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Published: July 21st 2005
So I've not added anything in quite a while. I think the entries will probably get more and more scarce from this point forward. I've been using Wellington as my home-base, as it had free internet and whatnot. I won't be returning there again and per-minute internet is realllly expensive.
I've now split from the girls and I'm travelling the south island with my friend Casey, who I go to school with at DePaul. He's been travelling Australia for the last month, and is spending another 30 days here in NZ. We met in Wellington on the 18th, only about an hour after my return from my excursion with the girls in the south. This is our second day together and we've made it as far down as Fox Glacier, which is maybe a 20 minute drive from Franz Joseph Glacier, where my entries last left off as I was about to hike it with Sara and Kelly. This is where I'll begin.
Actually I don't know how to begin. This was probably the most amazing thing I've done so far on the entire trip. I had imagined glacier hiking...just walking across somewhat rugged frozen turrain for a bit. None of this. It mostly constisted of glacier climbing. Not exactly straight up, but damn near. It was unreal. We were in a group of about 20. We arrived in the canyon where the glacier is located. I was under the impression that a glacier was a mass of ice floating around in water, but they explained that it's actually any mass of ice, anywhere. This particular glacier is unique in two ways...one, that is exists in a rain forest! I think I wrote earlier about driving through a rain forest. It's really really bizarre, because you're looking around at rain-forest rain-forest rain-forest...boom, glacier. It's strange. Second, it's currenly the fastest advancing glacier in the world at 6 meters a day. Most glaciers advance 1 meter per year. One guy tried to use it to commit suicide...he stood 2 meters in front screaming "I'm gonna kill myself!!!" and waited for it to run him over. It was 14 hours of slow drama. Casey actually just made that story up but I thought it was humorous.
To explain how a glacier advances on land, I'd really need to draw a picture. Imagine a bunch of mountains with a big glacier in the middle of them. It rains and snows and rains and snows, piling more ice on the glacier that pushes down on the ice at the bottom. So the weight pushes this bottom-ice out between the canyons of the surrounding mountains. It's called the tongue of the glacier, and it's what we hiked up. 1/4 of it anyway...and that took 6 hours.
They outfitted us in everything we needed. They had gortex-everything...pants, coats, hats, gloves, etc. Gortex is water-proof by the way. Right. When we finished everything I owned was soaked, passport to underwear. They gave us mountain boots with spikes to fit to the bottom to when we reached the ice. That was actually a journey in itself. You reach the valley and the glacier seems to be RIGHT THERE, but it's actually a magic glacier and takes a decieving 45 minute walk to reach. Tricky glacier...
I won't go into the valley we walked through to get there...it was unreal. 4 waterfalls. I don't think I've ever been in anything so massive, with nothing but other massive things surrounding it. You just feel stupidly insignificant.
So we reached the face of the ice and I was thinking it was obviously impossible to climb without rope and ice picks. Similar to the cave rafting, I once again couldn't believe some of the safety issues. We were scrambling up rock crevasses that would kill with one simple slip. It was nuts...
Anyways, I was wrong about the face of the ice. We went high enough on some rocks in front of it to enter into one of its huge cracks. Our 20 person group had split into 3 smaller groups that would be easier to manage for the guides. Each was supposed to be different in speed, fitness, and ability. I really didn't mean to but I ended up in the fastest one, which while challenging turned out to be the most fun. The guide walked ahead of everyone, using an ice pick to try and carve foot holds as we went. There were a few parts I was sure we'd have to turn around. the glacier is constantly changing, and general paths the guides would take for days deteriorate all the time. About 3/4 the way up, the path he'd used the day before had melted so we were forced to go another route. The crazy ass chose to go straight up and over a huge crevasse. At one point he actually turned to the group and asked, "We don't have any real fatties here...do we?" The crack we were about to squeeze through required one person from behind pushing you, and the one in front pulling. Yes, it was a tight squeeze even for my thin, voluptuous, desirable man body. uhgg...I knew I shouldn't have worked my pecs out so hard. and squeezing my biceps through...jeez what a struggle. But...I guess it's all part of being gorgeous, you know. ya gotta wonder if its worth it sometimes. But I say, as I flex and type at the same time, that yes, it is worth it.
Alright so enough with the glacier...I'm almost out of time anyways. I'll just end reiterating that it was one of the best things I've ever done in my life.
Me and the girls actually got rained out or had bad luck with the other things we'd planned to do. Skiiing in Wanaka is hard when there's no snow...and whale watching in Kiaokora didn't happen either due to the weather. We made the most of it though, and went wine tasting again instead ;-)
I finally completed my 12 bottle case, only to discover that it is impossible to carry while travelling. ok ok, it's actually just impossible to not drink. I'm now back down to 8 bottles.
I need to end this now as I'm running out of time. Casey and I have done some realllly cool things in the two days we've been together. Both of our budgets are running really thin so we're having to do a lot of free/cheap things. No more eating out, and we've mainly planned on doing nothing but tramping the rest of the trip. The tramps we did today were awesome. We stumbled upon one this afternoon that took about 2 hours. It ended in this really bizarre cave with huge, green boulders everywhere around it. Looked fake. I can't wait to get the photo's developed when I get home...words can't do it justice.
Anyways I'm out of time and need to end this. There's so much more to write...travellers I've met and the stories they tell, future ideas...blah blah blah. I've enjoyed what little tramping I've done and the stories I've heard so much that I think I'd really like to try and do at least some of the Appalachian trail at some near point in the future. That's from Georgia to Maine, and takes 6 months (can be done in 3). So if any Eagle-Scouts out there have any interest in joining (Red), let me know ;-)
Until next time.
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Bernadette
non-member comment
I'll raft with you, but no walking ...
Hey Sammy Joe - I have enjoyed reading your blog. I want to see your pictures and your biceps. I was telling T.J. of your adventure and he said "Bob's your uncle," translated in New Zealand as "your kidding." Have fun, be careful.