So after leaving Wanaka we start the long journey to the glaciers, arriving in the evening and finding a parking spot high up the Fox Glacier road. Apparently had we parked here in 1780 we would of been inside the glacier, but luckily over the years its retreated.Â
Sarah and Lucy were a little scared of the dark, so I had to follow them down to the outside loos about 15 feet into the forest to make sure they were okay, wasn’t expecting them to have a number two with the doors open though – what a lovely treat.Â
We woke up in the morning to clear skies and made our way to the information centre. We decided that we wanted to walk on the Franz Josef and not the Fox Glacier so made our stay at the Fox glacier all about the walking. We parked up and trekked over the hills to the Terminal face of the ice. It really is massive and the creaking that you can hear coming from the ice is spooky. Taking pictures of it doesn’t show you how humungous it actually is, apparently a 1metre x 1metre block weighs approximately 1 tonne and here in front of us we have a mountains worth.
[zp]fox-glacier[/zp]
After a brisk hour and a half walk we still had the afternoon to burn to head off to a place called Lake Matheson, also known as Reflection Lake. The walk was about 2hours in length and to begin with I didn’t think much of it, walking through forest for about 30-45 mins which really wasn’t all that interesting – then you get to a lookout and wow!  It isn’t called Reflection Lake for nothing, you can literally turn your pictures upside down and you have an image that is perfectly mirrored! Beautiful and well worth the walk… We finished the day with a Hot Choc and Spicy Wedges at the Lake Matheson Cafe before heading over to the Franz Josef Glacier.
Early morning and we had already booked ourselves a half day hike on the glacier, the weather was blue and we had all eaten our porridge (I get force fed by the girls, they hold my nose and everything!). We went and signed in, recieving our Cramp-Ons (Spiky Ice Things), Leather Boots and New Zealand Wool Socks, then it was into the mini-bus for our ride to the Glacier. Didn’t realise, but we had to walk 45 mins just to get to the face but it was quite scenic walking through the undergrowth. Then it was on with the spiky Cramp Ons, which had us in stitches as Sarah put them on the wrong feet, even though we had all been shown how to put them on (The one with the big ‘L’ goes on your left foot and the one with the big ‘R’ goes on the right!), trust Sarah to mix that up!
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The walk was done up carved steps in the ice, every guide that goes up has to maintain them bringing out thier pick axes and swinging away. Even walking behind the guide you can see the steps slowly crumbling and melting away! Scary really as it’s our only way back down. The walk was surreal and it felt like we were on another planet. The ice reaching high into the sky around us. When we reached the highest point we could get to on the half day hike you look around and all around you are these random shapes, little ice windows and a stunning blue tone to bits of the ice caused by refraction. Simply out of this world. The walk back down was actually harder as the steps were virtually non existent, as we were walking away we heard a massive creak, then a crack and we saw a huge chunk of ice fall into an ice tunnel, no one is allowed near it so all of us were safe, but to see it fall and hear the bang was crazy, sounded like a helicopter had crashed!!! Didn’t think I was going to enjoy the hike as much as I did, but even Lucy thought it was one of the best day excursions we have done! Wahoooo….
Seems like we got to Wanaka at the right time as the Festival of Colour was going on. The stilt walkers, street entertainers and the dreaded living statue were all around to greet us and give us a bit of a show. The stilt walkers dealt with the little children (probably because they are too high off the ground for the kids to grab for them!) while the New Zealand Army marching band were around for the adults.
With the van all parked and locked up the first thing for us to do was seek out a hot chocolate, I had only been driving for a couple of hours but was already plumb tuckered and in need of refreshment. We found a quaint cafe and sat down to warm the cockles, next moment we hear the beat of a drum and the New Zealand Army band is busy marching down the street, keeping traffic at a standstill with the parade of spectators eagerly following them down the road. Not to be the one to miss out I ran over and started snapping away with the ol’ camera. They were a really good band as well and played some quality tracks!Â
[zp]wanaka[/zp]
After polishing off the hot choc and the girls some grub we wandered down the street, using a flash restaurants facilities so as to not fill up the van and then heading down the road to the dreaded ‘Living Statue’ (if you have seen Hot Fuzz, then you’ll know what I mean). He just stood around looking still while the local kids had great fun prodding him with sticks and crawling inbetween his feet, not sure how he managed to stay calm, if I were him I’d of ended up twatting one of the little buggers round the head with the cane I was holding, but he held his composure well (suppose you would have to if your career was just standing still!).Â
All filled up and ready to go we jumped back in the Motorhome and headed off (at first in completely the wrong direction) to our next destination, the Fox Glacier.Â
… nothing actually! But this is the place where everyone goes when they come to New Zealand, apparently it is the most viewed place by tourists. We drove there after stopping off at Te Anau where we had the fun of going on a 2.5 hour walk. So slightly knackered already we set off for Milford Sounds in the dark!
