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Published: January 25th 2007
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Hello After Kaikoura we went to Nelson to drop off the people on our tour bus who were going to the North Island, Our tour driver was also going to the north island so we got a new driver called LJ (Little Jon). After making our way through Nelson we headed for Westport which was a really sleepy little town that had a few bars and its own brewery. I sampled the local beer called Miners Draught and it wasnt too bad better than some of the beer I have tried since Ive been away.
After checking into our hostel we all met up and went to a beach nearby and had a bonfire and a few beers. Some people had marshmellows but I stuck to the beers and had a really funny night chatting with all the people from the bus who had just come from the north island. Jo didnt make it out as she was really ill from flu so stayed in bed and tried to get better, When I got home from the bonfire She wasnt any better and the next day we got off the Kiwi bus and stayed in a town called Greymouth that
had a doctors and pharmacy.
After getting lots of pills and cough medicine Jo felt lots better and we got an Atomic Shuttle from Greymouth to Franz Josef, while we were on the shuttle we got talking to a girl who i later found out was from Arnold in Nottingham, I knew I had heard of that town before and rememberd that Karen a girl i used to go to uni with was from there. it turned out that they were best friends from school, It really is a very small world even when you are that far away from home.
When we arrived in Franz Josef we were staying at a hostel called the Rainforest Retreat. It was really nice with a real rainforesty feel about it the views of the area were amazing with mountains and rainforest all around you. Jo still wasnt feeling her best so I left her in bed and went exploring. I found the I-site and checked out what Franz Josef had to offer there was loads to do:
- Heli-Hikes
- Glacier Hikes
- Kayaking
- Helicopter Rides
- And other walks
I went on a walk which lasted about 30 mins trekking through the
rainforest it was really cool and I enjoyed the exploring there was no one else about and it was really peacfull. After my walk I went back to our room to check on Jo who was feeling much better. We met up with Kiwi bus shortly after who were pleased to see us and we headed to a lookout point to see the glacier. The view was really cool and was strange to see that much ice there as it was really hot but I guess thats why its a Glacier, The story they told us about how it got there was that a Maouri Couple used to go on hikes up the mountain and the woman was a really keen hiker and her boyfriend didnt really like it but went with her to keep her sweet. Well one day he slipped and fell to his death, She felt so terrible that she cried and cried and cried and the gods froze her tears and thats how the glacier was formed. Theres a really weird looking cave at the bottom and LJ our driver told us the locals call it the Bat Cave.
After that I booked myself on
a kayaking trip and went out onto the Lake Mahinapua with a group form our bus and a few others from a differnt tour bus. The lake was amazing and we went all across the lake and into a little stream that headed into the rainforest. The lake was so still that it mirrored your image and anything else so got some really good pictures, but the views were incredable of the mountains and the glacier. after we went down the stream we all stopped and our guide Wayne told us about what things live in the lake then we all turned around and went back one by one so we could all get to see the mirrord images as we went through. I went first and it was so cool and really strange to see everything reflected liek that. As I went back onto the lake I heard the weirdest sound ever and started to think after a few minutes that whatever it was was probably telling its friends to come and eat me or something. I felt alot better when more people started coming back onto the lake. As we made our way back across the lake to
Wicked Stream
Very refreshing stream the bus the sun started setting and we saw the most amazing colours coming off the clouds and the lake it was really cool. When I got back to the Rainforest retreat I had the biggest smile on my face.
After a quick shower we headed to the bar at the Rainforest Retreat and meet up with everyone else form our bus and there were also two other bus's of people staying there as well. The Bar was packed and there was a really good atmosphere Jo was felling so much better and was even drinking. We chatted with people from the other bus's and also with LJ who told us loads about New Zealand and funny story's that had happed to him while driving the Kiwi Bus.
After a few to many Beers, JD's and Vodka's we went to sleep ready for our next day In Franz Josef. The day started off a little late because of the night before but was really cool as we had got up at 6am the previous day in order to catch back up with the Kiwi Bus, So we both enjoyed the lie in. We decided that we should go
for a walk around glacier and found out there were several routes we could take. We picked one called the Douglas walk and headed for it, it was really cool and ended up at an Indiana Jones style bridge, we ran up and down it and bounced around for a while till we saw some other people walking towards us we spoke to them for a bit and although they had spoiled my fun I was really glad that we met them as you will find out later on. They overtook us and we slowed down a little as to not see them around every corner and took our time.
The walk was supposed to take two hours and we had been walking for a bit longer than that when we got to a spot called Peters Pool which reflected the Glacier in the water it was really nice and we stayed there for a bit. After our chilling by the pool for a bit we started to walk back to town which seemed like another 10 miles away as we were walking out of the car park area a car was coming towards us and stopped, It was
Indiana Jones Bridge
Very Cool Indiana Jones Style Bridge the Couple that we had met on the walk and they kindly offered us a lift as I was ready to accept this act of generosity Jo said "No we will be fine thank you anyway" as I was about to say No dont listen to her Jo said "Oh you didnt come back specially for us did you?" the couple said they had as it was such a long way back to town (and could probably see that we were knackerd!!) so we got in the car and headed back to town. A five minute car ride or a 35 minute walk I am so gratefull that they came back for us. After our Hiking we decided that we had earned ourselves a few drinks and headed to the bar, there we found a few of our tour bus having meals and LJ who had just gotten up from the night before's drinking (Well it was his day off). We carried on drinking and ended up playing pool against some locals who me and Jo beat and ended playing about 5 ot 6 games till we got bored of beating everyone in the bar and decided to go to
Indiana Jones Bridge
View from the very Cool Indiana Jones Style Bridge another bar for a quick drink before going to bed. Franz Josef was amazing. Jo wished she was better as I think we would of done a glacier hike but we had a good time anyway and most importantly Jo was feeling her self again and ready to take on New Zealand. Bring on Wanaka!!
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