Blogs from Fox Glacier, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 2

We next headed down to Franz Josef to look at the Glacier. On the 21st it was shitty weather and slightly rainy and really foggy. We still walked out 10 min to go look at Franz Josef in the fog. Then we stayed at the Rain Forest Hotel/Backpackers. We were going to stay in the dorms but there was a large tour group there that night an the two guys we got put with we kinda smelly so we upgraded to a en-suite dorm room. A four person room with an attached bathroom. We ended up getting this to ourselfs and it was well worth the extra $2. The motel part of this place had tree houses that were fully equiped. Didn't go look for them though so I'm not sure if it was true. They ... read more

Having spent most of yesterday afternoon in bed, and most of this morning in the bathroom perhaps accepting Helen's offer of a lift to Fox Glacier was a little foolish, but I wanted to see at least some of it before moving on. After arriving in the small township of Fox, and having gotten the twanging of Banjos out of my ears I hitched down to lake Matheson with the local skydiving operators pickup. I did a 1 1/2 hour stroll around the lake, before heading back into town. Lake Matheson is famous for appearing on many a NZ postcard with Mount Cook reflected perfectly in its mirror like waters. However today was not a postcard day, and while the view was terrific my photo clearly showed a reflection of clouds - and no Mt Cook ... read more

While still in her work uniform, Mindy jumped into the back of the Honda for a relaxed trip to Queenstown. However, as soon as we hit 100 kph, the super “air-conditioning” system (aka: windows down) kicked in, making the back seat an icebox. After a brief stop for dinner, we rotated seats and headed south on our high-speed tiki tour of the South Island. After all, Brian Gonci was only in New Zealand for a short stay. Night had fallen by the time we arrived at Lake Tekapo, a highland lake in the heart of the South Island. Fittingly, the name Tekapo is derived from Maori words Taka (sleeping mat) and Po (night). The night sky was unforgettable as we gazed up from our tent site in the pines. While admiring the Southern Cross and Milky ... read more

Today was a very long drive to Fox Glacier village down the west coast. The weather was mixed with patches of rain storms but the scenery was still superb and the single lane roads (which New Zealander's call highways) are the best driving roads in the world! Useless for getting anywhere quick, but entertaining for the driver, if not passengers :-) We stopped in Westport for lunch and finally 8 hours later we arrived at Franz Josef glacier which we drove upto to take photos then drove the short journey to Fox Glacier and stayed in Ivory Tower backpackers. Proving that the world is small we bumped into a Slovakien couple who were in our dorm in Fiji, and we all went to see the Glowworms which hang in the trees near the hostel and, well, ... read more

Vi aker tillbaka till vastkusten och soderut langs den med buss. Vi forstar varfor den ibland kallas Wet Coast eftersom det regnar igen, hela vagen i bussen sa vi missar en massa fina utsikter som busschaufforen berattar om. Det ar inte mycket manniskor som bor langs vastkusten, alla samhallena bildades under guldrushen och en del har lyckats klamra sig kvar. Fortfarnde bryter man guld har och dar. Det finns ocksa en stad kand for sin jade, dar bussen stannar till lagom lange for att man ska kunna kopa souvenirer. Resan slutar denna gang i "Fox Glacier". Gissa vad den sta'n ar kand for? Har spenderar vi var nyarsafton, och tar under dagen en guidad heldagsvandring uppe pa glaciaren, i det faktiskt fina vadret. Frammat kvallen festar vi till det lite pa campingplatsen, och gar en promenad ... read more