Advertisement
Published: October 9th 2006
Wow!!!!!
Brilliant Day!!! Fantastic Group Of Guys!!! Wonderful Experience!!!!! Great Views!!!!!So arrived on the south Island using the ferry from Wellington to Picton.... Qued (cued??) with the rest to get my bags then headed for the exit, I was very nervous as Karl and Lucy would be waiting for me and i tried to hold it back but you get this beaming smile come across your face that you cant hold back? sort of intense over-excitment!!! Multipul small clapping moment!!!.... was great to see them and i felt nice and relaxed immediatly (i know ive been away 4 four months but i hadn't actually seen karl & Lucy for a couple of years since they emigrated from the Uk)..........
Arrived at No.47 Arther Street which was to be my home/base while here on the South Island, it was in Bleniem a small quiet town about 20 miles from the tip of the south island on the east side... It was lovely to settle down to normality, dinners at the dinner table... My own sleeping space and an unpacked backpack!!! Yippee!!! "Karl & Lucy i must just say a MASSIVE thankyou to you both and i dedicate this blog to you!!!!", Music, Tv, Tin, Kitchen, Washing Machine yes i maybe disribing
Cheers!!!! Me, Lucy & Karl...
Was Great To Be Around Friends.... anyones house but its amazing what you forget about!!!! all these little things added together make a home and it was great to share one for a while....
I stayed for 4 nights, over the weekend, dranks lots of wine watched dvd's and generally chilled... we even took in a game of minature golf in Picton (Which Lucy Won Emphaticly!!)... Then on lucy's day off (sorry Karl!!!) we went on a Marlborough Valley vinyard tour, Lucy actually works in the tasting rooms for one of the local outlets so i had the perfect guide (she can also put away a fair bit too so we were well matched!!!), the set up of this place is great!!! you turn up, taste about 4-5 wines for free then leave??? the catch comes in the fact there are about 60 wineries!!!! we managed about 8 or 9 and got very merry for nothing!!! A Skill every backpacker is trying to master!!!!! Another fun day......
Planned to hire a car for the week to see the island as i found the magic bus a little restricting on its times... When i found a car for $200 (72quid!! Ace Cars at the ferry
Oh My God!!!!!!!!!
The View Before We Started!!!! We Were To Go As Far As The Top Of The Line Of Rocks Down The Center!!! 8 Hour Hike!!! port) for 7 days Bingo... Picked it up Monday at 9am and headed for the south of the island via the east coast (through Cristchurch)... But my first stop was sooner than i thought as i spotted a backpacker at the busstop who was on his way to Queenstown and after a quick conversation he was on board to share petrol costs!!!! So me and my finnish friend (from Finland!! never did learn his name correctly so just called him mate!!) headed as far as i could drive in one day... The car had no radio and a cassette deck??? who has cassette still??? (i did grab a couple from luce but couldnt listen to the same 3 for a week!!!).... Eventually found a recycling yard (Tip) and 2 boxes full of the very worst music i have ever seen!!!!! but after siving through 1000's of tapes picked out about 6 and parted with my $3 dollars (morrisy, cure, and some unlabbled ones)... Annnndddd 20 minutes down the road the tape player broke!!!! must have been the damp cassettes!!!! No tunes again!!! i am destined not to listen to music on my trip!!!
Drove till around 5pm only stopping
Ice Bar "Minus 5"
Me With a Ice Kiwi!!! Cool Bar!!!!! to eat my picnic and check out the veiws of the sea along the way, very stunning but tooooooo cold for a swim.... Stopped by a lake set up camp and built a fire, this believe it or not was the first time i'd used my tent?? i'd been carrying it since i left but had always found cheap enough accomadation or had camping provided on my trips (dave how did you struggle to assable that tent?? it was a piece of cake???)... The spot was great, right on the banks of this lake with a backdrop of the mountains... even had a massive pile of cut wood nearby to build a fire from... So settled in and taught my mate to play shithead over a few cans of lager.... The sleep weren't as tranquil a very windy night!!! and bloody freezing!!! if the finnish guy wasn't already sleeping in the car then i would have!!!!
