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Published: November 12th 2008
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Queen Charlotte Sound
Fantastic day to be on the ferry crossing. We had a beautiful crossing through Queen Charlotte Sound, the sun was shining and not a cloud to be seen. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case for most of the time in the south island though.
First stop was Abel Tasman national park in the north, a bit of a wasted drive really because when we got there the weather was so bad that we just turned round and headed back the way we came. This was ok though because we headed to Marlborough and visited some of the vineyards and tasted some of their fine wines instead.
There are a couple of glaciers on the west coast of the south island, the Franz Josef Glacier and the Fox Glacier, we stopped in the town of Franz Josef. The plan was to wake up early the next day and get on the 9.15 hike, well we woke up at 9.30 so decided that we had to go out and buy an alarm clock. So feeling eager we booked to 8.15 hike for the following day, then went to find a spot to park up for the night. We ended up camping next to the lake along with a group of 4
Franz Joseph Glacier
Steve happy to have arrived. Irish friends, a couple from Brighton and a German Lad, who were also booked on the same hike for the next day, so what with them and the alarm clock there’d be no chance of us missing a slot again.
We made it on time and after getting kitted up with waterproof gear, disgusting smelly hiking boots that had definitely seen better days (probably in the 1940’s) and crampons we got on the bus for the short drive to the bottom of the glacier. We were split into two groups, one group who wanted to take it at a relaxing pace and the other who wanted it to be a bit more challenging. This time we split up - I decided that I was going to take it at an easy pace, after all I’ve never climbed a glacier before and Steve as you will have already guessed wanted to go in the other group! We had about a 30 minute walk to the terminal face of the glacier (technical term for the front of it) and then with our guide armed with a pick and a shovel, carved steps out of the ice for us to walk up. Actually
Lake Matherson
Mirror lake with Mount Cook in the distance it wasn’t that difficult at all. We basically hiked up the glacier, through blue ice, caverns and caves to the high point (technical term) for as far as we could get in the time allowed) then back down. It was a great day.
After our hiking experience we left Franz Josef and headed past the Fox Glacier for a couple of pics then onto Lake Matherson, a lake that is so sheltered from the wind that on a good day you get a mirror like reflection of Mount Cook. The clouds were hanging low so we didn't hang around long. Via Arthur’s Pass, the highest in New Zealand, we headed over to Wanaka and Queenstown. On the way stopping at Temple Basin, a harsh ski field where you have to hike, and I mean hike, up a mountain for over an hour to get to the snow. The field wasn’t too great and after the massive hike all your energy was drained too. They have this awful rope pully system, called a Nutcracker to take you up the mountain which was terrible and painful. To be honest it wasn’t the greatest experience ever. But we did it!!
From
Queenstown
View from up high. there we headed to Wanaka, a beautiful town sitting beside a huge lake with more ski fields near by. As the weather was windy we decided to give it a few days and head over to Queenstown which was just over a mountain and return at a later date to try the ski fields. Queenstown is a very nice chilled town with action sports galore. We decided to get ourselves onto one of the jet boats that race around the canyons in the nearby Shotover river, which was huge fun. We also did some concrete luge thing up on the top of a mountain overlooking Queenstown, and we went to more of the winery’s that are famous in the area. When the weather sorted itself out we made our way back over to Wanaka to go to Cadrona ski resort. Luckily we picked a good day, the sun shone and we had a wicked days boarding and Kelly did her first jump - only a few centimetres but there was definitely air!
After we left the Wanaka/Queenstown area we went further south hoping to stop off at Milford Sound and make our way along the bottom coast of the south
Speight's Ale Factory
After a few free samples! island. Unfortunately, the weather once again wasn’t on our side, Milford Sound was experiencing heavy rain fall and part of the road was closed getting to it so we decided to carry on further south. The weather didn’t improve for the next few days but we did manage to see more amazing scenery and camped along the coast in a few spots. We also found a spot called Monkey Island.. but no monkeys - gutted.
Then we decided to get to Dunedin a small university town south of Christchurch and home to the Speight’s Ale factory, also the world’s steepest road - which we took the camper van up and down! We arrived and booked a beer tour, most lager we tried in New Zealand wasn’t up to much, but the ale was ok. Speight’s (pride of the south) as it’s know, was one we’d only started drinking a few days before. We got on the tour took the usual factory tour with how the hops and barley works etc, etc, but at the end you are invited into a small bar where you can drink as much of the six ales they produce as you like, great! Unfortunately only
Mount Cook
...and Mr Cook for 30 mins though, still we got our money’s worth. And we can highly recommend Speight’s Summit. Tasty! We also went to the Cadburys factory which was in town. Quite fun, we got loads of free chocolates which we are stilll carrying around now.
Next we went back inland and up to Mount Cook - I had to have a picture next to it didn’t I? As we were driving up the weather turned really bad, rain pouring down but as we got closer to Mount Cook it started to snow. We arrived at lunchtime and couldn’t see a thing so decided to wait till the next day to see if we could see anything, the rumour was the weather would be perfect the day after. So we parked the camper ready for a cold night. The next day was indeed a perfect day. The sun was shining not a cloud in the sky and a thin layer of snow covered everything. It was a beautiful day to hike out to Mount Cook. The walk was fantastic and because of the snow the landscape looked even better. We took in the sights then decided to go back towards Christchurch,
Hanmer Springs
Time for another relaxing thermal pool before we leave New Zealand. but on the way stopping at the huge Lake Pukaki where the water is a magnificent blue. As we approached Christchurch we decided to change route and go further up to Hanmer Springs, a natural thermal area with beautiful forest walks and mountain biking with hot springs to dip into. We properly chilled out their.
Finally we headed back to Christchurch, spent a few days wandering around town and we popped into the Ice Bar they had in town - usual Ice Bar scenario, a small room completely frozen with ice sculptures and a bar made of ice. Vodkas and ice glasses. It was fun for 30 mins then you want to leave. We spent the last few days eating great food then finally catching our plane over to Australia.
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Gary
non-member comment
So was the Fox Glacier mint?........I'll get my coat!