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Hi everyone!
We're in Franz Josef now, we've had an action packed week i guess since the last blog:
on Saturday we went to puzzle world in Wanaka, where there are some really cool optical illusions such as a tilting room where water flows uphill and also a room where you find out how they made the hobbits so small in lord of th rings! got some great photos there! Spent about an hour just in the free room wheres theres lots of puzzles you can try (like the ones you get in christmas crackers, only harder and more fun!) then we went into the 3D maze! there's aparently 1.5km of paths, but you can't do it all on one level, you have to keep going up stairs to get to certain areas, and once we found our way to all four corners, we then were able to leave the maze - took about an hour or more to do, not without a couple of occasions when every path we took led back to the same spot and we thought we would never get out! that afternoon we took a little walk along the lake front to 'waterfall creek', not knowing that once you reach waterfall creek its a long way up before you find any waterfalls! so as the night was coming we gave up on them and headed back to town.
on sunday we decided, based on the recommendation of the lonely planet, that a nice 3-4 hour walk on the Rob Roy track would be a nice way to spend the day. the girl in the information centre said it would be cold but a lovely walk so off we headed in our little hyundai accent. All was well until we reached the first frozen ford in the road (after about 50km!). The first one was fairly shallow so on we headed. The second was not. After a few minutes of careful inspection and debate, we were on the verge of turning back as we didnt fancy getting stuck 50km from civilisation, especially since we had not seen any other cars all morning; then along came another couple (Melissa and Andrew) who's car looked a bit more substantial, and the decision was made to let them test the water first! It looked far too deep for us, and as they kindly offered us a lift, we parked up our purple monster and jumped in the comfort of an audi. Once through about 17 more fords (our car would never have made it!) we eventually got to the carpark, where the 4 of us headed towards the Rob Roy track. After crossing the suspension bridge the track got narrower and shadier until we reached a slope of shear ice, and decided as none of us were carrying crampons, we would head back down along an easier track, which as it turned out was a much nicer walk as it was in the sun! a much nicer way to see snow capped mountains. Once safely back in town (including a helpful little push from a couple of american guys to get us on the way), we headed to the Cinema Paradiso for the evening. The film (Zodiac) was nothing to write home about, so we won't, but the cinema was lovely, a tiny old town hall full of as much random seating as you have ever seen (sofas, aeroplane seats, bus seats, car seats - including some still in a car!) and including an intermission in the middle of the film. They also made the nicest chocolate cookies ever!
On monday it was time to say goodbye to Wanaka for the drive south to Te Anau. After starting on the road through the crown range and noticing that we had to be carrying snow chains, we headed back, as our budget car hire had forgotton or omitted the chains when he gave us the car. So we went the long way around, where there was less snow. Once safely in Te Anau (with no trouble on the roads) we asked the Te Anau branch for some snow chains (we didnt want to buy them at $160 or more) and they said they had no spare ones available, despite the fact all their cars have them as standard! This saga continues later...
On Tuesday we took our trip to Milford Sound (again the lack of chains and the trecherous nature of the milford road, we decided on a bus trip there, also allowing both of us to enjoy the scenery). The bus driver stopped several places along the way, including the chasm, the mirror lakes, the opening to the Homer Tunnel - where we saw two keas (native NZ Alpine parrots that were so tame you could walk right up to them), icicles and to pick up a family who's camper van had broken down! The cruise on the Milford Sound (which we are reliably informed is not a sound but actually a fiord as it was formed by a glacier not a river) left just after midday, and we were out for about 2 hours. The cruise was lovely, on a reasonably small boat which was not crowded, with interesting commentary and spectacular scenery, waterfalls and seals (and some starfish), even if the waterfalls were somewhat tame compared to normal due to the fact there had been no rain for a week! in the wettest place in the world! however, this was made up for by the weather being fine all day with not a cloud in sight.
On wednesday we travelled north back up to the adventure capital that is Queenstown, and spent the afternoon seeing the town, which is full of skiiers at this time of year. On our walk of discovery in the town, we saw another office for our car hire company, and decided to chance it to see if they had any chains available, certain by now that without them our holiday would be ruined. The man there informed us again of the same story, that he has them in all his cars, but no spare sets, but he gave us the hint that if we spoke to the guy in Christchurch he could courier some to us. After a quick phone call, with a gentle bit of persuasion that ended up with an unhappy car hire man and a happier holidaying pair, he said he would endevour to get them to us the next day (they didnt actually get there til friday, but the nice man in Queenstown took a day to untangle them before we picked them up on saturday!)
On thursday we decided to head up to the top of the hill to have a go on the luge course (similar to the one we did in Singapore - but better). the nice helpful man in the hostel told us that instead of paying $20 to get the cable car up the hill (the steepest in the southern hemisphere) we could just walk up the track and then come down for free, as they never check tickets at the top. so off we set, not thinking that it was also be a very steep, long climb to the top. eventually (after not too many tantrums) we made it to ride the luge again and again - very good fun, before getting our free ride to the bottom :)
On friday we thought we had a free day to relax, and took a nice leisurely stroll along the lakefront. we saw from there some people having a go at parasailing, and after having missed out in fiji, we put on our adventurous shoes and headed over to the pier for a great experience - made all the better by the guarantee to take to very high and keep you very dry! The cable is apparently 200m or more long, and we got up to 100m above the lake for some awesome views, although not the whole time was spent that high... getting near to getting our feet wet at one point before being whisked up in the air again - very highly recommended!!!
on saturday, it was time again to move on, and we took the drive north to Franz Josef - this time with the luxury of snow chains being able to pass over the Crown Range and see some brilliant mountain views from apparently the highest sealed road in NZ, (and yes mum we did see the Cardrona Hotel).
So tomorrow is time for some more adventure, taking a helihike up on the Fox glacier - which means we get a helicopter ride up onto the glacier, and a 2 hour hike to see ice and caves and the like. then another ride back to the bottom in time for lunch.
Right, we're off for a sauna now (yes, this hostel does things in style),
hope you are all well,
Yvette and Tom
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