Set of early doors for Queenstown, headed away from the coastline and inland the terrane switched from the lush green to the mountainess barren landscapes you associate with the scottish highlands, but still retaining its snow capped beauty.... after crossing the ranges we
Karl & Lucy!!!!
Playing a Fit Them all In Game!!!! Kept us entertained for a few hours!!!! were greeted with the site of beautifully pictureque Queenstown... Stunning setting set on the bankes of the lake with the snow capped mountains trapping it in a bowl of sunshine... Here i parted company with my mate and found a hostel (Bumbles on the banks of the lake, with amazing views) for the next couple of nights....
Queenstown was a different vibe to anywhere i'd seen in Nz so far, lots of pubs and clubs and outdoor/adrenaline activities to keep you entertained for months... i had 3 days before i headed to Milford Sound... I'd guess maybe 20% of people here are actually from Nz!! the rest are here to ski and work the holiday season which created a great atmosphere for going out.. I hooked up with Phebe (Aussie) and Esta (Dutch) from my dorm (Hi Guys!!) and we hit the town that evening (and afternoon!!!).. done a bit of a crawl till we stumbled on "Minus 5" the ice bar, first time i'd been to one of these and it was good fun, you had to book yourself in as couldn't be to full... the whole place was ice!!! as in everything!!! the bar the glasses the
Room With A View!!!!
This Was The View From The Dorm Room In Queenstown... Overlooking The Lake And Mountains... walls the floor and decked out with ice sculptures.. they kitted you out in a big coat and gloves as was -6.2 degrees inside... BBBBBrrrrrruuuuuuuggggghhhhh!!!!
Next day was meant to be my bungy jump day!!! Now there different angles you can take on this!!! Did i chicken out?? Was it never meant to be??? Had i come to my senses??? The fact is i just didn't wont to do it as much as i didn't wont to do it... so after a moment of reflection i didn't!!! (and now days later ive no regrets so a good choice!!!!)....
Next stage of my trip was put into chaos by a local landslide blocking of Milford Sound!!!! this was an area of lakes and forests.. and meant to be one of the highlights of the South Island but the road was blocked for 2 days and forecast indeffinatly while work was carried out to secure the cliff face... I couldn't wait around so headed off up the West Coast....
On my way to my next stop Franz Joseph Glacier i stopped at its niebouring one Fox Glacier, it was awesome a great river of ice cutting trough the mountains
West Coast Beaches...
Beautiful To look At!!! Just Bloody Freezin!!!!! and breaking up before your eyes into the river below... absolutly breathtaking, stood for a good hour just in awe...
Its set amonst a temperate rain forest and creates another worldy feel with its hanging mist and brilliant white and mystical blues...
Booked in to my hostel and sorted my day long glacier hike for tomorrow morning....... I always build in my mind this touristy barrier of what i expect the trip to be like?? maybe i do it to lower my expectations so not to be disapointed or maybe it stems from the claims direct health and safety aspect of Uk life and activities... But i was blown away yet again!!!!!! wont a fantastic thing to do!!!!!!!!!! a wonderful day.... which started at 8am at the base camp to get kitted up with our drysuits and boots, jackets and spikey crampons then a 10min bus to the site... There was a team of guides donned with pick axes sent up before us to recarve the paths after that evenings ice movements and to reestablise the pull lines... Now all these paths and pull lines was what i expected and in a way didn't want, but this was to
Breath In!!!!
Bit Of a Squeeze at Times!!! One To Many Possom Pies!!!!!! also incorparate the half day parties which would include a lot of young and oldies... so after the first couple of hours of accent we were past these and into new ice areas... I wish i could express myself better guys!!!! but i sometimes stuggle for the words and feelings in my writting!!! Sorry but again the pictures tell much more than i feel i can... But here goes... The hike was for 8 hours and would take us upto the clean ice (the dirty ice you see in the pictures coming from the small rock particles picked up over time), after the half day stage was passed we were given ice picks and headed of into new territory, these involed jump free style over 20 meter gaps!!! and squeezing through the very smallest of breaks in the surface ice even at times sliding through tunnels in the ice (see pictures!!!).... The veiws were out of this world and the ice was so so bright, with a 1000 different blues beneath your feet... But its the scale of the place that gets you its huge and very intimidating, you can hear it moving and creeking under foot and then every
now and then hear a big fall of ice up ahead.... The guides were great, very knoledgeable and theyed take it in turns to forge forward and hack down any precarious lokking sections that could fall above us..... Amazing amazing day that finished at 5pm and a hot spa back at the hostel....
