We arrived at Mount Cook that evening and just chilled out in front of the TV. Unusually, Andrew was extremely cold. He sat under the heater and in front of the fireplace with a hat on and he was still freezing. Usually that’s me, but this time I was so hot and I just couldn’t understand why he was so cold. That night I couldn’t get to sleep because I kept thinking about the bungy jump that wasn’t. I was toying with the idea to go back there the next day and attempt it again but decided to sleep on it before making any decisions. The next morning when I woke up I was fine with the fact that I didn’t jump. It’s just not something I need to do. At least not right now. I was never keen with the idea but got so wrapped up in the hype and the excitement of it that I really wanted to do it. And I still want to do it but I also know that I can’t do it and I don’t want to waste the money to try.
I thought Andrew might be getting sick but the next morning, although he wasn’t sick, his stomach was hurting him. It is so unusual for Andrew to get sick that I was a little concerned but we couldn’t pin point what it was. We had both eaten the same thing and I was fine, and he obviously wasn’t sick (as in having a cold sick), which lead us down the path of “was it the bungy jump?”, but then we remembered he had drank some water from the water bottle we had filled up at the gross hostel in Queensland. I didn’t drink any of that water and I was feeling fine so we concluded it must be that. He didn’t eat anything all day and only ate instant noodles (very healthy choice) at 6pm.
The plan was for us to do a hike that day but since Andrew was still not feeling well, we decided to stay in. We watched some shows we have on our laptop, read and napped throughout the day. I was also finally able to catch up on the blog! Mount Cook (the village) does not have a grocery store so we were very limited in what we could eat. We finished off all the instant noodles we had, and I had eggs with toast for dinner, which pretty much finished off all the food we had. We were staying at the YHA, and it was very weird for me to see 3 families (kids and all) staying there. A hostel is not a very child friendly environment as the shows on TV are not children appropriate (remember, it’s a bunch of 18-35 year olds staying there) and there isn’t really anything for them to do. The parents at least kept them occupied so they didn’t intrude too much but I don’t think the hostel staff were thrilled to have them. When they were checking in I heard them saying, “you want to stay here with kids?” The rest of the night we spent in front of the TV.
We have learned, although there is a lot to do in NZ, it’s a lot of water and summer activities which limits what we can do now, in the winter. In addition, the things we can do are very expensive so we have to pick and chose what we do, which leaves us in front of the TV quite often. Being in an expensive country and having a limited budget makes it very difficult to stay positive and motivated to continue traveling. Ultimately we’re always asking ourselves, what’s the point of traveling if we can’t afford to participate in anything? That’s why we’re really looking forward to Indonesia (we leave in 4 days! July 25!) where our budget will go a lot further. We love NZ but I think we both know we haven’t experienced it to its fullest potential. If we come back to NZ again, it will definitely be during the NZ summer.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Bungy Jumping
Our plan was to get to Mount Cook the next day, but before we could leave the Queenstown area we had to complete a bungy jump first. We arrived at A.J. Hackett, were weighed in and paid for our jumps. They said they would call us in a few minutes as the operators were taking a break. At the same time a “Kiwi Experience” bus arrived and with it a whole bunch of people. The jump is a first come first serve basis so when the operators were done their break there was a bit of a lineup of jumpers. Andrew and I decided I would go first so he could take pictures and he would go once I was done. We walked out onto the bridge but I had to wait a good 20 minutes for all the other jumpers to go before it was my turn. It was a lot colder that day than it had been up until this point so I was shivering by the time it was my turn. Andrew was fluttering around between me and the waiting deck, and I’m not sure if he was just nervous for his own jump or he was looking for the best angle for pictures. Either way, when it was my turn to get harnessed up, he was nowhere to be seen and I went into the “jumpers only” area without seeing him. Once you’re harnessed up, they sit you down and wrap a towel around your ankles followed by a rope. I guess the towel is there so the rope doesn’t cut into your ankles. I was so nervous I couldn’t think straight. The guy was talking to me trying to distract me but the music is so loud in that area and I was so nervous that I couldn’t hear anything