Blogs from Franz Josef, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 12

It was sitting and waiting for the bus that afternoon when I met aforementioned Aussie Kat. She too was waiting for the Stray bus (the name of the bus “tour” we were taking) and after talking for a few minutes we both realized, much to my relief, that neither one of us really had a clue as to how this bus pass thing worked. Well, at least I wasn’t the only one! Our bus finally showed up and as it approached Kat said the very thing that was rolling through my mind. “Is he even old enough to drive?!?” Through the front glass I saw a skinny kid with long, curly surfer blonde hair, growing scruff and wearing an oversized hat turned slightly to the side. He looked about 12. As he got off to help ... read more

The journey down to Franz Josef was broken up by some gold panning and a bushmans centre along with yet more stunning scenery before we arrived in Franz Josef, home to the famous glacier! After much deliberation we decided to go for it and join the half-day hike! Dressed in yet more attractive gear, this time waterproof trousers, raincoat, boots, hats and gloves, we made our way up the valley in the pouring rain, ever so slightly apprehensive about the rather dim views of the glacier! Luckily however the weather began to clear as we approached and by the time we had fitted our crampons we were getting really excited about hiking up the ice and onto the glacier! An hour later we had made it to our high point where we had fun taking pictures ... read more

22/11/10 - Franz Josef Glacier Up and showered and breakfasted. No rain today, hooray! Using my three maps again we got to the camper van service centre (I'm getting good at this) to sort out our Boot. We were seen immediately and went to look at more DVDs while the guy looked at the car and of course it wasn't broken at all, it turns out you have to lock it with a button and not the key in the obvious key hole in the boot. Wouldn't it have been nice if they told us that in the beginning? We left our car there and walked to the city. I'd never been on a tram before so we hopped onto the tram at the cathedral and got off at the botanical gardens for a wander around. ... read more

Sunday 7th November This morning we travel further down the West Coast before stopping in the township of Hokitka, famous for its local cuisine and treasured Pounamu Jade (greenstone). We stop for breakfast here and browse around a greenstone workshop reading a bit about the history and families involved in the excavation of the stones. Just a little further down the road we stop at the historic town of Ross where the traces of god rush that brought thousands to the area in the mid 1800’s are still evident. There is a large water filled hole here which was once the centre of mining operations and the locals are currently trying to get the site reopened as there’s 200 million pounds worth of gold still buried all around this area!! Where’s my pan!!! We pay about ... read more

Was glad I left the party early as we were up & out to try our hand at bone carving on Saturday morning. Originally myself & Debby were signed up to try Jade carving but the guy who ran that was away so we had to change. The hardest part was choosing which design to make. I chose a Maori Koru - a spiral taken from the new leaves of ferns that symbolises new life, growth, strength and peace. Mostly I chose it because I liked the simple spiral pattern that looks partway between the spiral and the fish hook designs! I was given my piece of bone (shin bone from cattle obtained from a friendly butcher) & traced my pattern onto it. The lady at the workshop then cut out the inner part of the ... read more