Blogs from Picton, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 22

Day 11: Franz Josef Glacier-Murchison We drove a few kilometres to the glacier and were struck by its huge size and the fact that unlike the Fox, this one is actually advancing at present. Apparently it depends on the accumulated snowfalls on the neve (snowfield above the glacier) from as long ago as five years. The glacier bulldozes the snow down the valley and the Franz Josef is presently increasing in size, its front moving at one metre per day. We spent a couple of hours in Hokitika, a small town notable as the centre of the greenstone (jade, sort of) industry - jewellery, sculpture etc. It was very very quiet there. That may be either the cause or the effect of a substandard coffee, at an ordinary-looking café, costing $NZ4.50. We drove on to Murchison ... read more

I slept right through the alarm at 6am (yuck! This is a vacation right?!) but I was in the shower by about 6:20am. After some yoghurt and reheated pizza for breakfast (hey, it all the food groups right?) we packed up and headed out the door just before 7am. Outside we were greeted by a pair of Keas (mountain parrots). I took some pictures, but it was too dark for anything to turn out except their glowing eyes. We drove west, towards the coast, as the day dawned crisp and clear. We saw some beautiful mountain peaks, tinted golded-pink as the sun rose. At Hokitika we turned south, following the coastline a bit before the roads became windy once again. Around 10 am we arrived in the small tourist town of Franz Josef. Everywhere were signs ... read more

Kaikora - 'To Eat Crayfish' was the first stopping point on my way up to Picton, and it was here that I realised how much I was going to like NZ. Dramatic scenery with small towns crammed into the valley floors. The further North we got the scenery just got better and better until I reched Picton. Just like Airlie Beach is the gateway to the Whitsundays to many NZ backpackers Picton is a gateway to the North Island. But unlike the shitehole of Airlie Beach Picton is lovely. It's beautiful high grassy mountains, intricate arrangements of bays and lovely blue waters. It reminds be very much of the best of the Scottish Lochs. I went for a walk - a 4 hour round trip up to a point called The Snout. The views all along ... read more

Gudday guys Well now what have I been doing, since sky diving the other week, I went totally the opposite direction, by spending a week on an organic farm working for accomodation and food. It was pretty cool, really nice family that we stayed with, did nothing but slag off their son for being a nerd, and tell us how much they hate America (the guy was from California). We only had to work about 4 hours a day for 5 days, and most that time was spent talking or eating grapes. Just round the corner was ALL the major wineries of newzealand, so we went out for some wine tasting on these bikes the family lent us, got pretty drunk, and as usual, having been to a thousand vineyards, I left with a bottle of ... read more

I’m really glad we decided to stay in Picton for a night. I was expecting it to be just a place where the ferry came to, but Picton is actually a very cute little town. We’re staying at a really cool little hostel, The Villa, and it’s so homey and cozy. We’re staying in a room out back off of the patio. There are games inside and gardens all around the house, plus pets (including a vegetable eating cat)! We left Wellington on the ferry this morning and enjoyed the views and did crosswords to pass the time on our journey across the strait. Once we got to Picton, Sha and I went to the grocery store and picked up some veggies for salad and some humus and bread for dinner. After eating out so much ... read more