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Published: November 30th -0001
Fox Glacier
Do you like my Crampons?New Zealand - Part 2
Fox Glacier Fox is only a half hour drive from Franz and the town itself, whilst set out differently is pretty much the same.
We started deliberating about doing the "Heli-Hike" we had come here to do as again there were weather problems and we only had a few days here.
Finally we decided against the helicopter ride altogether and just thought we would do the hike instead! Our new plan was to do a Heli-RAFT in Queenstown instead!
The Hostel we stopped at hired mountain bikes out so the day before we did the hike we decided to bike to
"Lake Matheson. It's only 6km away but we only got as far as the bottom of the street before there was a gunshot like explosion and my bike tyre blew up! After going back to change my underpants - It really was quite loud - We were able to swap the bikes for some others so we tried again.
Unfortunately the other bikes weren't up to much either. We got all the way there, took one picture and came straight back again because Victoria was pissed off with the bikes...We
Fox Glacier
Do I look like an Ice-hole? were that quick the man at the hostel decided not to charge us!
Walking on ice There are two options for the glacier hike; a full day and a half day. Everyone we had spoken to said do the full day as you see so much more. After further long deliberations we decided to do the half day. We had been discussing it for that long and changing our minds I can't even remember how we came to that decision?
The trip was still great though. Admittedly most of the four hour trip is spent walking to the glacier (1.5 hours there). Some of it is quite interesting though with treacherous walks along sheers drops down the cliff and great elevated views of the glacier itself.
We had been given proper walking boots and also "Crampons"- which for non-mountain climbers are spikes that strap to the boots. As soon as we got to the glacier and off the rocky bit we all stopped to attach the crampons and had a go walking on the ice for the first time...It's quite easy but you do have to "Stamp" your feet a bit.
The place
is quite amazing. Alot of the ice is blue because it is so compact and light can't penetrate it properly. This makes for some spectacular coloured formations. We had to crawl under an ice arch and got to stand in a hole! I can't quite remember what type of hole it was but it was definitely icy and hole like...
We had about an hour on the ice and then started to make our way back up the cliff above the glacier and all the way back down to the car-park.
As I said, everyone had told us to do the longer day as there is more time on the ice but to be honest we were knackered after this! 7 months of tramping around the world and we're still no fitter than when we left!!!
Next day we headed further south.
Queenstown Queenstown is the
Adrenelin centre of New Zealand. We are here to do as many exciting things as humanly possible, whilst spending as little money as possible and deliberating on exactly what to do as little as possible - We failed on all counts!
Firstly we debated the Heli-raft AGAIN! Not because
Fox Glacier
Victoria "Pick"-ing on me again! of the money but Victoria does have a bad neck and she moans enough as it is...only kidding babe...
We finally came to the conclusion that we/I are not meant to go in a helicopter, at least in N.Z, so we looked at our alternatives.
The majority of the other activities fall into "on water" i.e. rafting or jet boating or "in the Air" i.e. flying or skydiving - and then there's bungy jumping which Victoria can't and doesn't want too and I've done before. So we plumped for
Jet Boating.
The Shot-Over Jet A Jet Boat uses water jets to propel it forward instead of propellers, just like a jet-ski. This means that it doesn't need deep water to drive on so is ideal for flying through the local rivers and canyons at 85kph!
We decided to do the "Shotover" boat as it's the only boat which goes through the canyon area. It seats about 14 people and we are all kitted up in big, long wet weather coats as you can get quite...well...wet!
This boat has a speciality trick which is 360 degree spin which is cool, especially when the driver
Fox Glacier
Not the best of poses but I was trying to hold her up! pulls the stunt in the middle of the narrow canyon with rocks all around.
The driver himself had some superb skills as when the boat is flying through the canyon he manoeuvres it to within inches of the rocks at breakneck speed! When the boat is at optimum speed it only needs
4 inches of water to glide across!!! This is how it gets so close to everything including the shingle banks dotted in the middle of the river.
The whole boat ride only lasts about 30mins but it's almost a relief when it's over. Not because of the nerves but because of the wind-chill factor. It was about minus 10 on the day we did it but only a week or so before they had registered minus 20!!! They do have heated handrails on the boat which is a nice touch though!
Cold drink anyone? To keep up with the cold theme we went to a bar called
Minus 5 Bar". Essentially it's a theme bar where everything, including the glasses you drink out of and the seats you sit on are made of ice!!
It can vary between minus -5 and minus -10,
but it was about -7.5 when we were in there. Before entering they provide you with big parker jackets and gloves.
The bar is quite small and they only serve about a choice of 7 Vodka cocktails (because of it's low freezing point) for half an hour before they kick you out. You have to pay a $25 entrance fee but that includes your first cocktail.
There are ice sculptures everywhere and because they keep it at a fairly constant temperature they only have to re-do the whole place every 4 months!
Luging The next day we took the Gondola ride (Cable car) which goes up to the top of the mountain and gives you a fantastic view over the whole of Queenstown. Even better there is a
"Luge" which you can ride down from further up the mountain down to the look-out & restaurant area.
A "Luge" is essentially small cart/trolley that you sit on, has a form of steering mechanism and combined brake. It's like sitting on a wide skateboard with a handle in front that you move to steer and then pull back on to brake.
It doesn't have a motor and just
The hole
Us in the hole... rolls down the hill.
There was a choice of two tracks; A scenic slower one or the faster shorter one. Victoria wanted to take the slower one first and by the second bend I'd overtaken her. For a slower track you could still get some good speed up and these things are surprisingly stable when flying round corners. I looked back and to be fair she wasn't too far behind me although I could hear her screaming at every corner!
