http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania , New Zealand , South Island , Franz Josef en-us Sun, 19 May 2013 17:16:41 +0000 Sun, 19 May 2013 17:16:41 +0000 Wanaka and France Joseph Glacier.As predicted Sunday was a white wash. All the plans made by Burto for kayaking horse riding sky jump etc all had to be cancelled. It rained almost nonstop all day. There was no point even driving up the hills to have a good view of Wanaka as the low clouds almost obliterated the view. He changed plans quickly and we went to see the Puzzle World an assortment o http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-784999.html Friday 12th April Day Nine Wanaka to Franz Josef 288km 173 miles. This is glacier country. A gorgeous morning sunny and bracing. The west coast is very different from the east. Today we cross 28 one way bridges pass craggy rocks and high mountains blue and green pools rivers waterfalls and lakes and eventually enter Glacier country to view both Fox and Franz Josef glaciers but sadly o http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-783806.html Today is the day.I finally get to walk on the glacier I am at the designated place at 8.30am and we are kitted out with socks shoes trousers jackets a bag hat and gloves We then walk over to the helipad and quash together as four of us head up for our 5minute flight to the glacier.On the glacier we put on our crampons which were in the bag we were given and head off following ou http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-778864.html I am up breakfasted and out of the hostel by 9am despite by bus not being until 9.30am..just needed to breathe some fresh air The bus journey is only very short at 30minutes from Fox to Franz Josef glacier again with lovely scenery.Franz Josef feels like a big town after Fox but with one main street and one back street behind it in reality I dont think you could describe it as that L http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-778861.html Lizzie and I treated ourselves to a welldeserved liein after yesterday39s glacier hike James treated himself to a nice long run Franz Joseph is a really nice town with plenty of activities to do so we had no problem filling our spare day. We set off late morning for the walk to the bottom of the glacier it was a fairly straightforward path and the 14km walk led to some really nice views of http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-776333.html The South Island is renowned for its small population and some people might say its slightly odd locals... this came to light when we stopped at Pukekura and The Bushman39s lodge for breakfast. Here they sell Possum pies Possum fur nipple warmers and all sorts of other weird stuff Nonetheless Pete the owner seemed pretty nice and cracked a few jokes for us. Our next stop was Lake Mapourika fo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-776331.html 7.40 Uhr startet die heutige Tour. Ich habe mich fr die Franz Josef Ice Experience entschieden. Zuerst bekommen wir eine kurze Einweisung und dann gibt es die Ausstattung fr die bevorstehende Gletscherwanderung. Hose Jacke Handschuhe Mtze und Schuhe mit anschnallbaren Spikes gehren zur heutigen Ausstattung. Wir gehen zum Hubschrauberlandeplatz wo ein reger Verkehr herrscht. Unser http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-775558.html Am Morgen ging es auf eine kleine Wanderung durch die alte Bergmannsstadt. Bei der Fhrung erhielten wir ein paar Infos zur Historie der Stadt. Vom Bergarbeiteraufstand politisch linken Fhrern welche spter eine eigene Mine kapitalistisch gefhrt haben bis zu heutigen Ereignisse gab es doch erstaunlich viel zu erzhlen.Anschlieend ging es mit dem Bus auf in Richtung Franz Josef. Hier h http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-775557.html Well... now the true road trip begins After dropping John and Andrea off at the airport for their flight back to Perth we start the long journey back to Auckland. Today we are heading towards the West Coast. We are staying in Haast ....Only about 160km away but terrible weatherLong drive from Queenstown through torrential rain storms across the Southern Alps Wanaka township Lake Howea. Imagi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-766687.html We got up early 7.30 well early for us and drove to the lake it was a little further than we thought but we got there by 9. Swade was waiting for us a really lovely guy who had been fishing in Alaska for the past 15 years and had a slight American accent. He took us out on a motorised punt over the lake and as you might imagine it was so quiet and still. He told us about the wetlands and the wil http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-761389.html Not easy to do. The sun was shining and the sea beckoned but onwards and downwards to Franz Joseph. Discovered all our storage was used on the ipad and couldnt download any more photos so we needed to sort this out The first port of call was Westport which although on the coast was not inspiring. We drove down to the sea and apart from one car that was stuck and Steve obviously wanted to help th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-761159.html As we left Punakaki the weather had picked up and the wind had dropped however 15 minutes down the coast it got darker and darker until the rain came We were aiming to drive to Hokatika so we could use the Internet in the library and have some lunch. The road was quiet enough but one of the crazy windy roads the kiwis have built around their hills. After arriving in Hokatika we ended up sat in http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-756045.html So my last week in Queenstown was a riot made the most of seeing all my friends saw Frenchy a couple of times went out nearly every night and threw myself into it.I had move rooms once more whilst staying at Nomads and got moved out of the girls dorm that I39d been in since the start of August. So I got up packed the bomb site that was my stuff and checked into my new room. As I opened the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-749212.html So the next morning we all hopped back on the bus all very hung over and set off bound for Franz Josef. After arriving in Franz Josef we checked into the lovely Rainforest hotel got kitted up hopped into a helicopter and flew up onto the Franz Josef glacier. Wow. We were sat on a beach next to the poo pub yesterday shivering in the cold and now we39re stood on a glacier in the baking sun ha http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-743073.html After packing up and checking out I drove Tom to the hospital to have his knee braced altered it was easy as it was on the way to The Remarks Had another great morning skiing by myself before the guys arrived around 12ish. I managed to spend an hour with them before I decided it would be best for me to get on my way up the West Coast I returned my equipment and got a venison pie from Fergbaker http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-737881.html We arrived at Franz Josef Township that afternoon. The sun was out and the weather was reasonably warm. We checked into the Rainforest Resort motor park which had its own bar with meal deals. We parked Red Dwarf in amongst the foliage and went to suss the place out. We had read a leaflet in Greymouth about Franz Josef Glacier and had decided to do a glacier valley walk the following day with a g http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-732868.html Franz Josef is a small town no bigger than Killybegs that has a huge draw card the beauty of snowcapped peaks looming over the alpine themed landscapes at ground level with a huge glacier hidden between them.ltspangtltspangtltspangtVisiting the glacier was always on my bucket list for NZ I dont know why apart from I saw other peoples photos and thought it looked special.Whe http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-721950.html George with commentary by Carla On Tuesday we go to the airplane museum where there are lots of lifesize model planes and some of them are flyable and one of them is the only one of its kind left in the world. Some of the models are very odd. The drive down from Linkwater to Blenheim took us from fjords inlets and wooded hills into the big country of fertile plains and vineyards. The New Zea http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-717941.html Well it39s been a while. My only excuse is that I really haven39t had a chance to update the blog because I39ve been enjoying myself a bit too much. Seems fair enough to me. Anyway think the last time I checked in was in Brisbane so I shall tell you my story from there. After I left mike39s I went down to Surfer39s Paradise for a day where I took a surfing lesson for a couple of h http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-717455.html Franz Josef Glazier its on the west cost of NZ is one of three unique glaziers in the world the other being 20 mins down the road and the 3rd in Argentina. What is so unique is that the glazier is not in a cold area rather a rainforest tropical one in NZ. The Southern Alps mountains receive so much rain and when it settles on the top of the mountain it settles as snow. This then compacts as ice a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-703531.html