Getting to the Glaciers (pronounced glass-e-ers)
Leaving early from Kaikoura, we knew that we had a full day of driving to get over to Fox and Franz Josef glaciers, but what we didn't know is that it would be made a little longer by a loggin truck accident along the way! Traffic was stopped in both directions from about 8am to 2pm, ugh...
Fortunately, just before the we were stopped for the logging truck accident, there was a winery! So, quickly turning around and back-tracking for a couple of miles we waited out our misfortune with a tasting of some local wines...
Breaking through the accident and arriving at the West coast, we were greeted with a downpour of rain in Greymouth. Fortunately, after a hearty pizza lunch at a place recommended by the local i-site, the rain had let up a little and we were able to venture forth for the final leg down to the glaciers.
Glowworms:
Originially we were thinking about stopping at some glow worm caves on the way over, but because of our delay, we had to forgo that option, but as we were driving down to the glaciers (now mostly dark) we see a sign that says "glow work dell." So we think, "Sweet! We'll get to see some glow worms after all!" After a short trek up to a mossy dark wall, and then into some local's backyards by accident we left sorely disappointed by the lack of glow worms. So, when we arrived at our accommodations in Franz Joseph, we were delighted to hear the guy at check-in say that there were more glow worms at the top of our street! Setting our stuff down, we trekked to the top of the street and up the path a little way, only to find NO GLOWORMS! At this point we give up on glow worms and go back to the local pub for a brew and this strange game where you can only pass it backwards. Sigh, it just wasn't meant to be.
Arriving back in the room late, I begin to contemplate what to do the next day, and after much thought, decided to try to skydive and promised myself to contact them in the morning to see if they had any spots open. When in Rome, right...
Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers
Waking up the next day, I checked the hours for the skydive place I wanted (Skydive Fox Glacier) and shot them an email just before they opened, assuming they would respond with a time later that afternoon. But, only a couple of minutes later, they reply saying that they have a spot open at 10am! So, we hurriedly ate breakfast and got out the door for an early morning skydive.
After driving right past the entrance to the little airfield that houses the skydive place, we pulled up right on time to find that I'm the only person there and diving. Sweet! I knew it was low season, but this is pretty awesome. Basically just a bunch of guys standing around the office waiting for somebody like me to call up. Within 20 minutes I was suited up and ready to dive. While I was suiting up and getting taken up in the plane, Sita, Bridget, and Justin went to the landing site to watch me come down.
Honestly, everything happened so fast and the whole crew was so non-chalant that I didn't even think about being nervous. The plane ride up was beautiful with views of all the local lakes, the glaciers, and the Tasman sea. Really spectacular. When we got to the right height (12,000ft), the door opened and I - attached to my tandem instructor - slipped to the edge of the door. Before I knew it, we had pushed off and were in freefall through the air! After a few moments of disorienting tumbling through the air, we levelized so that we were both face down and it really felt like we were just floating there admiring the amazing views all around. With the wind whipping past my face it was a little hard to look directly down, but when there's so much around you to look at, why look at the ground! Before I knew it we were opening the parachute and slowly gliding toward the landing site. My instructor let me take "control" of the parachute for a while, steering us toward the landing site, but before I knew it we were back on the ground! On the whole, it was a really amazing experience, and I would recommend it to everybody who likes seeing the world from a different perspective. Given the chance, I would go back and do a higher dive to have more time in freefall and to see more; truly a lot of fun.
After coming down from the adrenaline high, dropping my suit off at the office, and grabbing pictures, we were off to Lake Matheson for a scenic walk. The views back to the mountain were truly incredible, especially with the reflection in the lake. We even got a little reflection in ourselves on reflection island. Liking the concept, Bridget and I decided that we needed an island for reflection after every review at work. I don't think that's out of the realm of possibility.
Leaving the Lake, we headed into town for a quick bite to eat (mmmmm....chicken, cranberry, and brie), and I picked up some "souvenier" socks to replace a pair I'd lost along the way. Quickly enough we were off again to see Fox Glacier.
Arriving at the glacier, we were confronted with a river coming down from the glacier and a walk up the moraine field to the face. Hopping down the rocks to the river, I intreppidly dipped my hand into the water to feel the temperature. No surprise, it was practically ice cold, but immensely refreshing. Certainly not something I would want to swim in...hiking up the moraine field, there plenty of signs telling us just how dangerous the glacier could be, and even sections of the trail that told us not to stop on the trail for fear of rock slide! But once we got to the top of the field we were confronted with a truly impressive view of the face. The amazing blue of the ice and the immense scale of the ice boulders is really hard for the mind to comprehend. I kept trying to put it in some sort of scale, with houses or people, or busses, but you just can't describe the sublime feeling you get when you are next to something that big. It's almost like the humbling being in an immense cathedral. Walking back down the path we were treated to some truly spectacular views as the rays of sunlight cut up the valley and created a stunning landscape.
