Glaciers

Trip Start Sep 01, 2005
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35
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Trip End May 11, 2006


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Flag of New Zealand  ,
Tuesday, January 10, 2006

The Swedish girl, Hannah, picked me up from my hostel at around 11am yesterday. We headed for the west coast, which we would drive down all the way to Franz Josef, about half way down the South Island. As we drove the weather got steadily worse. We decided to stop for lunch around 2 o'clock. We pulled off at a pick nick spot. What happened next is a bit hard to describe but it went a bit something like this. I said look out there's a big ditch right there in front of us, then we crashed into the big ditch that was right there in front of us.

There was no way we were going to be able to reverse out. The car was at a 45 degree angle and the front wheels weren't even in contact with the ground. I spotted a yokel near by with a four wheel drive. I asked him if he could pull us out, he had a rope and he could, although he seemed more concerned about telling me about his motorbikes and where he'd been in the last couple of days than the task at hand 01-Glacier
01-Glacier
 . So while he talk, and the sand flies feasted on my legs, I tied the rope to the back of our car. I gunned the small engine in reverse, first attempt the rope snapped. Second attempt we got it out. I would have loved to take some pictures but I think this would have only added to the anguish that Hannah was feeling at probably losing most of her $1500 deposit to repair the front of the car.

The car was drivable so after lunch, mine and the sand flies, we drove on south. There's some beautiful coastline on the west of the island. We stopped at various places to take in the scenery. We booked into a hostel in Franz Josef. We were planning to walk on the glacier the next day. It had been raining all day and also rained the whole of that night. We got up early the next morning but the weather was so bad we decided to cancel. Later on our way south again we parked up and walked to the glacier. Was worth the walk. By the time we were leaving the weather had cleared and although we didn't get to walk on the glacier we got right up to it. The river flowing out of it was ferocious, full of ice, and freezing cold. You would last 30 seconds if you fell in.

We drove on south to Lake Wanaka which is where we are now. My sand fly bites are driving me mental. They are 10 times more itchy than mosquito bites and apparently stay for about 2 weeks. If anyone offered to sell me a sandpaper glove (because everyone has sandpaper gloves) I'd take them up on the offer right now.
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