Day 5&6 - Fox Glacier to Cardrona

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One of the things to do at Fox Glacier is to have a closer look at it. The village is pretty much dedicated to walking to and looking at the glaciers and Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain. There is another way, however, and I am not happy about it.



Those that know me are probably aware of my increasing unease at flying. Its not something I let get in the way of a good time, you understand; if I need to fly somewhere to have a holiday, go to a party or attend a sporting event, its just something that needs to be endured and so I get on with it. Sometimes I’m fine, others in a bit of a funk – no real pattern. The concept of doing it for its own sake, however, for the experience of the flight itself, now that’s just crazy talk. Whilst I enjoy the adrenalin rush of speed (skiing, cars, motorcycling), I find that there is something altogether revolting about plummeting (bungees, parachutes, fun fair rides that drop).



You may find it odd then, that I considered being a pilot when I was younger. I really like the idea of swooping around like a bird, experiencing that kind of three-dimensional freedom. I have been able to get some sense of that by learning to scuba dive, which is a bit like flying without the speed. And, importantly, without the falling sensation. As I have got older, however, my mind dwells on what-if scenarios, such as both wings falling off. I would then fall 36,000 ft. Not good. There doesn’t even have to be turbulence for me to think this way.



Fixed wing aircraft are one thing – they can at least glide a bit if the engines fail or fall off. Helicopters are completely different, as everyone knows, and are overly complex pieces of machinery that fly by witchcraft. And if, like me, you don’t believe in witchcraft, then you are fucked.



So I am not sure how I breezily agreed to take a sightseeing chopper ride at 0830 this morning. The first ignominy occurred as we bought out tickets and were weighed. Pam and I were the only people in our group awarded Red wristbands indicating “Heavy Load”. So it was four lightweights in one helicopter, Pam and I in another. In a way this was good, as I would not further embarrass myself by screaming (or worse) in front of the others, so we headed out and climbed into a small chopper with a teenager called Kieron at the controls.



Several years ago I took a helicopter ride from Whistler in Canada to Vancouver airport. Scheduled trip, no funny business. Up it went, nice and easy, scooted along at a reasonable height for forty minutes then landed. Kieron, sensing my apprehension, had other ideas Having climbed to a height of what I imagine was six to eight inches, he skimmed the ground at hundreds of miles an hour, barely clearing the stock wire fence at the end of the airfield, scattering the feral sheep that scavenge on the bodies of those that don’t make it. Sat in the front alongside Kieron, I was surrounded by glass, with nothing to interfere with my vertigo. I busied myself with various cameras, trying not to look out at the world receding below us.



I took some photos and video, and in truth I enjoyed the experience immensely. We landed on the glacier, which was flat and icy and very familiar to anyone who has skied, so not so remarkable. But the flight itself was amazing, skimming the peaks, swooping over the ridges and spinning round to look at the different aspects of the mountains. The LOTR fan will remember those aerial shots at the beginning of the Two Towers as the camera circles mountains – the views were similar but closer up. So in the end it was such a good experience that I am glad that I will never have to do it again as I was also scared witless the whole time. As was Pam incidentally.



Its then back on the bikes and off on what proves to be the best ride of the trip so far. Scenic, wild coastline roads through lush native forest down to Haast and the over the Haast pass and into the rain shadow lands of central Otago, where the world turns brown and dry. And if that wasn’t enough, the vistas open up as we ride alongside Lakes Wanaka and Hawae. Absolutely a glorious day that ends in Cardrona, an old gold rush settlement (now a ski area). We have a decent beer and steak in the local pub nearby the lodge we are staying in for the next two nights.



The next day, Pam and I take a ride out to Queenstown, which was home for the cast of the LOTR movies for quite some time. It’s a brilliant little ride down the switchbacks over the Crown Terrace, takes about forty five minutes. We arrive in the party town of the South of South Island and head towards Nomad Tours who are going to take us on a Lord of the Rings Locations tour. Queenstown is located on the shores of lake Wakatipu, which is some 80km long and 291km² making it NZ longest and third largest lake. Its really deep too, 380M in parts, which is below sea level. To the south lay a mountain range called The Remarkables, which is a ski area but, far more importantly, is also the Ephel Duath! Yes, these were the mountains that Peter Jackson chose as the “Mountains of Shadow”, which were the western and southern borders of Mordor. And they are a really good choice.



By the time we got to the starting point of our tour, the day has decided to frustrate me. It had started blowing a hooly again and pissing with rain. We go on an expensive four hour journey to Glenorchy, at the northern end of the lake, and on to Paradise, which has been used as locations for many films, including the Narnia ones, Wolverine and, of course, the Lord of the Rings. We visit Isengard (Saruman’s gaff), and Ithilien (where Sam and Frodo saw the Oliphants or Mamaluk). And most poignantly of all, we went to Amon Hen, where Legolas loosed nine arrows in three seconds, and where Boromir fell. Unfortunately, it was almost impossible to capture in photos due to the torrential rain. We instead managed to rescue some backpackers from having to stay out another two nights in the wilderness and took them back to Glenorchy.



The tour guide, a Brazilian who now knows a lot more about the Lord of the Rings than before he took us on the tour, dropped us back at our bike in Queenstown and we headed back over the pass to Cardrona. By the time we got back to the lodge, we are soaked and the others have already left for dinner. So Pam and I have a pleasant meal by ourselves in the Pub we visited the night before and off to bed early – Man City play Arsenal in the Carabao Cup tomorrow at 0530 so I have to be up for that!

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Photos

Ithilien
Pam nicks Anduril

Nomad Tours
Check those registrations