| Diary 14 |
| 21st Oct 2005 Left Karamea and drove along the West Coast to Franz Josef Glacier. Lovely drive with the waves crashing on the beaches to our right, rainforrest to our left and the snow-capped Southern Alps looming in the distance. Set up the tent in a lovely but very hard stoney campsite - no grass! And walked to the glacier, but couldn't get right up to it as it was roped off. Still huge though, quite impressive - very dirty at the end. Walked back with a lady from Chelmsford (small world). 22nd Oct 2005 Drove onto Fox Glacier and took a helicopter ride up over it and over to and around Mount Cook (finally something I've done before that Terry hasn't!!) - amazing. Like a winter wonderland up there. Breathtaking! Then drove to Haast and went up the River Waiatoto on a jet boat and back down a lot faster!! Was a great trip, with just the two of us and the driver, who was very informative about the area. Again some great scenery - I know I keep saying it, but it's just so b-e-a-utiful here in NZ!!! Quickly drove down to Jackson's Bay (so we've driven all that can be driven on the West Coast) and had a white bait pattie, to see what everyone's been raving about..... basically a very expensive small omelette with little stickleback size fish in it!!!! Saw a dolphin swimming in the bay so it was worth the drive at least. Headed towards Queenstown and stopped to camp by Lake Wanaka, just past Mount Brewster. An expensive day, but worth every penny. 23rd Oct 2005 Terry climbed up to Brewster Hut on Mount Brewster and came back feeling very pleased with himself... a very happy, but shattered Brewster - he had to do it!!!! Drove onto Queenstown, stopping at Wanaka for lunch. Both towns very picturesque - overlooking lakes and surrounded by mountains. Managed to find a campsite (a bit few and far between here), but were stuck next to a huge family with lots of young kids (Bank Holiday Weekend so lots of locals away too). 24th Oct 2005 OH MY GOD...... WHAT A DAY!!!! Well.... the kids next door were up early (about 5.30am), so we were too! Slowly got packed up and went into town where we got our lift out to the Nevis.......... yep, you guessed it - Terry dragged me to the highest land based bungy jump in the world. I'm struggling to know what to write about it....... Terry loved every second and is still buzzing now....... whilst I'm still shaking with fear - possibly the scariest thing I have ever done - BUT I did it!!!! 134 metres down (440 feet) - thought it would never stop. Supposedly only 8 seconds, but felt like 8 hours!!!! You'll have to watch the DVD's when we get back. At least I can say I did a higher one than Toni!!!!!! Will I do it again - not a chance!! Will Terry - hell yes, almost did it again today and almost signed up for the bridge jump tomorrow - expense kept that at bay!!! Well Mum - I survived...... just - I think my heart was left behind on the platform!! Got back into town and went up in the cable car to get views over Queenstown. Decided to stay another night and felt we deserved a meal out rather than pasta and sauce in the tent, so headed to the lake front and found a special deal (Labour Day) for steak, egg and chips with a beer too. Terry then got persuaded to purchase a litre jug of beer with the jug given away too - this was by the barmaid whose parents live in Brentwood (small world again) - but how the hell are we going to get that back to the UK in one piece (something (else) for Mum & Dad B to take back at Xmas - please!!!!!!) 25th Oct 2005 Spent morning on internet updating website with photos etc - hope it's appreciated!!! Then booked transport and tent sites for our first big walk in NZ. Drove up the road to Glenorchy to camp for the night. 26th Oct 2005 Got picked up from the campsite and taken to the start of the Routeburn Track - started walking straight away at about 9.45am - quickly leaving the other people on the bus behind. We walked through forest next to the clearest river ever, crossing it occasionally via rickety cable bridges, then ventured up into the snow capped mountains with glacial lakes - more amazing scenery and lots of photos taken!! Finally got to the decent to our campsite by Lake MacKenzie, but it took ages due to two very large blisters on Claire's feet which only started hurting then! But that said, we finished walking at about 4.30pm - so it took us about 6 and a half hours to walk 21km or so - which is good because the guide is 7-10 and a half hours (and two days). Was also meant to be the hardest of our route. Put the tent up, cooked dinner and had a quick wash with freezing cold water and sat in the sun before bed - will sleep well tonight! 27th Oct 2005 Woke up to pouring rain (as was forecasted for the next two days). Managed to have breakfast and get the tent down with out getting to wet (just re-water proofed it so shook the worst of the water off). Started walking and overtook a few people that had stayed in the hut next to the campsite that night, and managed to get to Howden Hut (near the end of the Routeburn Track) after almost 2 hours (8.6km - so walking at a good pace still). Quickly grabbed a bite to eat and then headed along the first part of the Greenstone Track to MacKellar Hut. When we got to the hut it was blowing a gale and the rain was hammering down, so we decided to stay in the hut (provided there was space). Lit the coal fire and hung our things up to dry - very cosy!!! After a couple of hours a Scottish couple from Dartford arrived and were grateful to see the fire going!!! The views on the walk today were obscurred by the weather, but walking through the forests you could imagine Kristian (oops, I mean Gollum) crawling around - this is one of the areas where they filmed Lord of the Rings. Terry also found out how hot the coal fire gets - he managed to melt his socks drying them on top!!! 28th Oct 2005 Hailing wind and drumming rain on the roof and windows all night and no let up this morning. Had a 'lie-in', made breakfast and packed away our dry gear. Terry sorted my deteriorating feet out and after a couple of pain killers we headed off. An easy walk today, pretty flat following the course of the river through a valley, but took it slow because of the feet!!!! Wind and rain eased a bit by the end of the walk and we reached Greenstone Hut after 5 hours. Decided to stay in the ht again instead of putting the tent up - the lure of the fire (lit by the Scottish couple) when we arrived was too great! Hung everything up again, had a 'wet one wash', and played scrabble whilst listening to the rain (started again) and looking at the views! |