Working our way back to Franz Josef (town) and dropping Sita off at the hotel. Bridget, Justin, and I decide to hurry out and get one more glacier in. Walking as fast as we could, we made it up the moraine field to the face of Franz Josef just as the sun was starting to peak below the horizon. and while impressive, it was certainly a let down after the grandeur of Fox Glacier. So, hustling back out before dark, we made it back to our hotel.
Having purchased some items at the store, we prepared ourselves a lovely dinner including an hors' de ouvres platter or Edam, Bleu cheese, apple slices, and crackers before the main course of rice, with steamed brocolli, some Indian food, and hot soup. Oh yeah, and we only used a microwave to make all of it. Boom.
After such a long day, it was time to relax, so we headed to a local bathhouse complete with pools of different temperatures, mood lighting, cozy grottos, and a "pool of calmness." Relaxing and soaking, we (of course) tried all of the different pools, and relaxed and let the tension of the day melt away.
What a day.
Queenstown
Day 1:
Making our way over to Queenstown proved slightly more difficult than we imagined. Just we got to the South Island, there had been a huge rock slide that closed the road between the glaciers and Queenstown. Just so you understand, there aren't really other roads that go between these two places; you can't just detour through another area. If we didn't get through this pass, we would have had to go 7 or 8 hours out of our way to get there. So, we were intensely monitoring conditions the whole time we were at the glacier, and luckily it opened up the morning that we were coming through!
Winding our way through the mountain passes to get back to the center of NZ certainly tried everybody's intestinal fortitude, but luckily once we got to the other side we were reward with some truly incredible views of the two lakes that surround the Queenstown area: Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea (shown below).
Continuing into Queenstown, as the rest of the group adventured through Queenstown for that night, I decided to take some time off, go for a run, enjoy a hearty pizza dinner, and relax with some coffee.
Day 2 (exploring the city):
Having had such a relaxing night, I decided to get up in time to watch sunrise over the mountains. Walking around early in the morning, with a bit of dampness still lingering in the air, with nobody else around was incredibly relaxing and a great way to start the day. If only every day could start so well...
Keeping it relaxed, we decided to get a feel for the city by wandering around the downtown area, a historic house with local crafts, through a beautiful park on the peninsula. Notable sights included: an interesting but kind of annoying "sharkboat" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW5G8362cwo), a rainbow over the lake, and amazing choclatier (I had a hot chocolate with lavendar oil. AMAZING), and settled in (due to some rain) for afternoon at a wine tasting location that did samples of lots of wines and whiskeys from around the region and New Zealand. After burning through a good many tastings and a full shot of whiskey, we were just about ready for a nap, so we retired back to our room for a night of take-out burgers from a locally famous establishment (Fergburger). <sarcasm> Feeling particularly hungry from such an exhausting day </sarcasm> I hunkered down and got the "Big Al" with a solid 1/2lb of meat, cheese, and a fried egg. I'm sure my heart loves me...
With a full belly and a relaxed mind. It was a pretty amazing night of sleep.
Day 3:
With such a relaxed day 2, we figured it was time to get some adventure back in our lives, so we headed up the mountain early (9am, HA), using the gondola, and set out to do some high intensity street luging!!!!! Yes, all of the luge jokes that are running through your head right now were being made. The frosty temperature (prob. about 30F) made it an especially invigorating experience to come down the Mountain in a little plastic chair; it even started snowing on us at the top of the mountain! Using our three runs, culminating in a run down the "advanced" track, I decided that I needed some more adventure in my life, and signed up to bungy at the original site of commercial Bungy: Kawarau Bridge, just outside of Queenstown. Hearing that the weather was supposed to clear up in the afternoon, we scheduled my jump for 3:30 and decided to take lunch in the quaint little town of Arrowtown, just outside of QT. After a hearty lunch, some beer, and exploring the cute little downtown, it was time to head to the bridge.
