Blogs from Franz Josef, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 44

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 ... read more

Day 11 - Franz Josef We awake the next morning to a beautiful blue sky - perfect conditions for our glacier adventure - today we’re getting into our warmest gear (layers), strapping on some crampons (that’s where the spikes come into it!) and taking a scenic helicopter flight in the mountains before landing on the otherwise inaccessible upper reaches of Franz Josef glacier for our 2 hour glacier hike. Franz Josef is one of only 3 glaciers of it’s kind in the world (thermal glacier, at relatively low altitude and so close to coast) the other being Fox (right next door to FJ) and one in Chile somewhere. Our chopper pilot is from Cuper in Fife and treats us to stunning views and a few heart stopping moments as her heads straight for the mountain before ... read more

Well folks - that's what I get for bragging about the lovely weather in my last email - it's definitely turned a touch damper!! But before I get to today - I have to tell you about yesterday which was our tour of Abel Tasman park - first the boat up the coast into all the beautiful little bays with the history, then a drop off at Bark Bay for the 2 1/2 hr. walk back to Torrents Bay for the pickup by the boat. It was quite spectacular - lovely sunny day with just enough breeze to make the climbing bits a little cooler - and scenery from the postcards! Round a corner and you come across beautiful azure blue skies, turquoise waters and deserted sandy beaches down below - then the next corner presents ... read more

Hi everyone, Its been a while. But we just don't seem to have that much time for blogging since we got the campervan as we are contantly trying to get places. But the van is fantastic. We have had mixed blessings with the weather, some days have been fantastically sunny and others pissing with rain, but as they say New Zealands is a country that can have all the seasons in one day so I guess we are lucky we haven't had any snow yet. We are at Franz Josef at the moment and waiting to do our Heli Hike this afternoon, weather permitting. Hoping the enormous breakfast we had whilst watching Wales' miserable defeat against the All Blacks this morning will provide us with enough energey for the two hours hiking on the ice...! Well, ... read more

We hiked Franz Josef glacier yesterday. It was amazing. The heavy rainfall from the day before meant that the track to the actual glacier was washed away so we had a longer than usual and far tougher than usual hike through teh rain forest to content with before we even arrived at the foothill of the galcial mountain. Equiped with funky ice grip shoes and plenty of layers we set about tackling the glacier and wow was it col! From the bottom of the valley it doesn't look THAT impressive but once you get up a bit of the way and see the huge iciles and massive crascks between them and just how far back and high up they go...its just breathtaking! Surrounded by ice, blue in parts, pure enough to drink (which we did!), we ... read more