Blogs from West Coast, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 34

Drove into Franz Josef and immediately booked ourselves onto the 3/4 day hike especially organised to fit in with the Stray tours for the following day. We stayed in a portacabin at the Rainforest retreat, and were abit disappointed to find their Spa empty! The Franz Josef Glacier Guides company was quite a big outfit. They gave us all the necessary kit for the hike, including boots and 'Talonz', crampons specially made to fit the leather boots. We went by minibus to the foot of the valley, then walked for an hour to the terminal face of the Glacier. It was so impressive to see one of the only glaciers in the world that is actually advancing. Incredibly it currently moves down the valley at over a metre per day, although the terminal face melts by ... read more

22.11.05 It was another sunny day so we planned to lay on Kaiteriteri beach, but it was a little breezy so we moved on. Along the way we had a look at Little Kaiteriteri beach which was pretty. We carried on to a little town called Murchinson where we went to have a look at Bullers Gorge, which has the longest swing bridge in New Zealand. We went across the bridge ($5 just to walk over or $35 for other ways that you will find out about later) through the annoying, biting sand flies, and then had a walk around the short track. To come back you can either go across the bridge again, sit in a chair and zip wire across or zip wire in the style of superman, (this is what the $35 is ... read more

Or, You Try Arguing Who Has To Yield With A Holstein Toward the end of the day today, when we were exhausted from tramping (the local word for hiking for those of you who know what else we're capable of), we were out on this country road that wasn't even mapped. We managed to find this gorge with a swing bridge that went across a pool of water the color of a bar of Zest soap. Yet again remarkable. But yes, we know it's beautiful. The country road. We're trying to make our way back to civilization after tracking down the gorge with vague directions from a local. And we're wondering why there's an amber light flashing up ahead. Ah. That's the light that lets you know the cows are crossing the road. Apparently the ladies ... read more

Rich and I got up early and met Alison, Andre’s wife, who cooked us a delicious breakfast featuring bacon and eggs, homemade muesli with freshly-made yoghurt, tomatoes from the garden. I tried some Vegemite on toast - VERY salty and definitely a taste I’m not likely to acquire. Then our fellow guests Penny and Greg arose, and it turned out they were from Santa Barbara so we were an all-California contingent. The property was wonderful - great vistas, lovely gardens, very warm hospitality. One mistake Rich and I made was not discovering the chocolates in the bathroom before turning on the powerful bathroom heater… As we enjoyed the common room, Alison excused herself to feed the calves. Penny and Greg said goodbye and hit the road, and about ½ hour later we said our goodbyes to ... read more

The evening before I left Hokitika I wasn’t quite sure where I wanted to go next. I went to the information center downtown and I looked through all of the tourist brochures and I talked to the ladies at the counter, but I wasn’t sure I liked what I was hearing. It seemed to be unanimous with everyone I talked to that Franz Josef was the best match for what I was looking for - I wanted to do a lot of hiking, I wanted to be in a fun town in a scenic area and I didn’t want to feel the need to spend a lot of money. I had originally decided against visiting the glacier towns, because, after all, I had spent the last nine months practically living on a glacier. The other places ... read more