New Zealand Part 1 : June 13 - 27

Franz Josef Glacier : Sunday, June 24, 2006

We got up at a leisurely hour, thinking we had an easy 3 hour drive ahead of us. That was until Brian went to check out and found out that the coast road (the only road) averaged considerably slower speeds than the rest of New Zealand’s highways. We were supposed to be driving to Franz Josef Glacier and over-nighting there. We hadn’t heard any spectacular recommendations on hotels there so we were planning to play it by ear.

The highway road was pretty much covered in frost and grit thrown down by the sanding trucks. There was also a great deal of ice in places, so the first 80 km or so took well over an hour to travel. Our first stop of the day was at the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes National Park located about halfway between Westport and the larger town of Greymouth. These are interesting limestone rock formations that are very heavily layered. The erosion from the ocean has created very bizarre shapes that resemble stacks of half eaten pancakes. The water has also eroded several very large caves at the base of the cliffs and has created blowholes up to the surface. As large waves come crashing in, huge plumes of mist erupt out of the holes in the ground. The best time to visit these formations is during high tide and high seas. While we were there at high tide, the seas were particularly calm this day. As a result we saw some of the blowhole action, but not the best stuff.

Exiting the walking trail, we ran across a small bird call a weak. This flightless, wingless bird is also endangered, and is often mistaken for the nocturnal kiwi. Unfortunately the bird we watched lacked the telltale beak and humped silhouette of the kiwi. Oh well, we will just have to keep watching.

As we continued to drive down the coast the mountain scenery and the rivers became increasingly more spectacular. The recent snows only added to the views. Eventually we passed through the small town of Hokitika. This town was once a gold mining hub, and now acts as a gateway to some of the best fishing and tramping in the southern hemisphere. We were here for a different reason however. Gemstones. The region is famous for its ruby rock. Found in the quartzite tailings of the old gold mines, this quartz based rock contains fragments of ruby, emerald and sapphire. (red, green and blue gemstones). Once polished it makes a pretty intriguing rock.

It didn’t take too long to locate the gemologist (he was the only one in the store on a Sunday) who took a long time explaining to Deb how the stone was created and found. Unfortunately the settings were all very traditional European and didn’t appeal to Deb. The high prices certainly didn’t appeal to Brian so we moved on up the road for a feed of hamburgers and fish and chips from a local take away.

It was approaching 2:00 by the time we reached the Franz Josef Glacier. We stumbled onto a terrific hotel (Bella Vista) that offered us two joining rooms at a great discount. The season and the weather have combined to drive the prices way down. After dropping the bags off we quickly hopped back in the car and headed up to the glacier. After a 5 km drive up the dirt road we pulled into the large parking lot. This was another site for the Lord of the Rings (if you remember the lighting of the beacons scene, part of that was filmed here). The mountains were huge, and the views of this very large glacier were great even from the parking lot (45 minutes walk away). The New Zealand glaciers are very active. They grow or recede based on snowfall from 4-5 years previous. They move very quickly for glaciers at a rate of up to 1m per day!

We started off on our hike, with signs advising us that the 45 minute walk to the terminal face was closed due to unpredictable creek flows. Once we got to the end of the trail, a gate barred the way. We could see that the very open stone covered river valley was very clear. There was not a cloud in the sky. Looking very carefully at the sign Brennan noticed that it was an advisory, not an order. That was enough for us. We quickly hopped the gate and headed on up to the face. As we walked we noticed there were dozens of others doing the same thing.

The terminal face was another 30 minutes up the river bed and it kept getting taller and taller as we got closer. Its height was incredibly deceiving. Our BC/Alberta glaciers have very tapered ends. These ones ended in huge cliff faces, making them incredibly impressive. After an hour or so of oohing and aahhing, we turned around and headed back to the car. We weren’t through with the day yet!

After stopping off at a local grocery store to buy some dinner materials, we dropped the kids off at the hotel. Deb and Brian traced their route to visit the small seaside village of Okatiro. This town is located about 20 km off the main highway and hosts a terrific beach. More importantly however it also hosts a small kiwi sanctuary. We hit the beach just before sunset then raced back inland several kilometers to the sanctuary. It was quite a walk up some mountains to get to the viewing platform. Unfortunately there were no kiwis to be seen, though we thought we might have heard one under the ferns. We suspect it is the bitterly cold weather that is keeping them down. The frost here is very, very thick. At any rate we got some terrific photos of the mountains during sunset, so all was not lost.

Returning back to the hotel, Deb fixed up dinner while Brian did the internet café thing down the road. The evening was spent watching the All Blacks play off against Argentina. They won!

Monday, June 25, 2006: Queenstown, New Zealand

This time when we woke up, we knew we had a long day’s drive ahead of us. Our first stop for the morning was only thirty kilometers down the road however at Fox Glacier. The town of Fox Glacier is only slightly smaller than Franz Josef (basically one street instead of two). For such a small place however it did boast 4 separate helicopter companies supporting the tourism industry. The glacier itself was almost a copy of the Franz Josef. The approach however was a scramble over icy rocks that took a good 45 minutes to complete. The steep valley also boasted several high waterfalls and the terminal face of the glacier had a huge cavern in the front with a river flowing out of it. Like the Franz Josef this glacier has also receded several hundreds of meters over the last several decades. In contrast it was a much cleaner glacier with considerably less silt and rock on the terminal face.

After a chilly 45 minute hike back to the car, we headed off for Matheson Lake, just 5 km west of town. When the fog isn’t on the lake (like it was today), you get some terrific reflections of the mountains and the glacier. Instead we had to satisfy ourselves with some gorgeous mountain views. This is one of the best places to see Mt. Cook (the tallest in New Zealand). These mountains were also featured in the Lord of the Rings movies.

The drive from Fox Glacier to Queenstown took about 4.5 hours. It was hundreds of kilometers of passes, one lane bridges, spectacular trout streams and more mountains. In the summer time this region is famous for its hikes. Unfortunately with all the snow, the trails were closed for the season. It didn’t stop us from admiring the views however.

Traffic was light and we made good time coming into Queenstown. With a population of just under 17,000 this is the adventure sport capital of the world. Twenty kilometers outside of town we hit our first sporting “icon”. AJ Hackett opened the world’s first commercial bungy jump here in Queenstown. As we drove over the bridge and spotted the jump bridge far above the river below, Brennan broke out in smiles. Oblivious to the fact that it was -2C he insisted “that is where I want to go…”. He was ready to do it right now.

As we entered the city, we passed by several signs offering jet boat rides, paragliding, skiing etc. You could stay very busy here for a very long time … if you had the money! The town itself was quite pretty (albeit very busy) and reminded us a lot of Banff or Whistler. We managed to snag some great winter rates at one of the higher end hotels (Heritage Hotel in Fernhill), and after grabbing some quick directions from the local information shop we found our lodgings for the next couple of nights. The rooms were great and Sierra was most interested in the indoor/outdoor pool the hotel had to offer.

We dropped our bags and headed back into town to book our activities for the next couple of days. Apart from sightseeing, we wanted to do a jet boat tour and the bungy jump. All of these attractions offer free transport out to the sights and free booking services at the local kiosks. Booking was pretty easy. It had been a while since we had actually eaten in a sit down restaurant, and lunch had only been a couple (3) meat pies several hours earlier. When we spotted the Mexican food place we knew immediately where we were going! Unfortunately it wasn’t great Mexican food (we didn’t think it really would be) but it was passable, and certainly filled the hollow spot. We did some last minute shopping for breakfast stuff and headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow we BUNGYEE!  ( NEXT PAGE )