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Published: August 27th 2007
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I arrived back in New Zealand, slightly miserable after leaving Sydney, with a sore throat, which by the time I'd got to my hostel in Christchurch had turned in "raging" tonsilitis! (You didn't expect me not to get something while I was away did you?) I grabbed some Strepfen from a chemist having tried my hardest to persuade them to give me some antibiotics. I decided that I didn't have time to go and see a doctor and that Strepfen and Powerade was the way to go. I was feeling even worse by the time I got to Greymouth after a very scenic journey through the Southern Alps and so I made 2 phonecalls which I knew would get me on the road to recovery again. The first was to my mother for some sympathy, which I got and the second to Mike for a kick up the rear, always guaranteed! With a renewed determination to not let dodgy tonsils spoil my last week I signed up for a day trip out to Punakaiki. Now before I explain what is at Punakaiki, I just want to stress I am not a complete Geology geek, I just like looking at interesting rocks
Trueman beach
A gratuitous rock shot....(it's a type of sandstone) now and again, I can't name most of them and I'd probably have trouble explaining the difference between igneous and sedimentary rock. ( Actually that's not true I can tell you the difference) but what I'm trying to say is I'm not just wandering around New Zealand trying to find interesting rocks and ticking them off in a little book much in the same way a trainspotter would tick off a GWR diesel. However, there are some particularly famous "pancake" rocks at Punakaiki and some blowholes and a sink hole, so off I went with a lovely dutch couple and an equally sweet lady from Auckland called Gloria. It was interesting to say the least, our guide, Tony was the biggest Geological freak going and he went on and on about rock formations and then set us homework and tried to test us on what he was saying. Normally at this point I would start playing up, much in the same way I do when bored in INSET meetings but seeing as I was in the midst of a fever I behaved but did eventually (after being pestered) tell him I already had a Geography degree, was a teacher and
did actually know what he was talking about and that I was more interested in looking at stuff than having a lecture on its formation etc. Gloria was also a teacher and was getting a bit frustrated with him too so we hung back a bit and put the world to rights whilst enjoying the pretty rocks!
From Greymouth it was a bus ride down to glacier country. Yes! More rocks only this time with added ice!! I've been on a glacier before and so knew what to expect, I wasn't sure that I'd be up to a day of walking over a glacier and Mike suggested that I take the helicopter up to the top and then have a wander around from there with the guides. It was a very tempting thought and I seriously considered it as an easy option before deciding that the extra 5 hours fresh air would do me a world of good and that the low temperatures would probably balance out my somewhat higher temperature. (It didn't help that the 3 German girls I was sharing with insisted on sauna type temperatures in our room) We started off by changing into boots -
A little pool by the road
Looked good enough to swim in. we weren't allowed to use our own boots-my boots seemed to fit fine at the time but it was only a few hours before I felt as though one of my toes was being crushed in a press! It was a relatively short walk to the glacier, only about 30 minutes, the Franz Josef is an unusal glacier in that it crosses into a sub tropical area and is surrounded on the hillsides by rainforest. There's only one other place where this occurs in South America, Argentina I think! Even on a cloudy day, the glacier is spectacular and they never cease to amaze me. There were crevasses and ice caves and other such wonderful formations. At one point our guide, Ryan, asked if anyone didnt mind getting wet to crawl through an ice cave that no-one had yet been through. I was certainly up for that and I knew I'd dry off fairly quickly. he lead me down to a 6ft hole which I duly clambered down, the entrance to the "cave" was just slightly wider than my shoulders, which again was fine. (Caving experience with my dad has taught me that as long as you can get your
shoulders through then the rest of you can follow!) I stuck my head in and had a good look, the entrance appeared to be the largest part of the cave, it got considerably smaller and then twisted off at a 45 degree angle. After a little consideration and also noting that the getting wet bit involved laying in 6 inches of water I decided that not even a size zero woman could get through it so I admitted defeat and went round to the other side to see what the exit to the cave was like. It was half the size of the entrance! Ryan admitted that it would be another couple of weeks before anyone would be able to get through there and that he just wanted to see if anyone would give it a go! The rest of the walk was great and we squeezed through some crevasses and even found the bones of a goat. Sone of the slightly more gullible members of our party actually believed they were the remains of a human waiting to be fully excavated....TUT! (To be honest the horns kind of gave it away!) I returned to the hostel feeling a little
tired but at least my temperature had finally gone only to be replaced with a highly attractive bit of sunburn!
My plan was to spend a day or two making my way down to Queenstown but due to some sort of Olympic type event in Wanaka there was no bed available so the decision was made for me I would have to go straight onto Queenstown instead, my final destination before home!
As it was my last few days in New Zealand I wanted to make the most of what time I had left so I booked myself on a day trip to Milford Sound. This was a good five hour trip out and of course a five hour trip back with a 2 hour cruise on the sound in between. It was going to be a long day! The journey was made very entertaining by our guide Max who claimed a great many things including a proposal of marriage from the New Zealand Prime Minister. He kept us laughing the whole way and the five hour trip seemed to pass quickly with lots of banter and photo stops. We arrived in Milford and boarded the boat just as it
Pancake Rocks
Lots of pancake rocks! began to hammer down, it continued to do so for pretty much the whole trip and every now and again I would dash out and stand in the driving rain trying to take in the the splendour of the mountains around me and the fjord, the best part of being in such bad weather was the amount of waterfalls that were created and the amazing rainbows. It was an incredibly long day but worth every minute of it to see some more of this incredibly country, plus the Roast lamb dinner I had was fairly spectacular too!
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Gayna
non-member comment
Haven't you been a busy bee!
Hi SJ - so glad to read your latest adventures and that you are still enjoying yourself. I'd like a pound for every mile you've travelled this trip - you must work out how many by the time you get home!! Can't believe that we'll all be in school this time next week, either. The holidays have just flown by. Matthew and Gemma's wedding was last Saturday and I just can't believe it's all over after so much preparation. It was the perfect day. Beautiful weather, beautiful bride, handsome bridegroom ( I have to say that as I made him! - but he really did look handsome, I was very proud!) The reception was lovely and everyone had a wonderful day from beginning to end. I'll get lots of photos to show you on the computer - don't think I'll have time to get paper prints. Hope your tonsilitis is better - you're right, we didn't expect you to come back home without a little 'illness'!! See you Monday - we'll have lots of strong coffee on tap for you. Lots of Love Gayna xxxx