Walking on the Moon...

---

LIVE, from Fox Glacier...

Lift-off...

Dec. 24th, 2007

Hello everyone! I hope you all are enjoying the Holiday Season and that it isn’t TOO cold where you are. Just so you know, its 70 and sunny here, and I think Im headed to the beach this afternoon. Life is rough, I know. Anyway, Ive been trying to update the blog for the past week, but again, there has been so much going on that trying to get it all down is impossible. So, in similar fashion to last time, Im going to let the pictures do most of the talking- there are HEAPS of them. A brief synopsis though- I took advantage of having three consecutive days off to book a trip up the West Coast of the South Island to Westland National Park- a location that is home to the heart of the Southern Alps mountain range, along with numerous glaciers. The two glaciers that can be accessed via commercially guided visits are Fox and Franz Josef, and since “Tramping on a glacier (Or, as the Kiwi’s say it “Glossier“)” was one of the top things on the “NZ To-Do List”, this seemed to be the perfect opportunity. So, I booked a half-day heli-hike (They fly you up onto the glacier in a helicopter, you get to tramp around for a few hours, then they fly you back down- pretty sweet) on Fox glacier for Thursday afternoon, planned on taking Friday to explore around a bit, and set up a full-day ice-climbing course for Saturday, before returning to Queenstown on Sunday. Needless to say, I was really excited about the trip…

I was a little worried about the weather- we had had two weeks straight of gorgeous weather in Queenstown, but in this country, you never know when the weather will change, and you’ll have two weeks straight of grey and rain. It turned out I was worried for nothing though, as I had 3 absolutely perfect days while out exploring the South Island. Not too hot, not too cold, a few puffy clouds spattered about, but nothing to worry about- ideal weather for being out on the ice. The guides were raving about it to each other the whole time I was up there. You know you’re lucking out when the guides are going on and on about it…

Anyway, I hopped on the bus at 7am Thursday morning, and was off on a 5 hour bus ride through beautiful rainforests, massive mountain valleys, over rivers and past crystal clear mountain lakes- the drive itself set the tune for the rest of the weekend. I thought I was going to sleep the whole way, but couldn’t close my eyes for all of the unbelievable scenery I was passing through. New Zealand is ridiculous- one minute you’re driving through a rainforest, only to break out into this magnificent valley with monstrous mountains towering over you on every side. Then you’re climbing up into these mountains, listening to the bus creak and strain with every switch-back. All of a sudden, you’re falling through a mountain pass, with waterfalls cascading down alongside the bus as you weave your way back down through the gully. You look up, and all of a sudden you’re back in the rainforest, but you’ve also got the Tasman Sea stretching out before you, with beautiful beaches and waves crashing along the shore- its insane. Needless to say, I didn’t want to miss anything. 5 hours after departing Queenstown, we pulled into Fox Township, the “town” where all of the Fox Glacier trips are based out of. My Half-day heli-hike didn’t depart until 2, so I checked into my hostel, and went out to walk around and explore the town. 10 minutes later, I had seen just about everything, and settled down at a café to watch the world go by for an hour or so before checking in for my hike.

I checked in at 2, they drove us down to the heli-pad, gave us some sturdy leather tramping boots and wool socks, and before we knew it, we were in the helicopters and headed up the valley towards the glacier. Now, if you’ve never been in a helicopter, its kind of hard to explain- you’re flying (Obviously..), but it doesn’t really feel like you’re flying, if that makes any sense. Since helicopters don’t have to be moving forward to create lift, it is a really odd sensation of just hovering. Very different than speeding down a runway in a jet trying to take off- the helicopter simply speeds its rotors up, and you’re away. Soooo cool! Anyway, the helicopter ride up was awesome- the pilot was swooping up and down the canyon walls, over waterfalls and sheer rock faces, trying to give us the best views of the glacier we could get. The glacier itself was amazing- I had never seen one in person before, and didn’t really know what to expect. It was HUGE- so hard to comprehend that it is this humongous block of moving ice- insane! I was trying to capture it all- video camera in one hand, still camera in the other, all while trying to take everything in myself. Ridiculous! He finally set us down on the ice helipad, we hopped out, put on our crampons, and were off to explore the glacier for the next 3 hours. Lots of ice formations and caves, heaps of compression arches, and a great time just experiencing what it is like to be walking around on a glacier. Its such a foreign environment… We trekked around for a few hours, and then headed back to the helipad to be airlifted back down into the valley.

That evening, I headed over to the Cook Saddle Saloon to grab a bite to eat- I had scoured the numerous options in town prior to the heli-hike, and had my heart set on the Boss Hog Ribs at the Saloon. The place was pretty busy when I arrived- all the people coming in off the glacier stopping in for dinner after long day tramping around on the ice. I was fortunate to get a table in the sun out on the porch, plopped myself down in one chair, propped my feet up on another, and settled in with a cold one. I don’t know if it was “Country and Western Night” at the Cook Saddle or what, but they were playing some classic Country music that night- Brooks and Dunn, George Strait, Dixie Chicks, Garth Brooks- I swear I could’ve been at a bar in some small mountain town out in Colorado or something, except for all of the foreign accents. It was pretty cool. Made me miss home a little bit, but also made me appreciate the current circumstances all the more- I had been tramping around on a glacier during a beautiful day in New Zealand, had an awesome ride in a helicopter, was sitting with my feet up in the sun enjoying a cold Speights Old Dark, listening to American music while on the other side of the world, waiting for what was to prove to be a MASSIVE plate of ribs, chips, and coleslaw to soothe my hunger pangs... I had to smile- not a bad spot to be in. I polished of the ribs (it took awhile), had another Speights (Or two..), and then headed back to the hostel to call it a night. I was knackered- what a day!

I awoke the next day with plans to pack everything up and head straight to Franz Josef Township- I had heard that it was a bit bigger than Fox (Not tough to do…), and thought I would while away the day there doing something. Alas, how quickly things can change… The guy “working” at the front desk of the hostel told me that I would be better off just staying in Fox for the day, for it provided more access to better views of the Southern Alps, Mount Cook and Mount Tasman (The two tallest peaks in NZ), and the glacier fields themselves. He had me convinced, so I hired a bake for the day, grabbed a map of some local tails, and set out. I almost mistakenly stumbled across Lake Matheson- I was headed there because it was only supposed to take 1.5 hours to walk around the lake, and that sounded like a good way to kill 1.5 hours... Little did I know that Lake Matheson is one of the most famous lakes in New Zealand due to its location with the Southern Alps as a backdrop. On a still day, it is like a place out of a fairy tale, providing mirror image reflections of the majestic mountains that make up the Southern Alps, specifically Mts. Cook and Tasman. I realized this when I got to the car park, and it was full of campers, rental cars, and tourists milling about. They’ve even built a little café out there to service the needs of the visitors- pretty nice, by NZ’s standards. Lake Matheson is recognized as a World Heritage Area, which means it is strictly protected and maintained- not much different than the rest of NZ, actually. One quickly comes to realize that New Zealand itself is one massive national park, its just called different thing in different areas. Anyway, I parked my rent-a-bike behind a mound of dirt (My American-instilled sense of possible theft still keen, despite the fact that no one even locks their cars in this country. I mean really, who’s going to steal a rental bike??), and set out on the trail. Another beautiful day, another great experience hiking around Lake Matheson. There was a slight breeze that day, so the lake wasn’t perfectly still. Hence, I didn’t get the perfect reflection shot, but it was still well worth the ride down there and the hike around the lake. I had a quick nap in the sun outside the café after the hike, and then was off to another spot simply referred to as “Peak View Point” on my handy-dandy map. Upon arrival, I understood why it had such a moniker- great view of Mt. Cook, Mt Tasman, Mt. Fox, and Fox Glacier, along with the rest of the Southern Alps range that runs through Westland National Park. Honestly, it was quite strange to see these huge mountains springing up out of what is nothing but a flat plain all the way out to the Tasman Sea. No foothills, nothing leading up to the peaks- its just flat flat flat, and all of a sudden BOOM! Massive mountains. Crazy. Anyway, again, snapped more than a few photos, had a banana and a Powerade to give me some energy for the ride back into town, took a little snooze in the sun, and then was back in the saddle to head back up the road. Luckily I had judged it so that the wind would be at my back for the ride home… That made things a bit easier.

Back in town, I returned the bike, grabbed my backpack, and set out to take on another first for me- hitch-hiking. As there are no shuttles that run between Fox and Franz Josef, and the daily busses all come through early in the morning, hitching a ride, I was told by several people, was the best and easiest option. Now you have to understand, hitching is part of the culture here in New Zealand- its done everywhere, all the time. I think it has something to do with the backpacker influence, along with the fact that most of NZ is very rural, and getting between places without your own vehicle can be problematic. Those on the road realize this, and are generally willing to help those looking for a ride out as long as their destinations coincide. Again, having the horror stories one hears in the US about hitchhikers and those that pick them up fresh in my mind, I would by lying if I said I wasn’t a teeny bit nervous about the whole thing. But, on the other hand, like I said, its part of the culture here, so I figured it wasn’t THAT big of a deal. Low and behold, I wasn’t out on the corner for more than 5 minutes before a friendly couple headed to Franz Josef stopped and picked me up. They turned out to be Fijian, which was an odd twist of fate, and had been living in NZ for 7 years. They were headed to the supermarket (“Supermarket”, I would come to find out once we reached Franz Josef) to get some supplies for their home. Its only about a 45 minute drive between the two towns, all along this narrow, windy mountain road, and before I knew it, we were pulling up to my hostel in Franz Josef. I thanked them for the ride, offered them money for the fuel (Which they refused), and thanked them again. I guess Fiji redeemed itself a tiny but- not completely, but a little…

I spent the night in the YHA Franz Josef hostel, and was up early then next morning for my full day of ice-climbing. Check in was at 730, so I got up, had a quick shower, made breakfast, packed my lunch, and was out the door by 715. I checked in at the office, met the others that would be climbing in our group, and then we were off to the gear shed to get all of the equipment we would need for the day. Backpacks, harnesses (Harni?), helmets, crampons, ice axes, socks and boots, hats and gloves- I felt like a full-fledged mountaineer by the time we left the shed. I was ready to climb Mt. Everest!! Well, maybe that’s a little extreme, but still- I felt prepared. The biggest difference that morning was that instead of having a helicopter fly us up onto the glacier, we had to hike all the way up it from the valley floor. Big difference. We drove to the car park in the river valley, climbed out of the van, and began to hike through the bush towards the terminal face of the glacier. Upon breaking out into the river bed, we could see the glacier far off in the distance, though it loomed so large it seemed like we were a lot closer than we actually were. We continued to hike towards it, still trying to comprehend its size and get some sort of scope of things. Upon arriving at the terminal face, we laced up out climbing boots, strapped on our crampons, and began the slow and methodical climb up the glacier towards the ice climbing walls. It was vastly different than the heli-hike- down towards the terminal face is where you get the deep crevasses and huge ice pinnacles as the glacier thins out and rolls over itself. We were walking through deep cracks with ice walls meters high on both sides- again, such a strange environment. I was loving it… Up and up we climbed, with something new to wonder at around each turn. They have guides out there all day that work to cut staircases at the steep parts of the trek. Every so often we would come across one, ask how their day was going, etc. They would just rave about how beautiful the day was, and go right on cutting steps with their ice axe. Too funny… Anyway, we finally reached the area where the ice climbing wall were located, and sat down for lunch while the guides set up the anchors and the harnesses. Lunch on a glacier- how cool is that (No pun intended…)?! After lunch, it was time to start climbing. There is a technique to ice climbing that takes a while to get used to, especially if you’re wearing uncomfortable boots that have already given you blisters during the hike up the glacier. You have to really sit back in your boots after sinking the front spikes of your crampons into the ice, which can be really painful on those blisters you’ve already developed on your heel and the back of your ankle. Regardless of the pain, if your going to get up the face without your feel repeatedly slipping out, you just have to grit your teeth and do it. Man, don’t I sound tough… It wasn’t really that bad, but to give you some sort of an idea, imagine trying to climb a ladder in ski boots, only the boots don’t really fit and you’ve got blisters on your heels. Add to this that it isn’t really a ladder, but a slick wall of ice that keeps crumbling out from under you as you try to force yourself to sit back in your boots, and you’ve got a good idea of what it was like on that first attempt. Obviously, everything got better with practice and experience, and by the end of the day, we were climbing walls with one ice axe instead of two, and our instructor actually climbed one wall with no axes at all. Very impressive… As the day wore on, it came time to head back down the glacier, so we packed up all of our gear, and began the long hike down. It was like rush hour or something- so many groups trying to get down at the same time- a log jam, for sure. We finally got down, made the long trek back to the van, and drove back over to the shed. Now, I’ve long believed that taking ski boots off at the end of a long day on the slopes is one of- if not THE best- feelings in the world… Now I’m not so sure. Taking off my ice climbing boots after all of the hiking, climbing, and more hiking we had done that day… That could give taking ski boots off a good run for its money. Either way, it felt good to get those boots off! Another great day out on the glacier!

Back into town, I was so tired I fell asleep in the little yard just outside the lounge of the hostel. I was planning on cooking my own dinner that night rather than going out again, but just couldn’t be bothered by it all. So, as a compromise, I went to the store and bought a pizza, which actually turned out to be quite nice, and just kept things low key. I went on a hike with some Dutch girls to see the glow worms later that night, which was pretty cool. Glow worms are these tiny little worms that for some reason glow blue at night. You get enough of them spread out over a large rock face, and its as if you’re looking up into a sky full of stars. Crazy. Back to the hostel, and then straight to bed- knackered again! Had to catch the bus back to Queenstown at 915am the next morning, and then was back to work Sun night… A GREAT 4-day trip though. An unbelievable experience, for sure…

Ok, so maybe that wasn’t so brief… So much to tell!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! I hope that you all have a great holiday spent with friends, family, and those that you love!! Much love from New Zealand!!! J I’ll be spending Christmas Eve having an Argentinean BBQ with Federico and Co.; Christmas Day entails a Champagne Breakfast in the morning with the crew from Luciano’s at one of the owner’s homes, then its off to a good old fashioned Irish Christmas celebration at my friends’ Maeve and JP’s house. Still, I wish I was at home! It will be fun though- such and international experience! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!

---

Photos

Ivory Towers Hostel, Fox Township
A really cool place- no keys, no locks, heaps of sunchairs, and a resident black lab. Really, what else do you need?

Route 6, a.k.a. Main Street, Fox Township
Not much here- a few cafes, a convenience store, a couple guiding offices, and thats it. Fox Township- Get excited!!

Fox Glacier Guides
These are the guys I went through for my half-day heli-hike

My Ride...
One of the Glacier Guides helicopters, ready to take passengers up into the ice...

Fox Glacier
This photo is a testament to skillfull multi-tasking- still camera in one hand, video camera in the other, all while still enjoying the chopper ride up to the glacier.

The Fox Glacier
Awesome views of the glacier from the air...

Enjoying the flight...
I think the guy in the back is having more fun than I am...

Walking on the Moon...
Welcome to Fox Glacier

Ice Landing....
Our helicopter takes off from the ice helipad, headed back to the valley for more hikers

Ice Caves...
This area of the glacier is called the compression zone- its where all of the ice arches are formed due to more ice sliding down the icefall and forcing the top crust to buckle and arch.

More Ice Formations...
More ice caves and arches- the icefall is the steeper part of the glacier, seen up the slope. Here, the ice can move as much as 5 meters a day.

Anyone for a swim?
The temperature was in the 60s on the ice, so there was a lot of water moving around, running down the glacier and forming pools along the way like this one.

Incredible Ice Caves...
This particular cave wound so far down into the glacier that you couldnt see where it ended...

A River Runs Through It...
There was a legitimate creek running through the bottom of this cave, carrying all of the run-off down the glacier to the river in the valley below.

Tramping on the glacier...
Our guide took us around to heaps of different caves and formations throughout the trek, cutting steps on the steep bits with her ice axe along the way.

Blue Ice...
The ice in this section of the glacier is so condensed and compressed, it takes on this crystal blue color- AMAZING!

New Ice Arch...
The conditions on the glacier change daily, and these ice arches typically only last a week or two during the warm summer months. This one was just beginning to form...

Comments

[erin]

wow...the glacier looks like so much fun! what an amazing trip!