The South Island
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Franz Josef,
New Zealand
Friday, January 25, 2008
Hey guys!
Well just to let you know that I'm still having an awesome time, but I am looking forward to coming home now that it's so close! And to have signal on my phone would be nice too!!
Just a quick update cos I've been spending so much money writing these really long blogs and I'm doing it in my journal anyway lol!
Ok so on Monday we caught the ferry over to the south island from wellington to Picton in the south island. The crossing was very smooth and I had some lovely scrambled eggs on board. Took about 3 and a half hours to cross and we saw some gorgeous scenery in the Marlborough Sounds on the way into the Picton terminal. We headed for a place called Marahau in the Abel Tasman National Park. The south island has 9 of new zealand's 15 national parks so it's a very scenic place - and I thought I'd seen a lot of great stuff in the north! We had changed drivers again to a guy called Wozza. He's a nice guy and very laid back, almost horizontal. On the way he gave us a weather update. Apparently the following day a cyclone would be hitting the south island just off the Tasman sea and we would be having torrential rain and 100km/h winds. Nice! It started raining on the way to Marahau and we arrived at Old McDonalds Farm (lol great name ay?) in the nasty weather. The night was spent with me cooking pasta for about 8 people and chilling with a glass of vino rouge.
Tuesday - RAIN RAIN RAIN! It was so bad and had been since aboout midnight. We planned a pajama day and just chilled out in bed. It was ncie to be lazy and not have to work to an itinerary. About 2pm the weather totally cleared and it was like a totally different day. So we headed out for a walk along the coast and to check out some of what makes the abel tasman so famous. The bush coming down to the beach edge was so gorgeous. I took a lot of photos and we spent soemtime on the beach. Tuesday night I cooked for a slightly smaller number of 4 and then we sat round a fire singing songs courtesy of chris and andy who both have guitars with them.
Wednesday - we got up to leave abel tasman and head for a little place called Barrytown. Barrytown is in the middle of nowhere on the wild west coast. On the way we stopped in westport and went to see the seal colony there. It's breeding season so there were alot of babies for us to awww over. We also stopped off at Punakaiki for the pancake rocks and blowholes. The pancake rocks were pretty impressive structures, being names after stacks of pancakes. No blowholes though as the tide wasn't far enough in. We arrived at this little pub where we would be staying for the night and we booked in for the kiwi roast dinner. I really miss roast dinner!! Barrytown has a population of around 20 people and so it was a quiet place but what always happens there is a fancy dress party to get the mood going. The boys had to dress as women and the girls had to dress in fancy dress they could find. After the roast which was yummy, I prepared myself by wrapping a sheet around me and making a wreath of leaves for my head - yep that's right I wore a toga wooop! As it would be amy's birthday (girl we've met from perth) we had a few bevvies and a bit of a dance to the jukebox. Andy embraced his outfit a little too much as did harp who really enjoyed his breasts apparently! Andy looked very at home in high heels lol! After a few drinks, I felt so tired and we stayed up till midnight to wish amy happy birthday and the pub gave her a cake which was nice. After the singing we went to bed.
Thursday - we got up to do some bone carving in barrytown before we left at 12:30. I chose a template and a was given a piece of bone to draw it on. Then it was cut out and I got to work sanding it down and shaping it until it became the shape that is now around my neck. Its a maori symbol for friendship and I'm really proud of it. We drove to the little township of Franz Josef, stopping on the way at the supermarket for supplies as I was cooking for 11 people last night! Yep I'm mad! We drove into the town and got our first glimpse of why Franz is so famous, the glacier. It's a massive structure in the valley between two mountains, so surreal to look at. We went and checked ourselves onto our activities for the following day and then went and checked into our hostel which is really nice. Has a big spa pool. I spent the evening cooking and and then went to happy hour in the bar and had a few wines. We had to wait till 10pm to eat as half the people I was feeding were out skydiving (and that included melly - yay she was brave). I made sausage casserole which, luckily, I could just leave on the hob simmering. We all ate together when they got back and then went back to our room for a few drinks to celebrate amy's birthday but we were all a bit knackered so it wasn't much of a party. That will happen in Queenstown in a few days!
Friday (today) - Today we got up to do our activity we had booked the day before. Me, mel, lilly (from finland), jen and jolly were off on a heli-hike up the franz josef glacier. This involved togging up in boots and waterproofs and getting a scenic ride in a helicopter over the glacier before being dropped off onto the glacier itself. I have had, once again, an awesome day! We walked around the arctic wonderland and went all around the ice formations taking photos and enjoying the view for about 2 and a hlaf hours. It was awesome and so blue!! Really cool and definitely the 2nd best thing I've done on this trip (one being the skydive). We had crampons (spikes) on our boots so we didn't slip and a number of times I wobbled but didn't fall over. We heard the ice moving on the ice fall and a few times pieces broke away and fell down but not near us. The glacier can move up to 5 metres per day as it has water flowing underneath it and is not fixed to the rock underneath. It's one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world! Awesome time! We got picked back up by the helicopter which was a treat in itself. Now sat back at the hostel and ready for a nap.
Sorry I haven't been in touch much lately mum, dad and jack!! Signal out here is so dodgy at the moment but I will speak to you in queenstown! The days are so knackering I just want to sleep lots - we get up really early to move to new places and spend a lot of the day outside and I'm always really tired! Yay naptime!
Lots of love and so close to coming home time now wooop! Can't wait to see everyone!Have a drink ready for me guys!!
Love Smiffy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
