Advertisement
Published: December 11th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Biggles
Just before I took to the skies When will I ever learn - flying and hangovers do not mix! I just made it in time for my transfer to the airport and after a very painful couple of hours trying to stay awake, boarded the plane to Christchurch. Or at least it was supposed to be Christchurch, but it was doing a very good impression of London on a cold rainy day! Perhaps subconciously predicting the state I would be in, I'd thankfully booked myself into the Sanctuary - an all female dorm at Base backpackers that smells lovely (not of boys and backpackers!) and gives you squashy duvets, aveda hair products, fluffy white towels and the loan of some hair straighteners (which I confess I forgot to return!) - pure bliss! My 2 room-mates for the next couple of nights were Hedda, a Swedish girl, and Alesha, a Canadian girl that I'd met back in August when we were both staying at the Planet Inn in Perth - small world hey? and we passed the time checking out the city and bemoaning the weather before each heading off on different tours around the South Island.
Stray, the company I'd chosen to explore the South Island with had
The Bus
Our not too inconspicuous method of transport around the south island promised me a fun packed tour with lots of like minded backpackers, so I was full of hope and optimism as I boarded the bus, only to discover about 10 other passengers, all in their own friendship groups, having already travelled the South Island, and about to get off the bus the following day - marvellous! To take my mind off this dismal situation I concentrated on the absolutely stunning scenery of the Southern Alps and the coast as we drove North to Kaikoura. A fairly non-descript afternoon was spent in this seaside town, hoping that a better bunch of people would be arriving from Wellington the following day. Luckily, I bumped into Hedda, who's bus had also stopped in Kaikoura and spent the evening with her and her fellow passengers.
There was only me and 2 others (Tim, a very camp German guy, and Gijs aka Dutchie as his name is impossible to pronounce!) who weren't going North to Wellington, and our driver suggested that rather than spend the night in Picton as detailed on our itinerary, to stop in the much nicer Nelson, which is what we decided to do. A new bunch of people jumped on the
bus at Picton but as we were getting off just down the road and would be joining another bus the next day, making new friends would have to wait.
Never one to turn down a free glass of vino, I jumped at the chance for some wine tasting at the lovely 'Village Vineyard' en route, where once again we bumped into Hedda and co, before arriving in Nelson late afternoon and spending a quiet night in front of the T.V.
As we weren't being collected until 4pm we had the morning to explore Nelson, so despite the pounding rain, me Tim and Dutchie took the hour long walk to the centre point of New Zealand. Back at the hostel waiting for the bus we discovered another girl, Vic, was also jumping on that day. Thankfully it seemed like there was a much nicer group on this bus and a BBQ was organised for that evening in Marahau, by the Abel Tasman National Park. A lovely evening was spent getting to know everyone and finally things were looking up!
Whilst the rest of the group opted for the most popular activity of sailing in the Abel Tasman, Vic and I decided
Franz Josef Glacier
The impressive Ice Formations that we hiked through to go for a more adventurous option - piloting a stunt plane and trying out some aerobatics! We took to the skies in an open topped 2 seater bi-plane with me in the front - the drivers seat - and Vince the 'other' pilot in the back! Once we'd taken off Vince handed the controls over to me and I was flying a plane! To prove this point he kept tickling me to show his hands weren't on the controls! Once we'd found the sailing group below us he had me rolling, looping the loop and flying upside down over them - awesome! For the last few minutes he took control and had us vertically climbing, nose diving whilst spinning and all sorts of other tricks - such amazing fun although admittedly the 4g's we experienced did send me a little green, but as the plane had no lid, a big lungful of fresh air soon sorted that out!
After such an exhilirating morning, I spent the afternoon walking the trail through the stunning Abel Tasman National Park as far as Tinline Bay and then the evening was spent around a bonfire back at the farm we were staying at.
Franz Josef Glacier
The terminal face of the glacier Heading Southwards down the West Coast through Kahurangi and Paparoa National Parks we had a stop/start day. taking in Cape Foulwind Seal Colony, a walk along the Truman Track and the weirdly named Pancake Rocks before arriving in Barrytown, our home for the night. Known locally as 'Baz Vegas' this really is in the middle of nowhere and consists of about 6 houses, and the pub we were staying in.
Most of the lads partook in the fancy dress competition to win a bungy jump (not me brother!) so once they'd raided the boxes of awful clothes, presumably left behind by fashionably challenged previous guests, we had a pub full of Emily Howards with cries of 'I'm a lady' all round. Tim, the camp German seemed a little too at home in his pink get-up and could definitely walk in heels far better than me - even going so far as dancing on the bar in them - hmmm, think there was a general consensus that he'd done this before!
The following morning was spent searching for Greenstone (Jade) unsuccessfully on the beach before heading further South to the glacier town of Franz Josef, nestled at the base of the
OK then!
The warning signs at the base of the glacier glacier in the rainforest. The aim was to do a heli-hike the following day which involved taking a helicopter to the top of the glacier and hiking on the ice for 2 hours. Sadly the elements were against us and it pelted it down all day long, meaning the hike was cancelled.
I didn't want to leave Franz Josef without getting up the glacier somehow, so opted to stay an extra day in the hope of doing the heki-hike the following day, but as the weather looked increasingly bad, changed my booking to a 6 hour hike which was guranteed to go regardless of the conditions.
Of course it was glorious sunshine when I woke up, and the heli-hike was going ahead, but I was now commited to the walk option, which in hindsight I'm really pleased I did as you saw far much more of the glacier and the walk was really enjoyable. In total it was a 9km hike with about 4 hours ice time. Once we'd reached the terminal face of the glacier and strapped crampons to our boots, the first challenge was to climb the very steep steps carved into the ice. The walk involved lots
of climbing and desceding of steps and crossing very scary bridges! The scenery was absolutely breathtaking with jagged formations and gorgeous blue ice all around. Unfortunately as the ice had moved we weren't able to explore too many tunnels, but we found a few to have a look at as well as come pretty cool crevaces. One of the highlights of the walk was hearing the crashing sound of the ice dropping off the glacier every now and then ... as long as it wasn't too close to us! I also drank fresh glacier water - the secret to eternal youth - so expect me to come back looking young and refreshed!
The next day, with very achy legs, I jumped on with a new bus load of people, one of whom is from Sutton Coldfield and knows my cousin from school! We spent the day heading further South down the West Coast towards Makarora, a tiny township where we stayed in cute little A-frame huts, and there was a wicked looking bonfire made out of an upturned steam engine. En route we checked out the impressive Fox Glacier with Mount Cook in the background, Knights Point, which looks over
Tunnel
one of the tunnels on the glacier the Tasman sea to Australia with Antartica directly to the South West and Ship Creek where we walked along the beach whilst getting chowed by sandflies. Next stop ... Queenstown.
Biggles Signing Out
Advertisement
Tot: 0.089s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 15; qc: 59; dbt: 0.057s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb