Glaciers sparkle
Trip Start
Jul 27, 2004
1
6
42
Trip End
Dec 21, 2004
Franz Josef,
New Zealand
Monday, August 9, 2004
It was an absolutely mammoth journey to get from Kaikoura to Franz Josef in the southern alps. It took 7 hours of travelling on a cliff edge through fog, snow, rain, and sun (sometimes all at the same time).
About 20 minutes into the journey we saw some kind of mammal (a fox/dog/wolf) in the middle of the road tucking into some road kill, as we got closer however it soon became apparent that it wasn't any mammal - it was a bird, a bloody huge eagle/hawk thing. As we drove up to (doing abot 30mph) it never flinched, stopping at the side of it, it raised its blood soaked face & neck & just stared at us as if to say 'sod off I'm having breakfast'
As requested by mr and mrs A
. Amazing! Wish we'd filmed it but...(Paul wrote that dramatic bit of rubbish, kerry thought it was disgusting and not worth a mention).When we arrived in Franz Josef (luckily we didn't blink or we might have missed it!!)we realised that Kaikoura which we thought was a sleepy town was actually a buzzing city in comparison. Franz Josef exists for sight seeing and trekking tours of the nearby glacier and therefore every building is either a hostel, restaurant, outdoor clothing shop or helicopter/touring company. So to fit in we booked a helicopter flight and landing to the glacier for today.
Why is it that everything you see or do is always best done first thing in the morning? Our flight left at 9am so we had to get up early again, the helicopter was smaller than the one we had flown in in Las Vegas and the pilot was sat on the other side (well they drive on the left in NZ). The glacier itself was amazing (again) it was massive and very sparkly , the ice seemed to be glittery with the sun on it and it looked beautiful. When we landed on it the snow on top of the ice was so thick that it came over our boots and nearly up to our knee's! It was quite scary walking on what seemed a huge piece of the glacier only when we flew off again it was actually just a little tiny bit of it
Hippo plans the next leg of the trip
.After seeing the glacier top Paul decided we should see the bottom so dragged Kerry kicking and screaming to walk in the cold and rain to the foot of it. Paul thought it was worth it and was amazed by its size and the waterfalls and rock formations and Kerry was cold and moaned the whole time.
By the way sat in anold red bus listening to ska & reggae as we write this. Interesting. Off for another mammoth drive tomorrow (oh joy)down to the area known as Fiordland (NZ spelling, not mine, pedants)staying in a place called Te Anau & off to Milford for a cruise, keep you updated.
CU :O}