My Interpretation of "Glaciology" The Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers cut through glacial valleys that flow into temperate rainforest. Most glaciers around the world are retreating, these glaciers still flow around sea level, which makes them pretty much unique relics of the last Ice Age.
South-Westland (area i'm in) lies in the path of a band of wind known as the 'roaring forties'. The weather that flows on to the West Coast is forced to rise over the Southern Alps, cooling and dropping most of its moisture as rain and snow. This process causes approximately 30 metres!!!!!! of snow to fall on the catchment area of the glacier every year. Snow that is compacted on the neve forms blue glacier ice (blue colour is due to lack of oxygen!! which is why top bit is white!!) that is funnelled down the valleys of the Franz Josef
Size Of The Thing???
Check Out The 2 Guys Working Away At The Base, Puts The Size Into Perspective!!!!! and Fox Glaciers. This flows under its own momentum, forming these 'rivers of ice'..
Although much melt occurs from the surface of the glaciers at lower levels (the ablation zone), this high snowfall continues to push ice down the valleys at very high rates. This is aided by basal sliding, caused by a layer of water beneath the glaciers, formed by the weight of the ice pushing against the valley floor. Both of these factors cause the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers to have flow rates that are up to 10 times faster than most valley glaciers, about 1 meter a day!!!!!!!!! at the base and upto 4 meteres of movement half way up, a bit like waves in the sea which is how the rocks are picked up and left on the surface of the glacier...
The glaciers flow over large bedrock steps on the valley floors. This causes the ice to extend and break up, forming steep icefalls that are mazes of crevasses and pinnacles of ice.
On the move again and heading for Nelson on the North of the island (this was to be Karl & Lucys new home from October so was keen to check
Stunning Backdrops!!!
New Zealand has some truly beautiful landscapes... This was Queenstown on the South West of the Island.. it out)...On the way stopped for my picnic at Pancake rocks an impressive set of formations on the coast... Turned up at about 6 in Nelson and headed pretty much straight out for a drink, met up with a Irish guy from spain?? and went for a night out... Played some pool and danced in cheesy places till the early hours... Next day had a walk along the seafront and took in the place before the drive back to Blenhiem...... The drive through was again stunning very green and lush......
So after my little trip i had arrived back at Karl & Lucy's for a couple of nights... Again very chilled with drinks and chat... Met some of thier friends and even spoke to Ell's on the phone which was a little weired!!! my first contact with home and out of the blue too... was a little nervous when the reciever was handed over to me..... But was good to hear a friendly voice.....
Set of for an evening in Wellington before my flight to Brisbane Australia!!!!!!!! a long evening my flight left early hours so no sleep for me just went out with a couple of local
Fancy a Pie!!!!
MMMMmmmmmm!!!! Possum Pie!!!! Must confess i did have one and it was ok... Not great but just doing my bit for the NZ enviroment... girls i met to a bar that served free champange all night???? on a wednesday??? they were really cool (Hi Tracey & Lisa!!! Thanks for the help!! Tracey owns a shop in Wellington and has given me priceless advise on importing stuff home from Thialand!!! Think im gonna sell at festivals for the summer when i get back!!! Cool Aye!!!).....
Well Bye For Now People....
Stay Happy and Keep Smilling.....
Tried Some More Video Footage... Fingers Crossed It Works...
Miss you all...xx
Ray....
Bit for the travellers:- Ferry $50 one way, Hostels about $23 per night excellent facilies for cooking all over, Petrol about $50 per 500k's, Car $200 per week, Possum Pie $4!!!!!!!!, Glacier Day $135, Beer about $3-6 a pint.....A meal about $10
Advertisement
Tot: 0.289s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 21; qc: 94; dbt: 0.1817s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb
