Ice and mountains and sheep. lots of sheep.
Trip Start
Dec 20, 2007
1
10
14
Trip End
Jan 06, 2008
Te Anau,
New Zealand
Friday, December 28, 2007
First, yesterday. Yesterday we drove from Greymouth to Franz Josef, a short two hours that was supposed to put us into "Franz" with enough time to explore the glaciers leisurely. Which would have been an *awesome* plan, except for how we didn't realize that the first word in "rainforest" is "rain." That's right, both of the glaciers end in a rainforest. I knew this from the internet, and had thought "cool! A rainforest! Never been to one of those!" It didn't occur that this might be an issue.
And so it rained. Well, actually, poured. A deluge. A seeming monsoon
In the rainforest
. All day and into the night. We watched a movie about the glaciers and had the first of the souvenier shopping. Indoor glacier activities seemed then exhausted (despite the fact that this apprently happens about once a week, according to the DOC visitor centre). Travis and I attempted to go do the Glacier Valley Walk at Franz Josef. We saw the very bottom of the glacier face (the first couple hundred yards, which is near to none of the whole thing) emerging from the haze. We were absolutely soaked through -- after about 20 minutes. The coolest part (no pun intended) was watching chunks of ice that had dislodged from the glacier bumping down the churning river. We had a cozy dinner at Beeches Restaurant (I had the venison with a pickled beet relish [a seemingly popular NZ entree]; others had lamb shanks, stuffed chicken breast, and roast beef). Then we enjoyed a few rounds of Euchre and a large container of Hokey Pokey ice cream (also a NZ delicacy!). Luckily, we woke up to sunny, if damp, skies. We were able to walk back out to Franz and see the extent of the glacier, up to the snow capped peaks of the Southern Alps, shrouded in cloud. We were about a half mile away from the end of the trail to the terminal face of the glacier. We then headed a half hour down the road to Fox Glacier (Franz's brother).
Note to all planning NZ trips: Fox Glacier is highly superior to Franz Josef. Much more spectacular, bigger, seemingly less crowded, and oh-my-gosh closer!! Travis and I were able to walk all the way out to the glacier and touch it (!), walk on the terminal moraine, and pick ice chunks from the river. (wait til you see the pictures!) Jerry and Mary Ellen stopped about a quarter mile or so from the terminal face, not rock-hopping over the river streams, but Fox is very steep and massive at the bottom, so their view was spectacular too
Euchre time!
! The ice at the bottom was formed at the top 6 or 7 years ago - the ice flows down at 1-5 meters a DAY. We finally left the glacier around noon, fully satisfied. This was our biggest driving day, though, so we needed to get a move on and put some ground behind us.We drove south from the glaciers, winding our way through the West Coast rainforests, treated every once in a while to a view of a snowcapped peak ducking out from behind the clouds. The road curved inland and we crossed the Haast Pass over the mountains, and stopped for views of a couple of gorgeous waterfalls in that area. Moving east, the character of the mountains began to change, first becoming scrubby instead of tree-covered, then becoming brown and barren. By the time we reached the glacier lakes (Wanaka and Hawea), they reminded me of Lake Mead, surrounded by deserty red rock. We took a shortcut to Queenstown from Wanaka, climing to an elevation of 3500ft from about sea level, then dropping down very quickly into town. From there it was a hop skip and jump (of 2+ more hours...) to Te Anau across the Southland plains.
The views? Are of sheep. And Mountains. And more sheep. And deer (raised for venison, yum). And sheep. And more mountains. And cows. And did I mention sheep? It seems like there are mountains everywhere you look
Franz Josef Glacier
. The most often quoted phrase so far? "This country is like one big National Park!!"Oh... and for the record, the accommodation has been spectacular. It seems like every place we've been is even better than the last. Our last three (including this one) have been the Top 10 brand. This one has bathrooms that look like spas and granite countertops in the communal kitchens. It's *awesome*. Holiday parks are *totally* the way to travel down here.
Well, I need to go get ready for bed. Tomorrow we are rising very early to catch a cruise at Milford Sound in Fiordlands National Park. There may be penguins sighted. One can only hope.
Just don't remind God that Fiordlands is supposed to be a rainforest, too, okay?
~amy
