Volcano's, Seals & Ice Glaciers

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It is so hard to sit here and describe in words just what a beautiful place New Zealand really is. The back drop for almost everywhere is either a stunning mountain range or Volcano, rolling green hills, deep lakes of green/blue, crystal clear rivers...amazing coast lines! It’s the only place I know where you can surf and ski... see whales, seals and dolphins... trek in woodlands/rainforest or maybe up an ice glazier or if you prefer just sit in a bar and watch the world go by.

Tongarrira National Park:

Probably my favourite place so far has been Tongarrira National Park and there we decided to have a crack at the ‘Tongarrira Alpine Crossing’. It’s 19.8km up and straight over an active volcano to the finish line. You start at 1100 feet, climb to 1700 before descending back down the other side. It’s roughly the length of a half-marathon and believe me when I say it’s just as hard... The local paper describes the walk as ‘life changing’, well I guess we will see...The first part of the walk is called ‘The Devil’s Staircase’ and as it sounds it’s two hours of hard grafting up these great steep steps to somewhere called ‘the small crater’. You reach their hot and sweaty only to find you have another hour before you hit the summit! We are told that normally the view from here would be spectacular on a clear day but disappointingly so far we haven’t seen a thing. The weather on the mountains changes so quickly that the clouds descended on us and as cool as it is to walk in the clouds you can’t see more than 10 feet in front of you. However all was not lost as the mountain did have one great treat in store for us... after the next climb and final assent we reached the peak still in the clouds... but as we came over the ridge the cloud suddenly cleared and treated us to the most amazing view I have ever seen. There we stood on what felt like the top of the world, under a beautiful blue sky, looking out at what seemed like the whole of New Zealand. Just below us in the crater was a beautiful green lake and further along the crated an even larger blue lake. The crater still even today steams away and the silence up there was deafening... you can’t help but grin like an idiot at the wonder of it.. It was just amazing and we must have stood there for an hour just taking it all in... It was right there that one of the guys cracked open a celebratory beer... it was the strangest place I have ever had a drink, up there at 1700 feet on top of an active volcano but a beer has never tasted so good! The decent was long and hard and finally after a good six hours of hiking we made in down... Was it life changing? my feet certainly will never forget it but it’s something you have to see for yourself as my words will just never do it justice...

We have only stopped off here for a night but on our return back up to Auckland we will be staying back here for longer. Mt Ngauruhoe is here... probably better known to those who have seen ‘Lord of the Rings’ as Mt Doom so the plan is to hike up that. Also maybe we will get the chance to mountain bike down the volcano which would be cool.

Wellington:

We are heading to the South island so have just stopped off for the night in Wellington. On our way back up we will spend some more time here but for now we only have a few hours. First impressions are that this is a lovely little city but our stay here was overshadowed by Lynds being attacked by bed bugs. Poor Lynds woke up with hundreds of bites all over her body... arms, shoulders, back, face, legs... it was that bad that I was ready to take her straight to the hospital but luckily we have some tablets we picked up in Thailand and they have started to bring her back to normal again phew! So the following morning we headed to the ferry where we would meet the bus in Picton; from there we head to Abel Tasman National Park...

Abel Tasman National Park:

