I would love to share some pictures but Picasa wont let me upload! Here they are on facebook:
Franz Josef: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=224171&id=622595454&l=afb9a
Milford Sound: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=222478&id=622595454&l=1165a
Te Anau/Kepler Track: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=220126&id=622595454&l=7dd07
Wayterfall near Homer tunnel: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=223202&id=622595454&l=ed0f6
27/02/09
Great day today. The sun came out and we went rafting 16km down the Shotover River near Queenstown. The bus ride to the start point was probably more hair-raising than the rafting itself as we wiggled along a very narrow cliff edge for 40 minutes, pulling a trailer full of inflatable boats behind us.
It was a varied rafting experience; none of it too strenuous. There were about 5 or 6 boats of seven passengers of all adult ages and nationalities (they seem to like to group us with our own kind which I find a bit of a shame but I suppose it's better for communication purposes), plus a guide for each raft boat. Great scenery all the way down. Pity I couldn't take my camera along.
I had a couple of swims (well, dunks) in the crystal clear, icy water. There were quite a few white water rapids and a 150 metre tunnel to get through but the river was mostly gentle - no waterfalls to jump off or capsizing. That tunnel was originally built to divert the river's water flow to make it easier for gold miners to work around the river. They worked here until the 1990s and the legacy of their often dangerous occupation can be found all along the river whether it be the dynamite-blasted rocks, abandoned instruments or huts.
Our journey down the river also took us right under the ropes of the Canyon Swing, another one of these terrifying activities I'm staying well away from.
We went out of the town a little the next day to find the Routeburn Track (an area where some of the Lord of the Rings was filmed) and we did a good walk there and then went over to Paradise but it was raining and we didn't find either particularly interesting.
01/03/09
The first of March already. I am so behind on UK news it's like being in Middle Earth.
Today we left Queenstown and drove in heavy rain up north via Wanaka through a much greener landscape than previously and along windy roads to reach the Fox Glacier only to find it closed off because of falling rocks. so we ploughed on to the Franz Josef glacier, another major tourist attraction.
I booked us in for a glacier hike immediately and so that's what we did the next day and it was probably the best thing we have done and seen here so far.
There's only one company in town that does these hikes here now as they bought out their competition but the rates were reasonable ($97 for a half day) and the team clearly expert.
There were about 40 people in the group, again of all ages, and once we had all been rounded up, briefed and fitted with (very heavy) boots, socks, cramp-ons, jackets, gloves and the like we were driven over to the start of the track where merely the sight of the foot of the glacier from four kilometres away is breathtaking. The guides then split us in to groups according to ability.
Ric and I naturally chose the fast group (since we rightly or wrongly like to think of ourselves as quite hardcore walkers) and off we went towards the glacier. Just to get to its foot required walking briskly for a good 45 minutes across a long valley of rough rocks (speckled with fool's gold), a bit of rainforest and some streams.
Walking on the glacier itself was an exhilarating and surreal experience and hardly strenuous at all, perhaps because it was just so exciting. The three other groups were huffing and puffing a bit in the bus back to town afterwards but we were on a high.
As we started to ascend the hacked out 'staircase' on the glacier it seemed as though we were just walking up more rocks but as the rubble and grey sediment cleared it became apparent we were actually walking on ice (a lot of it blue and speckled with tiny air bubbles) and then suddenly we were surrounded by it and hiking up and down carved out steps, natural trenches, flats and peaks, then jumping over gaps, looking through holes and gawping at the views across the valley. I really felt as though I was walking in Narnia.
Our guide Dale was pretty relaxed about us meandering off his track slightly to get some good pictures. He also seemed to know a lot about the region so we got a good geography and history lesson thrown in. One of the walkers in our team had the heaviest, longest camera lens I've ever held (he asked me to take some snaps of him and his missus) - fancy traveling wth one of those??!!
I'm glad to have my small compact Sony even though it's beginning to do strange things of its own accord and the zoom still doesn't work. I have certainly put it through its paces in this past year.
Regardless of the photos, I wont forget that glacier walk in a hurry. I'm now looking forward to Lake Taupo and Rotorua and possibly doing a skydive. I am a lucky girl for being here.
That hike followed by a twilight dunk in the luscious local hot springs (cleverly marketed at weary climbers on the backs of the shuttle bus seats ) was definitely the highlight of the trip so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment