 2012
Hi Everyone, Our biggest adventure came next when we arrived in Taupo. This is one of the places to do a sky dive. Our names were down and there was no backing out. Everyone who wanted to do it on our bus was doing it so at least we got to do it with friends. When we got to the centre we were shown a video of what it looked like. i dont think it was a good idea as it scared more people. We eventually got suited up and went up in the plane. We flew to 1500 ft and went for it. just like everyone else had said, it was amazing. that gave us a rush for the rest of the day and we celebrated in the evening with everyone. we had 2 days ... read more
Hiking the Franz Josef Glacier
Published: March 15th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Franz Josef
March 15th 2012
CRAZY hike today. After getting all our gear on (raincoat, boots, pack, "over trousers", crampons), we left the base at around 9:45am and took a bus to the park. After a ten minute walk through the rainforest, and a 45 minute walk across a valley and some streams, we made it to the bottom of Franz Josef Glacier and put the crampons on our feet to help grip the ice. It rained most of the day, so we were soaked by the end of our intense 5 hours walking up the glacier. Definitely one of the craziest things we've ever done! We trudged through slippery rock, climbed up ice steps, squeezed in tiny crevasses, and even had the chance to check out a couple glacier caves. We got back to base at about 5:45, dripping wet ... read more
Days 2 Drive to Franz Josef
Published: March 15th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Franz Josef
March 14th 2012
No internet access last night, so here's a basic rundown of our day yesterday: Sunrise walk on Punakaiki Beach Ate lunch and walked around Hokitika Hiked the Mahinapua Walkway and Picnic Point Stopped in an old mining town, Ross, where the biggest gold nugget in the world was found in 1909 Today, we hiked the Franz Josef glacier, which was pretty crazy. We are too pooped to post anything, but will be sure to put up photos soon!... read more
March 6th 2012
After breakfast we loaded the car up again and got back on Rt. 6 heading north toward the glacier country. Another couple at the Lodge, Nan and Art from Spokane, told us about Lake Matheson near the town of Fox Glacier. They said there was a real pretty walk around the lake which was easily accessed from the main road. Since we had all day and not a lot of distance to cover we decided to check it out. The car park and trail head was right where we’d been told, so off we went. Our first surprise was when we crossed the river which flowed out of the lake. Up till now all the rivers we’d seen had been crystal clear, but this one while clear had a very marked brown color. We later asked ... read more
February 25th 2012
So last we left you in Carters Beach with some rather underwhelming seals. Now we are in Franz Josef Glacier Township in the sunshine, at last! We have been continuing south on the West Coast Highway. Most of this journey was done in torrential rain and so although we were passing by the Southern Alps we didn't really see them. We made one over night stop inland at Jacksons Retreat, a one horse town if ever there was one. It seamed to consist of a luxury Holiday Park and one tavern. We opted to follow the guidebooks recommendation and go for our evening meal at the local tavern, only to find it in darkness because of a power cut caused by a flood at Kelly's Creek. (It really had nothing to do with me) We were ... read more
February 22nd 2012
Here are some photos from our guided hike up the Franz Josef glacier on the West Coast. -sean... read more
February 8th 2012
Up and about early, and headed to the glacier centre in town, from where we'll be ice climbing. It's a beautiful day which I'm not sure is a good thing or not. Baking sunshine and hiking don't tend to go well together. Throw in some ice, or rather slush, and we could be in for a bambi on ice disaster... First things first - I have to pass the medical. 'Any breathing problems, madam?' 'Oh, just antipodean asthma. Does that count?' 'Hmm, ok, well, any back or neck injuries?' 'Does a horse-related encounter with a tree count?' 'There's no hope for you...' Fortunately all the questions did were give the guys in charge a laugh. Permission to hike granted! We set off on the bus for the 10 minute hop to the entrance, at which stage ... read more
