Blogs from Franz Josef, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 33

Ok so we're finally catching up with out travel blogs! Better late than never but hey, we're on west coast time! It's the back end of no-where but its great! So our adventure continued from Wellington with getting up at 6am... (yes there is such a time in the morning!) and got the Ferry to Picton in the South Island. It was a 3 hour journey, with the last hour and a half being very slow as you sail through the Marlbrough Sounds. It's a really spectacular sight and very peaceful! Luckilly the sea wasn't rough but we didn't really notice as we fell asleep before the Ferry left the port and woke up just as we were entering the Marlbrough sounds! After departing our Ferry we got on our new bus and headed to The ... read more

An early start was required for a full day’s adventure trek on the Franz Joseph Glacier. We were kitted out with boots, crampons, over trousers, jacket, hat, gloves and socks - everyone looked the same and pretty funny! Though after a bit of climbing it got quite hot, so by the end most layers were off!! It took about 45mins to walk to the glacier and when we arrived it was immense! Helicopters were dwarfed by it and we would only see a few kilometers of it throughout the whole day! Steps had been cut into the glacier so it was easier for us to climb and the crampons made a big difference - walking like a cowboy and stamping our feet! We went through crevices that had only been there a couple of weeks that ... read more

Apologies for my ongoing tardyness with the blog updates. I'm aware I'm pretty behind but rest assured the only reason is that I'm having such a good time that I never seem to get a chance to reflect on what I've done.....anyway I will aim to finish the Australia story.... My time on the east coast ended with a few days in Brisbane where I go the opportunity to visit the Australia Zoo and buy a million Steve Irwin fridge magnets and also allowed me to meet Andy, one of Mark's friends who has sensibly taken up the good life in Aus. I then hopped on a plane and crossed another time zone to Adelaide where the welcome face of the ex Fiona Steer was waiting for me. What can I say? It was absolutely delightful ... read more

My next location was Franz Joseph where my activities begun!!! There is so much to do here in NZ but being on a budget I promised myself just to do alot of the free or cheap activites i.e the sightseeing, walks etc but I did limit myself to a few of the big activities and these were Kayaking, Glacier Hiking and Skiing! On the way we stopped at Ross Goldfields which was where gold had been found and you could have a go at trying to find your own! When we got to Franz I did the Kayaking on Lake Mapourika in the afternoon, it is a black water lake and we ended up rowing 7k in total which I was pretty chuffed about beings my upper arm strength is about as good as my little ... read more

8pm - Yesterday we travelled to the town of Wanaka. A lovely lakeside town the view were pretty amazing. After checking into our hostel we went straight to the small lakefront area that holds the few bars and grabbed dinner in a local pub. Although this doesnt sound exciting the view whilst eating made everything worthwhile. Eating food we looked out over the blue, blue lake and snow tipped mountains, Incredible. We later returned to the bar to mock and laugh at the plentiful Karaoke singers all seemingly auditioning (badly) for X-Factor. This morning with Claire feeling very poorly we drove the 4 and a half horus to Franz Josef Glacier. This is a very small town famed for its huge Glaciers upon the mountains. We've booked the trip for tomorrow and i cannot wait. Best ... read more