Big milestone is fast approaching us now... very shortly we hit the half way mark! We have been away for three months. Where did the time go? The plan was to celebrate with a few beers however the first thing we learnt about Abel Tasman (and large parts of NZ in general) is that there are no ATMs anywhere!! Even the dusty shanty towns of Cambodia have ATMs but alas not here... Therefore we have arrived with about $20 in cash but not to worry as we will survive on toast. At least our accommodation and activities are already sorted...
Our accommodation is a place called ‘Old MacDonald’s Farm’ however as we arrive there is already another ‘Stray’ bus here. With two busloads of people about accommodation is limited so we are staying in a tent! After so many warm hostel rooms it was a long cold night in the tent. However on the plus side we got to see the night sky. It’s amazing when you are in the middle of no-where with no lights the sky is so clear and I have never seen so many stars out!! The next day however one of the buses left so we were able to jump into a hut which was nice... We have in total here four nights and although there are three beds in this hut for the first time in NZ no-one joins us so we have a place to ourselves. For anyone that has travelled you will understand just how nice it is to have your own space... in dorms you have to constantly padlock your stuff up and you have to rely on the other people in your room being trustworthy. So to be able to just throw your stuff anywhere and not have to worry is priceless!... Today we have decided to walk down the coastal path to a place called ‘Apple Tree Bay’ its 9.8km there and back so around 5 miles. You don’t really notice the distance as you are walking along one of the best coastal routes in New Zealand... We returned to the hut to find the second Stray bus has also left so we now have the whole farm to ourselves. With no-one else about Lynds and I could grab the comfy chairs in the DVD room and watch what we liked... cook whatever we wanted in the kitchen without fighting for space and generally get some much needed time to chill out...
Certainly by far the best thing we have done in Abel Tasman was swimming with seal pups... you jump into a water taxi (speed boat) with your guide and set out along the coast to find the colony. Apparently this is the best time of year to do this as the males have all headed out to the open water and the pups who are only a few months old are now big enough to swim and curious enough to swim right up and play. We arrived in a small cove on one of the islands off the main land and jumped in with our snorkelling stuff... it was just brilliant, there must have been 30/40 seal pups on the rocks and as soon as we got within about ten feet of them the two females who were guarding them jumped in and circled us a few times just to check us out. As soon as they were happy the pups jumped in and we spent a good hour just swimming about with them. They would chase you about trying to bite your fins or just swim past and smack you with a flipper. It was such a weird feeling when a seal would pop their head out of the water unexpectedly just inches from your face and stare at you until it swims off... we then swam round the island for a bit with some of the larger adult seals before heading back.

Franz Josef/Fox Glacier’s:

Just south of Abel Tasman are two of the most spectacular things to see in NZ. The Franz Josef & Fox ice glaciers and we have decided to spend a couple of days at each. The main activity in these parts is to hike up the glaciers so we decided to give it a go in Franz Josef. The weather so far has been fantastic and all the adverts show hikers walking around the glacier on a crisp sunny day. However, this was not to be the case for us. On the way to Franz Josef, it was becoming pretty grey outside and the day we decided to hike up the Franz Josef glacier, the heavens opened! We arrived at the glacier centre in the morning already drenched and were kitted out with boots, jacket, trousers and crampons (metal spikes that help to walk up the ice). We got onto the bus and drove ten minutes down the road to the glacier. The rain however we were told may actually help us as it washes away all the white ice leaving more of the stunning blue ice below exposed... Once we arrived you get your first sight of the Glacier and it is massive, even though you can only see a small part of it. We were split into groups and off we went. The groups were determined by how fast or slow you wished to walk so we decided to opt for the slightly slower group to allow us to take some photos. Unfortunately, the rain would just not let up and within ten minutes of stepping off the bus not only were we completely soaked through but our bag was too! Lunch, Camera, Mobile even our little mascot, Sully were just drenched... As we picked our way up the glacier, our guide would stop and use a pick axe to carve out some steps for us to use when the going got tough. We kept moving as it really was chilly and eventually we made it high enough to start hiking through small caves and ice cracks that had been developed by the ever changing glacier. Due to the sheer volume/weight of the ice and the rain water that gets underneath, the Glacier is constantly moving and changing shape. Indeed in certain parts it can travel up to eight metres a day. So in some parts we found ourselves squeezing through tiny cracks, one particular crack was so small that our guide informed us that one man actually got stuck and they had to winch him out! Thankfully no-one in our group got stuck but one lady did fall and damage her shoulder so badly she had to be air lifted off the glacier. Luckily the rest of us were able to hike back down the glacier feeling wet, cold but amazed.

The other point to mention during our few days here is the ‘Mirror Lake’ or Lake Matheson. It’s situated just by the Fox Glacier and affords spectacular view of snow topped mountains that surround this whole area. As you walk around it you reach certain points where not only can you see the snowy mountain range but the exact view is mirrored in the waters below. Amazing!

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