Over the Haast pass
Trip Start
Mar 18, 2007
1
44
101
Trip End
Mar 16, 2008
Wanaka,
New Zealand
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Well it has been a busy few days, from Greymouth we headed north to see the pancake rocks at Punakaiki which were quite an amazing sight. In the afternoon we went to Shantytown a recreation of a goldmining town from the 1870s where we were able to try our hand at a bit of gold panning which was actually pretty hard. Fortunately we were able to get a few bits of gold each though!
The following day we stopped off at Hokitiki to admire the wonderful designs in New Zealand jade (greenstone) and to see some glassblowing. Before heading to Franz Josef to see the glacier. We booked a 3/4 day walk on the glacier, so first stop was getting kitted out in full waterproofs, boots and crampons! After taking a short walk to the glacier, we started to climb the steep steps carved in the ice by the guides. Phew, it was hard work, but we were rewarded later on when we slid through small crevices and ice holes. What a fun day!
UPDATE: As usual I forgot to add quite a few things to this blog, including some interesting glacier facts to impress your friends with!
In the summer the glacier can move up to 5m a day, making it ever changing. At the bottom of the glacier the rainfall is 7m a year (compare this to the average in London of 0.7m a year..although perhaps not this year!), at the top this can rise to 14m/year!
Today we drove over the Haast pass, again enjoying blue skies and breathtaking views.
We have stopped for the night in Wanaka before we head for Queenstown, adrenalin capital of NZ!
For fans of Tom's blog, you can perhaps hope for normal service once Harry Potter 7 is complete, but in the meantime I hope you are enjoying my pictures!
Bye for now.