We had pre-paid for two goes so went down the faster track the second time. I wanted to take some pictures/video but found it almost impossible to do this and keep control of the cart, though I managed to get a few wobbly ones. We liked it that much we even had a 3rd go!
Snowboarding On our last day in Queenstown I had arranged to go Snowboarding!!!
Victoria would have loved to have done this or skiing but her neck problems prevent it so it was just me then!
I paid for a full days pass with two 2 hour lessons.
They first take you to the bottom of the easy slope where they show
you, with only one foot locked to the board, how to turn and slow down. After about an hour we were then told to ride the "magic carpet" up to the top.
This is the novice’s version of the chair lift and basically a conveyor belt. You are still attached to the board by one foot and at the top you and the board just slide off the end so you have to control the slide or end up in the pile of people who have fallen just in front - which I elected to do!
Once at the top you sit on your arse, strap your other foot onto the board and attempt to stand up. Immediately you start to slide down hill gaining speed, at which point you apply the turning and slowing skills they have just taught you...hopefully.
After a few goes I was starting to get the hang of it and of course when I got near the bottom and spotted Victoria dutifully playing photographer I skilfully manoeuvred the board towards her, flashed her my best pro-boarder grin and promptly fell flat on my arse, or should I say tail bone! I couldn't actually manage to
stand up for about 5 minutes. I just lay there in the snow winded.
I found out from the instructor afterwards that the condition of the snow wasn't great and that it was more like ice, or as I likened it too; Soft Concrete.
Through-out the day I managed to fall twice more on my arse and finally decided that when I felt myself fall I would through myself on my side instead...it helped, at the time at least.
Me and two other guys who were learning with me decided that we would sneak onto the bigger slope and have a go at that one. I ended up going down first and whilst it was much faster I thought I was doing a damned good job - that was until I made one small mistake, the board dug in and flipped me face first into the snow.
As I dragged myself upright all I could hear was a woman travelling up the magic carpet next to me applauding! She told me it was the best wipe-out she'd seen all day! I bowed and slowly finished the course. The two other guys said they came down slower as they'd seen
what happened to me and because they were laughing!
The day was great but I did ache seriously at the end of it and was glad to leave. The next morning (and for 3 days afterwards) I could hardly move my back and arms! I'm definitely up for another go though...and maybe some more padding.
The North Island We left for Christchurch and from the went to the airport for our flight to
Auckland on the North Island.
We have 10 days here before we fly to South America. In all honesty the main reason for travelling up here is so I can go diving at the
"Poor Knights". This is rated a top 10 dive site in the world!
We arrived in Auckland. Or should I say we did but our luggage didn't, not one but both bags!
We waited until every last bag had gone round and been picked up and then waited some more. Finally we asked someone who said, they would make some calls. It hadn't been put onto our flight but they thought it would
hopefully go on a later one. We were told to go to our
Queenstown
The Luge View hostel and they would call us as soon as the next flight landed. We got to the hostel and waited and waited. The allotted time came and went and still we waited.
We discussed what was in the bags and realised that to be fair most of it was easily replaceable, clothes etc. Victoria was a little more upset and to put a smile on her face we went out to by underpants and toothbrushes!
Fortunately after about 5 hours the airport called and told us that they had found the bags and put them in a taxi - so it all worked out O.K!
The Poor Nights Auckland doesn't exactly have much to offer in terms of touristy stuff so after two days we caught a bus to our next stop - Whangerei and the Poor Nights.
Jacque Cousteau put the Poor Nights down as one of his top 10 dive sites in the world. Basically it is a group of volcanic islands about an hour out to sea.
Victoria wasn't up for snorkelling; it was pretty cold to be fair so I left her alone and did a couple of dives. I'm not sure
about top 10 but its is a good site with caves to swim in, arches to swim through and good visibility. I even saw some things I hadn't seen before like Eagle Rays and Scorpion fish and there seemed to be loads of Moray Eels.
We had time on the way back to go into the biggest sea cave in the world! It was a bit of a tight squeeze to get the boat in as the water was quite choppy but once in it is impressively large!
The Bay of Islands The next day we caught another bus to Paihia which is in the Bay of Islands. Only about an hour up the coast and it's a really nice town right on the sea. The weather was quite nice as well with the odd T-Shirt moment!
Our guest house, The Peppertree had two kayaks which they lent for free to guests so we took these down to the water and paddled out to a nearby island for a bit. We both came back with soggy arses but fortunately nothing worse, the sea is freezing at the moment.
Next day we took a 10 minute
The Minus 5 Bar
Getting Piles on the ice seats! journey across the water to a town called of all things..."Russell"!!
It's a really pleasant little town , quite small , so it only took about an hour to explore the whole place. It probably would have taken less but Victoria thought it would be amusing to take a picture of me under all the local "Russell" signs, i.e Russell Pharmacy, Russell Museum...I'm sure you get the idea. We've put 3 of the pics on this blog but there are at least 10 more!!!...How Sad
As we only have about 6 days to go before flying to South America we were trying to save money so wiled away the rest of the week watching videos. We met some Swiss lads and ended up going out for a drink with them. I turned round to find three of them taking snuff - Eh? - Isn't snuff for O.A.P's? It Seems that this is quite a craze in Switzerland! Not wanting to offend I had a go - Pretty much blows your head of although it does clear your sinuses quite well.
After this we caught a bus back to Auckland and made sure we were
ready for our flight to South America the next day.......
P.s There are more pictures on a second page. Just click next page below.
Good bye New Zealand!
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