Journey to the glaciers - Part 2

The glacial hike was worth the hype! I love getting a good hike and being rewarded with an amazing view at the end, this certainly fills my needs for adventure and a good workout. This was a half day hike (9-2pm) which starts off walking through patches of rain forest to the valley floor where the Franz Josef glacier ends and flows to varies streams afterwards we climbed the glaciers themselves. A somewhat strenuous hike with a range of climate changes (rain forest to open valley to glaciers). It was very, very cool. I just have one minor complaint + suggestion to the Franz Josef glacial guide company...get smaller boots...I had to wear three pairs socks to fit into their boots which left me with a blister!

There's also a cool story behind the glaciers. It was named after Emperor
Franz Joseph I of Austria by the German explorer, Julius von Haast in 1865 (Haast wanted to get on the good side of the emporer, he did!). The Māori name for the glacier is Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere ('The tears of Hinehukatere'), arising from a local legend: Hinehukatere loved climbing in the mountains and persuaded her lover, Tawe, to climb with her. Tawe was a less experienced climber than Hinehukatere but loved to accompany her until an avalanche
swept Tawe from the peaks to his death. Hinehukatere was broken hearted and her many, many tears flowed down the mountain and froze to form the glacier. (Legend is taken strait form wikipedia...I didn't want to blotch the romantic legend).

I'm gathering that I must have my "Americano" radar on because of all the people I keep running into and chilling with are folks from the states. On this hike were a few boys from Ohio + South Carolina and a "super cool" woman from Utah (Kamie). There was a total of 28 people in the group hike, we got split up into two groups (one in front, more confident and 2nd group, less confident). Myself and Kamie decided to stay in the 2nd group after no one else volunteered, it turned out to be a good decision because the slower group gave us tons of ops to take pictures and record videos (which I can't wait to share with you guys). After spending a good six hours together through the hike together, I was able to persuade Kamie to join me in the ride back to Queenstown. A very selfish move to have company since its a 7+ hours drive over 400Km...it worked out for her as well...made us both happy.
For this hike, I've decided to start recording events but haven't figured out how to link to this blog yet. Once I do, you'll get to experience my journeys...live! For now, here are some pictures.

in the rainforest part of the hike, took this picture then I realized the direction on the sign...oops.


at valley floor, all geared up with clampers on my the boots (critical for walking on the ice)


the axe used to carve paths on the ice...I'm just posing...only the guide does it

I've just ascended through a very steep stairway of ice to get here...very cool


After the stairway, I crawled through a hole and here I emerged

Journey to the glaciers - Part 1

I made it...so happy to have made it safely to my lodge tonight after a very, very long day of driving. Franz Josef is really far away from everything (I was forewarned but reality hurts), the drive took me up and around all sorts of twist and turns and once the sun was gone there were no street lights. It rained all day and will continue to tomorrow ;-( which doesn't make the drive fun.

I did have the good sense to pick up a CD last night (Australian artist named Gabriella Cimli...if you like Amy Winehouse you'll like her just without all the Amy nuthouse drama) because there was no radio reception after the first two hours out of Queenstown. Once it hit 6pm (that's 6 hours of driving) I was getting really discouraged with whether or not I would find this place. Adding to my angst was the lack of reception on my phone.

From Queenstown to Franz Josef (township where I will be doing the glacial hike) its about 404Km (~250miles) and it took me a solid 7hrs to get here (two pit stops + six photo ops). No major drama with the exception that I've managed to drop my camera (its okay) but the filter lens is broken and stuck to my 300mm long lens...bummer ;-(

This is a huge milestone for me, first driving long distance is not my preferred mode of transit (most I've driven in Cali is 5 hrs) and second got over my anxiety of driving on the left side after a shaky experience in Ireland two years ago. Normally I don't like driving this long (esp. alone) but the scenary was just just captivating, its probably what made the drive tolerable. Over the 400km the scenary was quite varied, every 75km you'll see anything from the Cali highway 1 to Yosemite, to Hawaii, or to seattle. I'll load up some photos later.

Franz Josef is really far from everything...I'm at the only internet cafe which closes at 8pm (its 7:45pm now). I'm staying at a family run lodge (family of four with two young ones) and their house is right across from my room. They left the light on for me and gave me a bottle of milk...good thing I have my lactate pills for my lactose intolerant.

That's all for today... I'm going to head out for some dinner now, get an enough rest for the early glacial hike tomorrow which I'm really looking forward to. After the half a day of hiking, I head back down to Queenstown...yep another 7+ hours of driving. So stay tune to Part 2...

Queenstown Hightlights (views + wines + bungy + hang gliding = 2 days of fun)

I am in love with this charming, lakeside resort town. Right off the plane I was greeted with the majestic view of the Coronet mountains with its snow cap peaks. Picked up my car, its a cute Hyundai red Accent (NZ drives on the leftside) and drove into town enjoying the scenary. Yesterday, I took a lazy stroll through town. Imagine it like the perfect New England (Vermont) town by the lakeside during autumn with the leaves changing and the crisp air, tons of shops, restaurants, and cafes to sit and chill out over a nice conversation. Another great thing, there were many lone travelers like myself...thank goodness. I spent a few hours walking through all the nooks and crannies taking pictures....the lighting here just gets better and better with every passing hour (I will upload pictures soon, they are fantastic). I ended my day with a nice turkish dinner with a fellow american from Colorado (Katye) who I met at the "Turkish cuisine" eatery. We polished off the night at the "Old man's cafe" with some coffee and desserts by the fireplace.

steamboat returning to Queenstown

by lake Wakatipu catching the moon rising


Today is my second day in Queenstown, just finished the Queenstown Hightlights tour. A half day tour of the Kawari bridge where the bungy jumping first started (yes, I did it), wine tasting at the Gibbson winery, checked out one of the location where Lord of the Rings was shot at, stopped at Arrowtown (a historic town which boom during the NZ gold rush in the 1800's) also walked through the Arrowtown Chinese Settlement camp. Still plenty more for me to do, now I am off to do hang gliding...will report back.

That's me at one of the cabins at the Arrowtown Chinese settlement camp (its tiny inside).

Getting strapped in to the bungy cords, I just asked the guy if he's been certified "he laughs ...what does that mean?!...then assures me he's been doing this for 10 years."


Back from hang gliding. I thought bungy jumping was amazing well, hang gliding rocked! Its nothing like I've ever done. My pilot (Fernando from Argentina) has been in Queenstown hang gliding for the last 9 months...my life is this man's hand! Our launch pad is approx. 680m (~2000ft) up Mt. Remarkable. After we got strapped into the hardness, practiced some runs within minutes we were off flying like a bird. We took off around 4:30pm, nearing sunset. Its an incredible feeling up there, better then any amusement ride I've experienced. The view was just unbelievable, all my senses were in overdrive. I was feeling all sorts of emotions as the adrenaline rushed throughout my body and I'm thinking "I can't believe I'm flying up here". There was a camera and video strapped to the hang glider once I figure out how to upload the video you can see my flight action!

The take off was running down hill (he didn't tell me that!), a minute later we were flying high