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Published: October 8th 2007
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Arthurs Pass
we dont even look tired after that :-) ARTHURS PASS
HEY thats me back in the cold climate that is New Zealand! I was absolutely shattered by the time i finally got into my hostel in Christchurch. I had been travelling for a good 30-odd hours wen i arrived. I spent 6 hours in Hong Kong airport on the way here. The place certainly looked mysterious to me from what i could see from the airport viewing windows. Huge green hills covered in fog, it looks very tropical. I had some tasty shrimp won ton soup before trying to sleep for a couple of hours in an uncomfy seat!
So i have spent the night in Christchurch but wont say too much about that for now as im coming back here later in my trip. I met Jenny and Irene in Arthurs Pass, a small village squeezed in between the mountains. I was about 4 hours on the bus to get there. The girls weren't due to arrive till the afternoon so i made myself at home in our hostel. Its a pretty cosy place and has a nice big kitchen which is great. So it was fun too catch up with the girls when they arrived. They
Franz Josef
Its a tight squeeze! have done a lot of driving in the wee while that i have been away and have seen many things en route. Sounds like they have had a good time. We spent the first afternoon in Arturs Pass walking. We visited the Devils Punchbowl which is a lovely waterfall not to far from the village although it was a pretty steep climb up a lot of steps to get there. The village itself consists of 1 restaurant/store, 1 hostel and a cafe so you can pretty much get round it in 5 mins :-) It is really really really freezing here in the mornings. When i am phoning home i need to use the only payphone which is out in the street so i spend most of the conversation jumping up and down! However the sun has been shining in the afternoons and it gets nice and warm. The hostel has a small balcony which is a bit of a suntrap so we've found ourselves stripping all the woolly layers off to top up our tans :-) Its a strange contrast as we are surrounded by snow-capped mountains, which are blinding in the sun, yet its so warm.
Irene had
In the air
flying back into Christchurch, beautiful views of the mountains
been in contact with a couple of friends who she knows from back home, John and Padraig. Padraig has just arrived like us but John has been living here for 4 months. They have joined us for a week as John hasn't seen any of the country as he has been working the whole time......... On a chicken farm....killing chickens i hate to add. This unfortunate occupation has led to many gruesome and heated discussions but as he says its a job and someones got to do it. Anyway they are really nice guys and im sure we're gonna have lots of fun along the way. We decided to hike Scotts Track the afternoon that they arrived. I take my hats off to the boys as they had been driving since 5am to get to Arthurs Pass so must have been knackered. We climbed that track for hours and still didnt make it to the top so we were dissappointed about that but still gave ourselves a clap on the back as it was really difficult and steep to get to even where we were. Our own consolation was that we got as high as to touch snow which was
Arthurs Pass
On the way to Arthurs Pass to meet the girls a great achievement! :-) The views were magnificent as you can see from the photos. The only other thing i really need to mention here is the Kea bird - the only alpine parrot in the world. What a nuisance this bird is. For a start its huge! It likes to eat the rubber from around your windscreen and you frequently see people running out from houses to shooo them away. If your not careful they will also steal the lunch you are eating from right out of your hand, they have no fear whatsoever. They are often found opening up backpacks to see whats inside - they are very clever birds!
FRANZ JOSEF
We left Arthurs Pass and headed for Franz Josef Glacier stopping on the way at Hokitiki for some lunch. We had to stop there for petrol and some shopping as thats the last place on the journey for a while that we could get these things. On leaving Hokitiki we were shocked to see the army patrolling the streets with firearms and hiding round the side of buildings etc. I decided to go into a shop and enquire about this after being told by
Arthurs Pass
Arthurs Pass, a very small village the girls in no uncertain terms not to dare ask the army themselves. The shopkeeper said that as it was September 11th they were all out patrolling and exercising. I was suprised to see this measure being taken in New Zealand but there you go!
Today we hiked the Franz Josef glacier which an amazing experience. It doesnt look much from the bottom but believe me its just an illusion. We hiked for 5 hours with crampons on, very strenuous stuff. In some places we had to pull ourselves out from inside the ice caves with ropes. We all felt great afterwards and would definately do something like that again. I had already done some glacier hiking in Alaska but it wasnt as strenuous or thrilling as this. We had a few beers back at the hostel to congratulate ourselves on feeling so fit and healthy :-) We did go to the pub however it was closing up as there were only a couple of people in it.....it was only 10pm!! We also took a walk with some torches to see the glowworms which apparently arent far from the hostel but it was pitch black and we got a bit
Franz Josef
John couldnt resist getting in there too lost so just came back defeated.
WANAKA
We stayed a night in Wanaka, it was strange driving into this small town as it has streets and everything, an unusual sight over the past few days. This is the biggest place we have been so far since we left Arthurs Pass. Our muscles are all aching from hike yesterday! We wanted to do the white water rafting but the river was only accessible by helicopter because of the snow. We found this too expensive and we could have another opportunity to do it elsewhere. So we hit the pub again tonight, i think it was called Shooters. This one was a bit busier than last nights, there was a band playing at least. So Wanaka has just been a one night stopover, we are heading to Queenstown tomorrow so il tell you all about that in part 2 :-)
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