I drove to Wanaka after we stopped for breakfast and then from Wanaka to Fox Glacier. It was a beautiful drive along winding roads, past lakes streams and mountians. At one point we came out to the Tasman Sea and we stopped to take a picture. It reminded both of us of St. Thomas with the beautiful blue water and lush green ferns and trees.
The speed limit mostly ranges from 80-100 km/hour (48-60 mph) with slower speeds along the really curvy part of the road. There wasn't much traffic which makes for a pleasant drive.
Another nice break in the day was stopping to make phone calls. Shari called Fran and I called Richard (Big Dig) to talk about plans for Scotland. Luckily, we were able to reach both of them. It's fun to talk to someone from home, and Shari also had a message on her 800 number from my friend Peter, saying hello and wishing us well on our travels. I also tried to call Joshua but got no answer, so I didn't leave a message. I'll try again tomorrow. I haven't talked to him since I left, but Susan said that Josh and Karen are doing fine, living in Walpole.
We got to Fox Glacier at 4:30 PM and tried to get a room in the Ivory Tower Backpackers. We need to wait until 5:15 PM to see if the people signed up for one of the twin rooms doesn't show. If so, we can have the room for 2 nights. If they do show up, we may tent instead, but it looks a little overcast so I'm hoping we get the room.
Yeah! We got the room and good thing because it started raining. It didn't rain very much but the forecast is for some rain over the next couple of days. Even if we hike in the rain it's not so bad if we can come back to a room rather than a wet tent.
We are in a building with 4 bedrooms (2 doubles and 2 four-bunk rooms). We have a tv and the hostel has lots of videos to borrow, which is good because tv reception is poor, and they have only 2 channels. Some of the young people staying in the rooms were watching "Scent of a Woman" so I watched about half ot it. It is such a good movie.
Shari and I had a nice dinner - pasta, sauce, garlic bread and cookies for dessert - and I had 2 beers while I was writing noting notes and watching tv. The hostel is really cute from the outside (lots of pretty plants and flowers) but the rooms are just OK, and the matresses are pretty hard (no box spring). Oh well, it's nice to be inside sometimes with a bathroom handy.
3/27: It's been one month since we left for Hong Kong (it's only 3/26 back home) and we sure have done a lot in that month. It's funny to think about home, it seems so far away both physically and emotionally. I think about everyone often and I wonder how they are doing, but I don't really miss home. I just get up every day and do what we've planned, either hiking, driving or whatever. It's very pleasant.
Today we drove to Franz Josef Glacier, which is 25 km from Fox Glacier (both Fox and Franz Joseph are towns as well as glaciers) to do a day hike. We first went to the Deapartment of Conservation (DOC) office to get some information in hikes in the area and we watched a 20 minute video entitled "Edge of Wilderness." It showed the variety of climate, terrain and bird life in New Zealand, from beautiful coastal beaches to mystical rain forests to the majestic Southern Alps. It is amazing that so much diversity of natural beauty exists here.
We did a 4.5 hour round trip walk out to Roberts Point to see the Franz Josef Glacier. We ate lunch at the point and we used my binoculars to see the people out on the glacier. They get dropped off by helicopter and get to hike for a few hours on the glacier before the helicopter picks them up again.
One of the fellows in our building did a heli-hike yesterday and he wasn't too impressed. He said it was kind of boring because they didn't do anything besides walk on the glacier (they weren't even roped together so it couldn't be too dangerous). He had hiked in Patagonia (where Shari and I are hopefully going next January) and said it was much better. He had started in Torres del Paine but the weather was so bad they closed the park, so he went over to the Fitzroy Glacier and had a great time. He said if you can get good weather in Patagonia (which I guess can be difficult to do), the scenery is absolutely stunning. I guess on his trip to Patagonia he got to do the climbing and rope work (like we did at Mount Ranier) so it was much more fun and interesting for him.
We finished our hike today about 2:30 and went to the grocery store in Franz Josef (much better store than bunk here). We got great food at dinner tonight - steak, corn on the cob, salad. We drove back to Fox Glacier and then went to do the walk around Lake Matheson, which is only 6 km from town. A pretty little one hour walk and if the conditions are right (they weren't) you can take pictures of Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman reflected in the lake.
I treated myself to a shower tonight, even though I'm not doing laundry. I put on my "town" clothes but I'll put my dirty clothes back on tomorrow and then I'll do laundry tomorrow night. I usually don't switch clothes except when I can do laundry. I usually take a shower, put on my town clothes, do laundry and when it's done, put back on my clean hiking clothes. I mostly like to wear my hiking shorts because they have 2 zippered pockets and 2 other pockets. I keep my credit cards and money in one zippered pocket, and my pills and swiss army knife in the other. It's good to have a "system" so I don't lose anything.
I just looked up from writing my notes and it's a very interesting scene. Shari and I are sitting reading/writing at a small table in the big kitchen and there are about 16 people all in the kitchen area cooking and washing dishes. There are another 8 people sitting at the tables eating. All sorts of interesting cooking smells and many languages being spoken.
