Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Well the first day was a bit of a wash out so both the glacier hike and the skydive were off. We consoled ourselves by spending the afternoon relaxing in the hot pools before a nice pizza buffet and a few drinks in the evening. Saturday morning the guys set out for Wanaka but I stayed back to do the glacier hike if I could. Again the weather stopped the helicopter taking off so instead I decided to head out and go horse riding. We got some lovely views of the glacier and had a nice natter along the way as it was just me and the girl from the stables. That afternoon the weather closed in again so I just chilled out at the hostel and had a quiet night in with a film. On Sunday the weather was good enough to do my skydive so I set off for the airfield, honestly not holding out much hope as I expected it to be cancelled as that had become somewhat of the trend. To my surprise it was on and before I could give it any thought we were togged up in all the gear and ready to go. The flight up to height felt like it took forever and yet all too soon the door was open and I was falling to the earth at a hell of a speed! The skydive part was scary and i spent a few seconds falling through cloud which was a bit weird. The parachute was the best bit as it was fun to control it and spin around to get the amazing views. Despite the cloud making the scenery look quite dull in colour it was still pretty awesome. All too quickly it was over and I was down I one piece. The bus ride back on my own was a bit of an anticlimax as there wasn't anyone there to share it with. I spent the afternoon taking in more scenery with my feet firmly on the ground. I walked up to the gorge to see the water flowing from the glacier. The weather was nice enough that there was even a bit of blue sky which was a novelty. When I got back the next bus had arrived with a few familiar faces on it. That evening we settled down in the pub to listen to Ben, one of the guys from the bus play his guitar and sing. Made for a lovely night. On Monday I was a bit wiped out, possibly getting the cold/fly bugs that are flying around, so I had a nice lie in before getting up for my glacier hike on Fox glacier. But as i headed down for breakfast i saw a blackbird smushed against the inside of the kitchen window, still alive but a little dazed. as i got into the kitchen the hostel's resident cat, aptly named Bully was sat on the chair below the window watching this bird intently. I quickly intervened and scooped up the bird and took him outside where I expected him to either fly away or die of shock. He did neither, as I opened my hand he just adjusted himself and gripped my fingers and sat there happy as you like for nearly 10 minutes....I think the poor thing had concussion! But I felt like Snow White or something!! After a little while he was looking a little more perky and so I carefully offered him a branch and he hopped off onto the tree. Cute! As it happened, that day the weather would have been good enough for Franz but I hadn't wanted to risk it so I booked the Fox as it doesn't require a heli flight. It was a good afternoon with a good 4hours walking upto and around on the glacier. There wasn't that much to see but we got a few bits of blue ice and some crevasses to squeeze through. That night I was totally shattered and fell asleep at about 8 which hadn't been the plan.
I woke on Tuesday feeling much better and very well slept and we set off for Wanaka. We stopped to see lake Matherson enroute which was stunning although our photos weren't great as the cloud obscured to tops of the mountains. We also stopped at the blue pools to take a look and as the name suggests its pools of very blue water thanks to some mineral. The water was crystal clear and there were a few rainbow trout swimming around minding there own business when one of the guys from the bus decided to take a dip. It was freezing cold but he seemed pleased to have tried it out. The rest of the trip to Wanaka was uneventful and we arrived and checked in to our hostel before taking a walk to the lake and watching the sunset over the mountains. Very beautiful. We had a quiet evening watching possibly the most rubbish film I have ever had the misfortune to lose 2 hours of my life to. Terrible!
This morning we were up and off to Queenstown and we made it in nice a quickly so we had a chance to see a few of the guys I left behind in Franz Joseph. Now I'm having a quick lunch and hopefully the weather will brighten up this afternoon so we can do something good!
- comments