Off I set yet again on Wednesday morning, the first time in a while I'd had an early start before the sun was up! Autumn is definitely here in New Zealand, and I was rather cold waiting for the shuttle to the train station, despite wearing THREE sweaters! A far cry for my time in Fiji last week, I can tell you! As usual, I was at the pick-up point way ahead of time... good job really, as I had been there for 10 minutes before I realised that I was stood outside the wrong hostel! Luckily I had time to make it round the corner and still be on time! Soon the shuttle arrived, off we went to the train station and I took my seat on the TranzAlpine express. It was a 4½ hour journey, right across the Southern Alps and my goodness, the scenery was breathtaking!
View from the TranzAlpine
The train had two open-air viewing carriages, which provided a great place to take photos of the countryside. It also allowed you to freeze solid whilst doing so, and I was concerned that my fingers would soon no longer be able to operate the shutter button! I soon headed back into the warmth of my carriage and purchased a Devonshire Tea for only £2.50! The scones were even hot, just what I needed! The cream however was rather amusing - I guess it would have been a lot to ask to have real clotted cream, but it was a little pot of squirty cream out of a can! Hilarious! After we passed through Arthur's Pass, the skies cleared and by the time I reached Greymouth, it was a little warmer! However, after I had checked into the YHA, I went straight to a charity shop and bought myself a woolly hat and scarf, all for £1!!! Well, after being extremely cold on the train, I thought it best to be prepared for walking on a glacier!
After a spot of geocaching that afternoon, I returned to the hostel and found Lee and Michelle from Fiji. It was quite a reunion, with lots of hugs, jumping up and down and joyous shouts! We spent the evening chatting, before I hit the hay, with a hot water bottle, kindly loaned to me from reception! I tell you, it is damn cold over here right now, especially in Greymouth and the winds just blast through off the mountains!
On Thursday morning, I was up ready for my first stint on the Magic Bus! Off we set with Colin, our crazy driver, who made us raise our hands in the air every time we went over a level crossing or railway track! We had a few stops en route to Franz Josef at Hokitika, Ross and Pukekura - the latter being home to the notorious Roadkill Cafe, complete with museum about how deer in the area are "managed". I didn't go into the museum, but it seems that it and the cafe have caused some interesting responses from travellers in the past. Not a place for vegetarians!
I had been in a bit of a dilemma that morning on the bus about when to do the glacier hike. The forecast for Thursday was supposed to be very good, so part of me wondered whether or not I should go straight out and do a half-day hike that afternoon. On the other hand, the full day hike is supposed to be more impressive as you get further up the ice and it becomes more blue and there are more cracks to walk through, but as the weather in NZ is so changeable, I was concerned that if I went on Friday instead, the weather would not be as good. In the end, I opted for the full day, and resigned myself to making the most of it, whatever the weather! As it happened, as we arrived in Franz Josef just after lunchtime, it was quite overcast, so at least I hadn't missed out that afternoon.
Imagine my absolute joy yesterday morning, when I left my hostel, to see glorious blue skies overhead! By the time we had checked in at the Glacier Guides HQ, the sun was up and I just knew it was going to be a perfect day on the ice! I'd been coming down with a cold since Christchurch, and I was a snotty, dribbling mess as I put on two pairs of socks, heavy boots, four layers of clothes and my hat, but the sun was out and it was going to be a great day! Once briefed, we took a bus up to the glacier valley, where we were divided into groups: 1 & 2, for those who were feeling energetic, 5 & 6 for those who wanted to take it easy and get lots of photos, and 3 & 4 for those in between!!! I opted for group 6! Well, it's all about the photos you know (and not killing yourself through outdoor pursuits!)
It took about 45 minutes just to walk to the start of the ice along the valley. We then strapped on our crampons - I wasn't even on the ice yet, but was so excited just to be wearing crampons! Wow, crampons!!! Then the fun really began, as we climbed up the first set of steps that had been cut in the ice for us. Over the rocky moraine we climbed before we hit wide expanses of ice. It was great fun and we had a great group, and I was soon chatting away to our guide, Johnno, about truncated spurs and hanging valleys... well, what was the point of going to school if you don't get to show off about it 10 years later???
We passed the area where the half day hike terminates, and it was time to get out the ice picks as the terrain became more challenging from there on! I was glad I'd opted for the full day in the end, as I could see where we were headed and it looked fantastic! The ice became cleaner, bluer and more rugged! we could no longer take a direct route upwards, we had to snake in between cracks and crevasses, and up and down peaks in the ice! At one point, we walked through a crack that was the exact width of my hips, and so I had to go a little sideways! We got soaked, but the sunshine soon dried us off in no time. In fact, we had all peeled off most of our layers by then as the weather was so fine!
Franz Josef Blue Ice
We covered about ten to twelve kilometres over the course of the day, which doesn't sound like much for a full day, but over that terrain, it was an impressive feat! By the time we'd made it back onto the valley floor, the aches and blisters were really kicking in, but on we pressed back to the bus. Back at HQ, I peeled off my soggy socks and boots, very pleased that they weren't mine and I could hand them over to someone else to wash and dry!!! I met up with Lee and Michelle again and told them all about it! They are on the glacier today, so they were pleased that it had been such an amazing experience!
Last night, I had just about enough energy to pack my bag and chat to my roomies, Rosie and Katie. My cold was quite bad at this point, so I had an early night. This morning, I awoke with a cough as well, but no pain, no gain... it won't stop me enjoying my trip! Well, actually, I am going to take it easy today, but I have plenty of time to take NZ at a slower pace! So, I'm in a new hostel just for tonight as it was $2 cheaper than the YHA with free Internet! I've not checked in yet as the dorm isn't ready, so once I've done that and sorted out my bag, I think I'll spend the afternoon in the Glacier Hot Pools spa up the road! Well, when in Rome...
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