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So....we arrived in glacier country!! It was amazing to see the Southern Alps in the distance and then finally reach them. We found somewhere to stop and then decided we would take a look at the glacier itself. The Franz Josef glacier (named after the once Emporer of Austria) is one of two accessible glaciers in the area (the other being the Fox Glacier- named after the mints hehe!). They are also only a few hundred metres above sea level which is pretty rare. Although you can't actually walk on the glacier without going on a tour you can get quite close- although it can be dangerous as the terminal, where the glacier melts and ends, often has lots of ice falling and floods can happen very quickly. We took a peak but didnt worry about getting too close as we planned to do a walk on the Fox glcaier over the next few days. Still its amazing to see something this big and witness the effects it has had on the ladndscape around you- you can physically see where the trees have grown back since it retreated and the piles of rocks that it has transported and dumped everywhere. Tom- I think this may be the geographer in me talking now though!!!!!
We'd agreed that we were going to do a skydive in this area- we had been told that the landscape made it a really amazing place to do it- but now it seemed to becoming reality!!!! So we went to bed that night dreaming of the jump! We woke early and headed straight over to the Fox glacier whch is about twenty minutes down the road. We headed straight for the sky dive airstrip where they said we could go at 11.30am- in literally an hour and a half. We milled about for a bit- Maria was getting a bit nervous by this point!!! As soon as it was time to go (I'd had a cup of tea to relax me whereas Maria looked like she needed valium!!) we headed up and they got us kitted out. We were expecting a safety session and some training (perhaps a little naively!) where what we got was a briefing and then told to get on the plane- it all happened so fast there wasn't any time for nerves!! There was room to swing the proverbial cat in the plane once we were all in- Maria, the pilot, the two guys doing the tandem jump with us and myself. The views were amazing though- we could see Mount Cook- the highest mountain in the New Zealand as well as the two big glaciers and the coast as well. The flight up to 12000 feet served as a scenic flight which also helped to calm the nerves. That was until the pilot started playing some jokes on Maria- like telling her he hadnt packed her chute properly. He then proceeded to open the door to surprise her (she was sitting right next to it and we were about 9000 feet up!!). Even the istructors were surprised. Maria took it all in her stride though and it was soon time to jump. Maria was lucky enough to go first and i have to say my stomach turned when i saw her jump- that was when i realised this was for real!! I edged closer to the door and finally managed to push myself over the edge. The instructor then jumps for both of you. It was well worth it though- the feeling you get is indescribable but suffice to say we both thought it was one of the best things we have ever done.
After that there's not much you can do to top it so we did our washing in the afternoon!!! We then went for a walk at Lake Matheson and to Gillespies Beach. Lake Matheson reflects the mountans in the water so we took some pretty cool photos.
The next day we went for our glacier expedition- a walk on the actual glacier. It volved an early start and a steep walk of over an hour before we even hit the ice- but it was definitely worth it. We walked up towards the ice through the woods, where crystal clear streams run down beside you. We also had to run at some points as there was a riask of rock falls on the slopes!! Anyway we finally reached the ice and our guide (a chilled out Kiwi called Luke) got us to put our crampons on(ice spikes). Then we wre off- all the while the path was being cut ahead of us with ice axes- so there were steps for everyone to walk up. We ended up walking a long way- probably six hours with only a half hour break for lunch. You don´t really get much idea of how far things are when its all just white. There were loads of holes in the ice (moulins) where water has drilled down and we even went into one and came out out a hole on the other side. There was also much fun of throwing sticks into water holes to see how depp they are- what do they say about simple things?? In all it was a great day- perhaps a little too long because our guide kept us on the ice for an extra hour because he was soo excited about a new way to get back down!!!!
When we got back to the town centre we drove down to Gillespies beach where we decided we were going to stay for free! It was a really nice spot to stay- the bach had great views of the sunset. There was, however, one problem, there were millions of sandflies about. They are so small but give you the most itchiest bites. We were continually spraying the cabin with fly spay which seemed to do us more harm than the flies!!
Next day we were off to Queenstown!!
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