Firstly Kawarau bridge, is really just a (former) bridge right beside the road. But the bungy center that they've built up around it is truly impressive. As we checked in through the practically subterrainian visitors center, you could watch everybody else before you lining up and taking the plunge. Quickly enough, they had taken my weight, assigned me a number and sent me off to the bridge for a jump! While I wasn't too nervous about the jump, because I had to strip my jacket for the jump, the biting cold of the bridge quickly caught up with me. Besides that, because of the system they have, I got to stand and watch a number of people go before me. I was surprised by two things: 1) They were incredibly efficient at pushing people off of a bridge, and 2) the mechanisms they used, while incredibly safe, were also incredibly simple. Basically, when I stepped up, the wrapped a towel around my legs, wrapped a binding cord around the towel using a specific technique, and the hooked that rope up to the main line. Just in case, I also had a waist harness. That's it! Before I knew it, I was standing on the platform, being told to let go of the bridge smile for the camera, and then 3...2...1... jump. The couple seconds of freefall were really amazing as things do seem to be approaching pretty quickly (unlike skydiving), and then, as the rope catches you, there are some amazing moments of being gently pulled up and floating through the air. Again, another incredible experience that I would highly recommend. Well worth the cost of admission.
Specially thanks to Sita, Justin, and Bridget for waiting so long before my jump! It was freezing out, and they got some great pictures and videos (complete with sound-track) of the experience.
Having my adventure quota satisfied, we headed back into town for dinner (again, some inventive cooking, including double boiler mulled wine, and hacked steamed rice) and a night out at the cinema to see the HILARIOUS What we do in the Shadows, a mockmentary by of the cast of Flight of the Concords. Feeling like we had sufficiently sucked the marrow from Queenstown. We prepared to leave the next day and got a good night's rest.
Christchurch
The drive to Christchurch was spectacular ending to the amazing scenery of the South Island. As we drove up the central mountain range, we stopped next to Lake Pukaki and Lake Tekapo, to admire the incredible teal color created by the rock flour from the glaciers grinding rocks together. Truly spectacular. We were even able to find a free zipline and get in some cheap adventure for everybody!
Arriving in Christchurch we checked into our final hotel, and headed to the CBD to see the wreckage that the earthquake had caused. Warned by several people that there was significant damage, the state of the business district was still quite shocking. Building are still condemned and being torn down, and while there are some "green shoots" of business that have started to grow back, the area is shockingly quiet and desolate. I just can't imagine what it was like immediately after the event. It reminded me of some of the housing districts I saw in the wake of Katrina where there are just gaps upon gaps in the streetscape. Really unfortunate.
Retreating from the CBD we found a little bit of takeaway dinner close to the hotel and settled in for a late night movie and an early night before our 6am flights out of New Zealand the next morning...
Leaving early from Kaikoura, we knew that we had a full day of driving to get over to Fox and Franz Josef glaciers, but what we didn't know is that it would be made a little longer by a loggin truck accident along the way! Traffic was stopped in both directions from about 8am to 2pm, ugh...
Fortunately, just before the we were stopped for the logging truck accident, there was a winery! So, quickly turning around and back-tracking for a couple of miles we waited out our misfortune with a tasting of some local wines...
Breaking through the accident and arriving at the West coast, we were greeted with a downpour of rain in Greymouth. Fortunately, after a hearty pizza lunch at a place recommended by the local i-site, the rain had let up a little and we were able to venture forth for the final leg down to the glaciers.
Glowworms:
Originially we were thinking about stopping at some glow worm caves on the way over, but because of our delay, we had to forgo that option, but as we were driving down to the glaciers (now mostly dark) we see a sign that says "glow work dell." So we think, "Sweet! We'll get to see some glow worms after all!" After a short trek up to a mossy dark wall, and then into some local's backyards by accident we left sorely disappointed by the lack of glow worms. So, when we arrived at our accommodations in Franz Joseph, we were delighted to hear the guy at check-in say that there were more glow worms at the top of our street! Setting our stuff down, we trekked to the top of the street and up the path a little way, only to find NO GLOWORMS! At this point we give up on glow worms and go back to the local pub for a brew and this strange game where you can only pass it backwards. Sigh, it just wasn't meant to be.
Arriving back in the room late, I begin to contemplate what to do the next day, and after much thought, decided to try to skydive and promised myself to contact them in the morning to see if they had any spots open. When in Rome, right...
Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers
Waking up the next day, I checked the hours for the skydive place I wanted (Skydive Fox Glacier) and shot them an email just before they opened, assuming they would respond with a time later that afternoon. But, only a couple of minutes later, they reply saying that they have a spot open at 10am! So, we hurriedly ate breakfast and got out the door for an early morning skydive.
After driving right past the entrance to the little airfield that houses the skydive place, we pulled up right on time to find that I'm the only person there and diving. Sweet! I knew it was low season, but this is pretty awesome. Basically just a bunch of guys standing around the office waiting for somebody like me to call up. Within 20 minutes I was suited up and ready to dive. While I was suiting up and getting taken up in the plane, Sita, Bridget, and Justin went to the landing site to watch me come down.