The drive there was a bit worrying as the motorhome doesn’t take corners well at the best of times and here we are, going up mountains with no barriers at the side in the pouring rain and no prior warning of a corner approaching apart from the line dead in front of the truck veering off to one side. The girls were a little freaked out by the Homer Tunnell which is just a hole from one side of the mountain through to the other, water pours through holes in the roof and runs the length of the tunnell, it’s eerie and a bit weird. Still we made it in one piece which is a bonus.
We parked overnight in a carpark which when we woke, saw big signs saying – no camping. Oh well, no one had flagged us up on it, but we did have “KNOBS” written in the dirt of our rear windscreen and a nice large picture just incase we didn’t know what one was. Bit of toilet paper and that was soon off!
We caught our cruise from the dock and sailed out onto the Fiord. Bloody freezing the moment we started to move we all cursed the fact we didn’t bring an arctic jacket. Still we toughed it out and stood out on deck as we sailed through the amazing peaks, Mitre peak is lovely and although we couldn’t see the top, we could appreciate how large it is. We saw a number of baby New Zealand fur seals and also got to sail underneath a waterfall which was friggin excellent (although froze us all!). Scatt had seen enough after the first mountain and was in getting herself a cuppa quite quickly.
Back on shore we sorted ourselves out with some brekkie before heading back up the scary track towards Queenstown, it was a long drive back both Em and Lucy next to me, keeping me company (and awake) with various games. Scatt in the back, catching flys!
I’m standing on a ledge looking down, trying desperately hard to get the two guys who are next to me voices out of my head… They are telling me that my “harness isn’t on correctly” and that my “connection carabiner doesn’t look too good, but what the heck go anyway!” or that my “Harness is worn and will be replaced after my jump!”. All the time adding more scares to your jump…
The blokes up here ‘helping’ you, are like bloody executioners at the gallows, they stand there and gloat about how they are safe but we (being me!) are going to crash and burn…Â Why oh why did I pay these guys to help me jump off a ledge towards a canyon floor a few hundred feet below!
It was really great seeing the river running wild below me, but looking down was a mistake that turned my legs to jelly.
I’m wrapped in terror, so I can only pretend to laugh at the two blokes humor. I watched the first guy take a screaming backwards jump into a 60 metre freefall and then a 200 metre arc (that still feels like you are falling) through the canyon.
It’s basically a bungy jump with the added thrill of a big swing at the bottom to add a big “Wheee!” to relieve the “Aieee!” experienced in the freefall, no quick snap back, no dislodged retinas, just a huge adrenaline rush that puts the bodies natural levels through the roof.Â
“Just step up and stand with your toes on the edge and jump back” the bloke says again.
Totally confident that the cable holding me will keep me from splatting upon impact with the rocks below, I wanted to come out here on this ledge, look into the camera with a stern and somewhat bored face, turn and just jump off. I didn’t want to conquer my fear, I wanted to take the piss out of it!
But all my life, they tell you not to jump off high places, so I’m stuck here like my feet have been nailed into the floor and I can’t pull them up no matter what I do!
“The longer you wait, the harder it’s going to get.” Somehow, this time the message gets through and I know he’s right. I take a giant jump back! AARRGGHHHHHHHHHHH
The fall was unbelievably cool and I gently go into the arc, the scenary around me is now coming back from warp speed and at last I can take it all it… I say a few obscenities and then I’m back to the platform! Another go, er, yes please!
This time I do an Elvis Cutaway and I’m suspended on my back once again above the canyon, looking back over my shoulder I can see the cliff and part of the canyon floor. Whoosh, there it is again, but this time a lot, lot closer! I love this feeling but will I do a third, erm, no thanks, I’m all adrenalined out for the day! Cheers to the guys for an awesome time, and yes, you really did shit me up!!!
There is so much to say about what we have done in Queenstown, but for now I’ll leave you with a video of Em Paragliding, both she and Lucy did it and we were all really chuffed… And I’ve added a link to what I am doing tomorrow! Feel free to leave comments of good luck!!!
…so that’s just what I’ll do! So we arrive in Mt. Cook at night and park in some random hotel car park, eager to put our heads down for the night. We had dodged many rabbits on the way in and the concentration took it’s toll. Parked up, on a slight slope as that was all there was left, bit weird to sleep at an angle but we were all asleep within 45 mins!
The following morning and we awake to the Mountain ranges towering over the top of us, in the distance in Mt.Cook, the highest mountain within New Zealand and something that once again made us all go ‘WOW’… Today, we planned on doing a walk but spent most of the day just chilling out, on the internet and eating brekkie. Come the afternoon and we all decide that we should go for a walk, so after visiting the Tourist Information and purchasing a walk map ($1), using their loos (saves us from filling ours) and looking over all their books we decide on the ‘Hooker Valley’ walk.
We drive down to the start and all don our walking gear. We have found out that you don’t need to wear thermals during the day, after having to strip ours off during the walk in Lake Tekapo, so wearing regular garms we start off. The trouble with us though is that we all love taking our photos so you can imagine how far we get before stopping to take a quick snap! A 2 hour walk takes us about 4 hours in total so I was expecting to come home in darkness. The walk was actually really good fun and each 15 mins you reach a new highlight – it starts with a walk over a swing bridge with a fast flowing river underneath, then to a vista of an ice filled lake, then another swing bridge under a sheer cliff face and then a final unspoilt view of Mt.Cook! Only trouble then is that you have the whole walk to do again, this time in reverse!
When we got back we cooked ourselves some grub, parked the van back at the Hotel and through duvets onto our bed at the back, then we jumped in and put on ‘Casino Royale’. Brilliant end to a brilliant day.
The next day we were moving to Queenstown so once again everything was cleared, Lucy and Em joined me in the cab and we set off. First corner we take – BANG! The drawer of cutlery falls out, Scatt hadn’t closed it properly after grabbing the controllers for the TV, 4 broken glasses, 2 broken mugs all cleared up later and we were off… Queenstown, here we come!!!
So here we are on the next leg of our trip, New Zealand… We had a pleasant flight after arriving at 5:20am into Sydney Airport, beating all the queues and getting bulk head seats. Better than Emergency Exit as you haven’t got to go through all the escape procedure blurb with the Cabin Crew. When we got to New Zealand we met a guy called John who showed us to our Motorhome.
The motorhome is wicked and we have had great fun in it already, cruisin the long straights and the picturesque highways. The girls have got the bed in the front of the MH above the cab while Em and I have the Queen size bed at the back of the motorhome, far far away from Scatt’s snoring.
Our first day here we met up with Rogers (Em’s Dads) Cousin Tony in Christchurch and although he was going to show us around the sights, he ended up tramping around all the shops in Christchurch with us to get Thermals and other warm garms. Bless him!! So all knitted up we jumped back in our Motorhome and headed towards Lake Tekapo. By the time we arrived it was pitch black, so finding a spot to plonk the van was more difficult than I had first expected. Still we found a spot near the ‘Church of the Good Shepard’ and set ourselves up for the night. We had Beef Stroganof for tea cooked to perfection by myself and Lucy, for our evenings entertainment we had ‘Casino Royale’ to put on, so watched the Girls of Bond featurette and then hit the sack.
At 8am in the morning I woke and looked out the window by my bed, the view really did take my breathe away. Although I was knackered I chucked on my Polyprop thermal top and grabbed my camera. Standing to the side of the Church the view over Lake Tekapo was amazing, the water was turquiose and reflected the surrounding mountains perfectly. I sat, chilled and took photos with the vista in front of me before heading back to bed until the girls woke at 11am.
[zp]lake-tekapo[/zp]
The day was filled with one giant walk, we started at Lake Tekapo and headed up to the summit of Mt. John. Lucy found the uphill section a little tiring, but with some solid perserverance and determination made it to the top and we all looked down on the world around us, one word – beautiful!
We sat at the summit at the observatory cafe and enjoyed a coffee/orange juice while enjoying the views and chatting between ourselves. The journey down and back was far easier and we got back to the motorhome just as the sun was dipping out of site.
While Lucy and Sarah used the internet, Em and I emptied the toilet box :(. Bloody hell is it the most disgusting job in the world. It’s quite advanced, but even so, I was gaggin’!!! With that job out the way we were free to once again poop and pee in relative ease – and I most definately will as it is Scatt and Lucys turn to empty it next time ;).
That night we drove to Mt.Cook. Lucy keeping me company in the cab while Em and Scatt chat in the back. A pleasant journey with a lot of rabbit dodging and we got to Mt.Cook where we parked the camper van for the night!Â
We’ve spent the last 5 days in beaten up Toyota Landcruisers which we’ve had to push up hills, being stopped by the Cops, driving without lights in pitch black, in a 15 Bed room with 6 other people who all drink, stay up late and snore heavily, the food has been okay at the best of times, the plates and cutlery were all greasy and dirty, the traveler helpers were stoopid, did I mention pushing landcruisers up hills!!! Yet after all that I have one hell of a good time… 2 words – SURF CAMP!
We boarded the bus in Lennox Head and the other 6 were already aboard – we had a great group that consisted of 2 Belgiums – Pino and Manu, 2 Americans – Mike and Ben, 1 Canadian – Ashley and a crazy Icelandic chick called Caitlyn. We’re then introduced to our instructor, a dude called Moondog aka Michael Lavens and he became the girls eye candy on the trip being an ex-model (coming forth in Series 3 of ‘Search for a Supermodel’ in Australia). Everyone got chatting straight away and the bus journey passed in the blink of an eye.
Our driver, Steve-O began to prepare us lunch while we hit the beach for our first lesson from Moondog. Obviously our first lesson was standing up and we were in the water within 15 minutes – all of us managed to stand up pretty much straight away, but only in the white water. Ben and Mike went out back as they are already surfers looking to touch up on their skills.
We shot back to the bus and had a bite to eat followed by Moony’s customary siesta – a one hour period of sleep to let the food go down in between surf sessions, his philosophy being ‘chillin’. The only period of time he knew was an hour and a half, so when asked how long the journey to the next beach/camp/shop is he would always reply an hour and a half (usually between 5 – 45 mins in real person time!).
[zp]surf-camp[/zp]
The next lesson Moondog taught us about rips – how to use them to our advantage, The Back – where we need to catch waves, The Impact Zone – where we really don’t want to be and The White Water – the left overs from the waves. We just chilled in the water learning to pop to our feet, how to paddle properly and generally just playing in the white water. Really good fun and we all drove to our accommodation for the night (Wey Wey Lodge) totally and utterly ‘stoked’. I got to share the ‘girls room’ while the blokes all festered in each others farts ;).
The following day we caught the big blue bus to the next beach, which was ideal for beginners like most of us. The waves were only around 3 foot, didn’t close out too soon and the swell was gradual, the whole day I spent trying to catch waves from the back with Pino and Manu – but spending most of the time under the water and being washed around the beach, still a bit of perseverance and I caught my first wave from the back – a super cool feeling. My arms were killing me and by the end of the day when Moondog came out to surf with us I could hardly lift them – time for me to go in and watch Moondog rip it up on a foam Mal, he made it look so easy and even through in a few tricks like ‘Shove Its’ and a few aerials (on a Longboard :)).
We made our way to the Surf Camp accommodation with Jackass 2 playing on the bus DVD player, stopping only to pick up pizza and a few beers for the evening. Our accommodation slept 15, but with only 9 of us it gave everyone a bit more room. A good thing considering the volume at which Mike snored! The evening passed with us in the food hall chatting, having a laugh with a few beers.
The following day we said goodbye to Steveo our bus driver as he had to go back to pick up another group. We didn’t know at the time that he also took with him his culinary skills, he was a good cook and the food we got with him was edible and really tasty. We all jumped in the Toyota Landcruiser and like sardines headed towards the next beach, the TL was making some really funny noises and the oil light came on so Moondog pulled in at the garage and bought some to put in. We made it to the beach and had a wicked day of chilling and a bit of surfing, more lessons and another siesta.
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When we boarded the TL again, the engine took a while to start but eventually kicked into life. Trouble being we didn’t have Caitlyn, so drove to the shower block to pick her up! The vehicle didn’t have a handbrake so when we stopped the car to let her in the back Moondog put it in gear and turned off the ignition. Bad friggin’ move! With Caitlyn now loaded into the back he tried the key, nothing, again, nothing… Shit!
Everyone piled out the car and we tried to give it a push start, Lucy was in the hot seat, but after we had pushed for what seemed like miles it turned out that she didn’t know how to jump it :(. So I jumped in (thank god!) and the boys pushed me down a hill, it coughed, spluttered, the wheels locked on the loose gravel and that was it! No luck… Shit!
