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Published: March 23rd 2009
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February 2009
Mimi and Gregg's Trip to the West Coast
I had a great time showing my sister, Mimi the great country of New Zealand. We haven't spent much time together in several years, so it was a great opportunity to catch up with each other. We left after work on Tuesday and drove through fog and rain to Flock Hill, a sheep station located about 35 km east of Aurther's Pass. By the time we entered the high country, the clouds broke up and revealed an amazing full moon. We stopped to have a look and heard the most errie sounds. Sheep, herded for shearing, were bleeting, or crying, not sure which. But a 1000 sheep in unisone creates quite a din! We finally made it to Flock Hill. The units were great and the views amazing. Wednesday morning we went on torward Aurther's Pass where we stopped for a high alpine walk. We descended down the West Side of the range and continued on to Hokatika, the epicenter of New Zealand jade. 4 hours later and with a pounding headache, and several peices of jade, I was finally able to drag Mimi away from the shops and continue
on to Fox Glacier. Driving from the north we drove through the town of Franz Glacier. Although it was overcast, the cloud cover was high enough for us to be able to see the glacier. After that we continued to Fox which was further from Franz than you'd think. Got a glimpse of that glacier too and finally got to dinner by nearly nine. After dinner I ventured onto the Minnehaha Walk to see the glow worms. This is a short walk that starts just 20 meters south of town and has several glow worm grottos. Definitely worth the effort. Thursday was raining so we drove back to Franz to take in some indoor activities. Watched the big screen glacier experience which brought upon nausea and an uncomfortable recollection of how bad 80's cinemetography was. Then onto the indoor ice climbing center. The best thing here was the video about intelligence research on the Kea, New Zealand's mountain parrot. Keas actually demonstrate that they can work in groups to solve puzzles such as one bird pulling a string which opens a door allowing the other Kea to go in and pick up a peanut. The museum there is interesting and
describes the life of glaciers quite well. The indoor ice walls looked pretty cool and enticing, but I opted not to climb like my kids had the prior month. Next we went to the hot pools. Not natural, but nice never the less. We got back to Fox as the skies were clearing and had a great walk up to the glacier. These glaciers really do flow right into rain forrest. It's very bizarre. We ate a quick dinner in our room at the Mt Cook View Motel, and raced toward the Tasman Sea and Gillespies Beach. On the way, the light was just amazing, and made for a spectacular sun set. We got to the beach just as the light was fading, but by this time Mt Cook was visible, so we were treated to a view of the Southern Alps from the Tasman Sea. Friday morning I booked a half day Fox Glacier walk. The propietors at the motel were awesome, and gave Mimi a lift to Lake Matheson where she walked and painted, using a little artistic license to capture mountain peaks that kept getting covered by clouds. I enjoyed my walk, but was disappointed that we
Chamois spotted by Mimi
These animals were introduced to New Zealand by Emporor Franz Joseph. didn't go into any ice caves. You really have to do the full day walk or go up in a helecopter and be dropped onto the ice fall.
We made are way back north to Greymouth, had a very interesting stop at Louis Armstrong's gallery, where we learned about Maori carving, and whale teeth. We stayed at the Global Village Backpackers (our favorite backpackers). Had a great dinner out and a good stay. Next day was on to pancake rocks, Punakaiki, and into Reefton for a late lunch, through Lewis pass and into Hamner Springs. What a spectacular drive. The coast north of Greymouth is incredible and Lewis pass expansive. We rented a great holiday house in Hanmer and had a mellow night there cooking dinner at the batch.
On Sunday we parted ways at the Christchurch Airport. Mimi was off to Australia for the next leg of her trip.
We had a great time together. Lots of good conversations, scenery and great shopping.
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Uncle Stevie
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Iceholes!
Hey Greg, did you go in the icehole? Looks like if you would have tripped you'd have been a goner! Speaking of iceholes, we almost named our hockey team, The Iceholes! Anyway, you guys look like you're reverse aging, maybe you've found the fountain of youth?