Honestly, everything happened so fast and the whole crew was so non-chalant that I didn't even think about being nervous. The plane ride up was beautiful with views of all the local lakes, the glaciers, and the Tasman sea. Really spectacular. When we got to the right height (12,000ft), the door opened and I - attached to my tandem instructor - slipped to the edge of the door. Before I knew it, we had pushed off and were in freefall through the air! After a few moments of disorienting tumbling through the air, we levelized so that we were both face down and it really felt like we were just floating there admiring the amazing views all around. With the wind whipping past my face it was a little hard to look directly down, but when there's so much around you to look at, why look at the ground! Before I knew it we were opening the parachute and slowly gliding toward the landing site. My instructor let me take "control" of the parachute for a while, steering us toward the landing site, but before I knew it we were back on the ground! On the whole, it was a really amazing experience, and I would recommend it to everybody who likes seeing the world from a different perspective. Given the chance, I would go back and do a higher dive to have more time in freefall and to see more; truly a lot of fun.
(and I'm FREEEEEE, free-fallin')
(using the parachute)
(enjoying the ground)
(misty morning)
(the view of views?)
(the long and winding road)
Leaving the Lake, we headed into town for a quick bite to eat (mmmmm....chicken, cranberry, and brie), and I picked up some "souvenier" socks to replace a pair I'd lost along the way. Quickly enough we were off again to see Fox Glacier.
Arriving at the glacier, we were confronted with a river coming down from the glacier and a walk up the moraine field to the face. Hopping down the rocks to the river, I intreppidly dipped my hand into the water to feel the temperature. No surprise, it was practically ice cold, but immensely refreshing. Certainly not something I would want to swim in...hiking up the moraine field, there plenty of signs telling us just how dangerous the glacier could be, and even sections of the trail that told us not to stop on the trail for fear of rock slide! But once we got to the top of the field we were confronted with a truly impressive view of the face. The amazing blue of the ice and the immense scale of the ice boulders is really hard for the mind to comprehend. I kept trying to put it in some sort of scale, with houses or people, or busses, but you just can't describe the sublime feeling you get when you are next to something that big. It's almost like the humbling being in an immense cathedral. Walking back down the path we were treated to some truly spectacular views as the rays of sunlight cut up the valley and created a stunning landscape.
Working our way back to Franz Josef (town) and dropping Sita off at the hotel. Bridget, Justin, and I decide to hurry out and get one more glacier in. Walking as fast as we could, we made it up the moraine field to the face of Franz Josef just as the sun was starting to peak below the horizon. and while impressive, it was certainly a let down after the grandeur of Fox Glacier. So, hustling back out before dark, we made it back to our hotel.
(view down the Franz Josef valley)
Having purchased some items at the store, we prepared ourselves a lovely dinner including an hors' de ouvres platter or Edam, Bleu cheese, apple slices, and crackers before the main course of rice, with steamed brocolli, some Indian food, and hot soup. Oh yeah, and we only used a microwave to make all of it. Boom.
(colorful and healthy!)
After such a long day, it was time to relax, so we headed to a local bathhouse complete with pools of different temperatures, mood lighting, cozy grottos, and a "pool of calmness." Relaxing and soaking, we (of course) tried all of the different pools, and relaxed and let the tension of the day melt away.
What a day.
Queenstown
Day 1:
Making our way over to Queenstown proved slightly more difficult than we imagined. Just we got to the South Island, there had been a huge rock slide that closed the road between the glaciers and Queenstown. Just so you understand, there aren't really other roads that go between these two places; you can't just detour through another area. If we didn't get through this pass, we would have had to go 7 or 8 hours out of our way to get there. So, we were intensely monitoring conditions the whole time we were at the glacier, and luckily it opened up the morning that we were coming through!
Winding our way through the mountain passes to get back to the center of NZ certainly tried everybody's intestinal fortitude, but luckily once we got to the other side we were reward with some truly incredible views of the two lakes that surround the Queenstown area: Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea (shown below).
Continuing into Queenstown, as the rest of the group adventured through Queenstown for that night, I decided to take some time off, go for a run, enjoy a hearty pizza dinner, and relax with some coffee.
(Lake Hawea approach)
(Lake Hawea)
Day 2 (exploring the city):
Having had such a relaxing night, I decided to get up in time to watch sunrise over the mountains. Walking around early in the morning, with a bit of dampness still lingering in the air, with nobody else around was incredibly relaxing and a great way to start the day. If only every day could start so well...
(sunrise over the "remarkables")
(Lake Wakatipu wakes up)
Keeping it relaxed, we decided to get a feel for the city by wandering around the downtown area, a historic house with local crafts, through a beautiful park on the peninsula. Notable sights included: an interesting but kind of annoying "sharkboat" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW5G8362cwo), a rainbow over the lake, and amazing choclatier (I had a hot chocolate with lavendar oil. AMAZING), and settled in (due to some rain) for afternoon at a wine tasting location that did samples of lots of wines and whiskeys from around the region and New Zealand. After burning through a good many tastings and a full shot of whiskey, we were just about ready for a nap, so we retired back to our room for a night of take-out burgers from a locally famous establishment (Fergburger). <sarcasm> Feeling particularly hungry from such an exhausting day </sarcasm> I hunkered down and got the "Big Al" with a solid 1/2lb of meat, cheese, and a fried egg. I'm sure my heart loves me...
(Hmmm....certain death? Maybe)
With a full belly and a relaxed mind. It was a pretty amazing night of sleep.
Day 3:
With such a relaxed day 2, we figured it was time to get some adventure back in our lives, so we headed up the mountain early (9am, HA), using the gondola, and set out to do some high intensity street luging!!!!! Yes, all of the luge jokes that are running through your head right now were being made. The frosty temperature (prob. about 30F) made it an especially invigorating experience to come down the Mountain in a little plastic chair; it even started snowing on us at the top of the mountain! Using our three runs, culminating in a run down the "advanced" track, I decided that I needed some more adventure in my life, and signed up to bungy at the original site of commercial Bungy: Kawarau Bridge, just outside of Queenstown. Hearing that the weather was supposed to clear up in the afternoon, we scheduled my jump for 3:30 and decided to take lunch in the quaint little town of Arrowtown, just outside of QT. After a hearty lunch, some beer, and exploring the cute little downtown, it was time to head to the bridge.
Firstly Kawarau bridge, is really just a (former) bridge right beside the road. But the bungy center that they've built up around it is truly impressive. As we checked in through the practically subterrainian visitors center, you could watch everybody else before you lining up and taking the plunge. Quickly enough, they had taken my weight, assigned me a number and sent me off to the bridge for a jump! While I wasn't too nervous about the jump, because I had to strip my jacket for the jump, the biting cold of the bridge quickly caught up with me. Besides that, because of the system they have, I got to stand and watch a number of people go before me. I was surprised by two things: 1) They were incredibly efficient at pushing people off of a bridge, and 2) the mechanisms they used, while incredibly safe, were also incredibly simple. Basically, when I stepped up, the wrapped a towel around my legs, wrapped a binding cord around the towel using a specific technique, and the hooked that rope up to the main line. Just in case, I also had a waist harness. That's it! Before I knew it, I was standing on the platform, being told to let go of the bridge smile for the camera, and then 3...2...1... jump. The couple seconds of freefall were really amazing as things do seem to be approaching pretty quickly (unlike skydiving), and then, as the rope catches you, there are some amazing moments of being gently pulled up and floating through the air. Again, another incredible experience that I would highly recommend. Well worth the cost of admission.
Specially thanks to Sita, Justin, and Bridget for waiting so long before my jump! It was freezing out, and they got some great pictures and videos (complete with sound-track) of the experience.
(superman!)
(weeeeeeeeee....)
(on the rebound)
Having my adventure quota satisfied, we headed back into town for dinner (again, some inventive cooking, including double boiler mulled wine, and hacked steamed rice) and a night out at the cinema to see the HILARIOUS What we do in the Shadows, a mockmentary by of the cast of Flight of the Concords. Feeling like we had sufficiently sucked the marrow from Queenstown. We prepared to leave the next day and got a good night's rest.
Christchurch
The drive to Christchurch was spectacular ending to the amazing scenery of the South Island. As we drove up the central mountain range, we stopped next to Lake Pukaki and Lake Tekapo, to admire the incredible teal color created by the rock flour from the glaciers grinding rocks together. Truly spectacular. We were even able to find a free zipline and get in some cheap adventure for everybody!
(Lake Tekapo and church)
(Lake Tekapo)
Arriving in Christchurch we checked into our final hotel, and headed to the CBD to see the wreckage that the earthquake had caused. Warned by several people that there was significant damage, the state of the business district was still quite shocking. Building are still condemned and being torn down, and while there are some "green shoots" of business that have started to grow back, the area is shockingly quiet and desolate. I just can't imagine what it was like immediately after the event. It reminded me of some of the housing districts I saw in the wake of Katrina where there are just gaps upon gaps in the streetscape. Really unfortunate.
Retreating from the CBD we found a little bit of takeaway dinner close to the hotel and settled in for a late night movie and an early night before our 6am flights out of New Zealand the next morning...
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