There were a couple of helpful Oz guys who brought over their jump leads, but with the corrosion under the bonnet they couldn’t get a decent connection on the terminal. No luck, so we had to resort once again to jumping the thing. Boys to the back and we had to push it right to the top of this hill… Shit!
The guy in the hotseat (one of the Oz helper guys!) got a real good push, waited until he had picked up a lot of speed and tried again. Nothing but locked up wheels! Resigned to the fact that we were either sleeping out under the stars with the native creatures and mosquitos or walking back to Surf camp – an hour and a half by car away (according to Moondog!) we dropped our heads and prepared for the worse. Some other Oz dude in one of the big engined utes came past and offered his assistance, he connected the cable to the front of the Land Cruiser and the other to the back of his truck. Moondog jumped in the drivers seat and without warning the guy in the ute set off at some serious pace, fast enough for the door at the back of the Landcruiser to fly open! :P
About 5 mins later moondog is driving down the road unassisted, the only trouble now being that the lights and electrics are playing up. So loaded back into the truck Moondog drove at snails pace back to the camp, using the car behinds lights to find his way. The only real trouble being when we have to drive down the surf camp track – about 5 normal driving minutes – with no light at all. Pino to the rescue using the flashlight built into his mobile phone we make our way down the track to the safety of our camp and chalet.
That night we celebrated our safe return and Moondogs superb driving with a few beers as you can see from the pictures everyone had good fun.
[zp]surf-camp[/zp]
The following day we had a little lay in due to the beers that were consumed the night before. Then Moondog came to get us and let us know that he had changed Landcruisers for us, it was still battered to bits, but it start which is always a bonus. We head out for another days surfing, only to be stopped by two coppers on the way because the registration (tax) disc of the car was outta date. What do we do wrong to deserve all this!!!
The day was spent mostly chilling on the beach, chatting, sumo wrestling and listening to Moondogs tales of Surf Camp, modeling and his life in general. We even drew him a catwalk to walk down, he obliged by showing us his impression of a velociraptor, very funny. Siesta stretched on for a while longer and we had lunch down on the beach with a makeshift table (Longboard!).
That evening we partied and partied and partied. Winning our game of ‘Flip Cup’ with ease (like a more sophisticated boat race)!!! It was a hard going, but excellent trip that I would recommend to anyone. As you can tell by the length of this blog and the amount of pictures… A good time was had by all!
Darwin, the Northen Territory’s capital – home to some 63,000 people and they even have a couple of high-rise buildings. Yep, we’re back in civilisation, after venturing around towns with 120 people in them for a while it was quite nice to see roads with cars on, people dressed for office work and supermarkets bigger than your local corner shop!
Feeling right as rain we managed to do a bit of exploring, seeing the sights of Darwin and working out where a decent bar was. A month or so of no social interaction, we needed to go out for a couple of drinks one night with the guys we’ve met. What a result, down our stretch of road are a few really nice bars – outside, under terrace with lovely seating and a nice atmosphere! We spent a good couple of nights here chilling out with another stubbie and decent company…
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Our highlight of Darwin is the Litchfield tour though, it was absoloutely amazing. We were picked up at 7am by our tour-guide and taken straight to the Adelaide River where we got to handle a blah blah something Python, he was really cute looking and felt like a rubber toy – I won’t look at snakes being all slimy and horrible again, I actually heard myself telling Em that this snake was cute! I’ve been away from my dog too long! ;)
We boarded a double decker river boat and got to the top deck and a decent spot. Here we got to see crocs jumping from the water using their tails, trying to get to some meat that was being hung over the side by a giant rod. The little ones 3-4 metres in length could propel themselves right out the water, the big boys struggled to get their top halves out but were equally impressive. I would not fancy my chances in the river with these things!
Moving on we got to see some giant Termite Mounds which stretched about 5 metres into the air, then Wangi Falls – where we couldn’t swim because of the crocs in the water. Really nice waterfall though due to the torrential rain and the wet season…
We did get to swim in Florence Falls though where the water is apparently so clean you can drink it straight out the pool. Such a nice treat relaxing in this pool!!! But we moved onto Buley Falls where we relaxed in a series of cascading pools, I’ll put the photos up soon as that’s the only way I can really describe it.
On the way home we went to the Aboriginal Art Gallery where we got to handle a Blue Tongued Lizard and a baby python. Then have a go on the old Didgereedoo, brilliant…
Now we’re flying back to Brisbane where we will pick up our Surf Camp all the way down to Sydney. Wahooo…
Tired & 
Cool
Happy & 
Esctatic