he was saying. I kept looking at the observation deck but I couldn’t see Andrew. I felt like I was drunk with fear. I couldn’t see or think straight. The operator than hooked up the bungy cord to my feet and I was surprised by how heavy it was. I felt like it was going to pull me down, which was ridiculous because the whole point of me was to jump off the bridge anyway. As soon as I stood up I could feel the weight of the rope and I inched towards the ledge, which was very awkward as my feet were tied together. I shuffled my feet forward a couple of times, stopped and said I can’t. The operator said, “that’s okay, we’re not jumping yet”, but I lost it, started crying and started shaking my head no and started shuffling back. I had such fear I felt like I was going to throw up. The operator guy told me to relax but I said no and sat back down. He kept asking if I was sure and that’s he didn’t like seeing people back out of it and that everyone who had been terrified but did it anyway loved it afterwards. He told me to go have a cup of coffee and see if I wanted to try again. Then he reminded me that I wouldn’t get my money back. I could not get out of there fast enough and was openly sobbing at that point. I wasn’t scared, I was terrified. But I was also so disappointed with myself. I really thought I could do it and I didn’t expect myself to react this way but I could not stop crying. I walked down the bridge and finally saw Andrew and just started crying in his arms. He told me it was okay and that I didn’t have to jump if I didn’t want to. I was so glad he wasn’t trying to talk me into it. I was hysterical and couldn’t stop crying. I was so angry with myself that I couldn’t do it! I still had an opportunity to jump, but I knew I couldn’t do it. There was no way I was going to go up there again and try. Watching other people made me want to throw up. Any excitement I saw in it before was gone.
Andrew then went to the bridge for his jump. As I expected, as he was getting harnessed up and tied in he was laughing the whole time. I know he was nervous but it was a different kind of nervous for him. I was terrified where he was excited. I watched him walk right up to the ledge and the operator had to hold him from jumping right away. They first take a picture with their cameras. They then counted him down, 5-4-3-2-1! And I saw him jump up and dive into the air. There was a “whooo hooo” scream that came out of him. It all lasted less than 10 seconds but for me it was forever. He was lowered into the dingy waiting at the bottom in the river and all I could see was a huge smile and he looked up and gave a huge thumbs up! I was trying to be happy for him but I was so disappointed with myself I had to force myself to smile. He had to walk back up to the top and while he was walking I had to tell myself, be happy for him. This is something he really wanted to do, stop feeling sorry for yourself and be happy for him. Which I was, so I was surprised when he finally made it to the top, to see that he wasn’t as excited as I expected him to be. I expected him to be high on adrenaline but when I asked him how he felt, he shrugged and said “good”. Later I found out he expected it to be more of a rush. He feels the rush doesn’t last long enough and just when you’re getting that rush, it stops. Apparently jumping off a bridge is not enough of a rush for him.
The only consolation I had for myself was that I now knew the answer to the proverbial question: “If everyone was jumping off the bridge, would you?” I know now the answer to that question is no!
We left AJ Hackett after purchasing the photos and video of Andrew jumping so we can have this moment on camera forever.
Andrew then went to the bridge for his jump. As I expected, as he was getting harnessed up and tied in he was laughing the whole time. I know he was nervous but it was a different kind of nervous for him. I was terrified where he was excited. I watched him walk right up to the ledge and the operator had to hold him from jumping right away. They first take a picture with their cameras. They then counted him down, 5-4-3-2-1! And I saw him jump up and dive into the air. There was a “whooo hooo” scream that came out of him. It all lasted less than 10 seconds but for me it was forever. He was lowered into the dingy waiting at the bottom in the river and all I could see was a huge smile and he looked up and gave a huge thumbs up! I was trying to be happy for him but I was so disappointed with myself I had to force myself to smile. He had to walk back up to the top and while he was walking I had to tell myself, be happy for him. This is something he really wanted to do, stop feeling sorry for yourself and be happy for him. Which I was, so I was surprised when he finally made it to the top, to see that he wasn’t as excited as I expected him to be. I expected him to be high on adrenaline but when I asked him how he felt, he shrugged and said “good”. Later I found out he expected it to be more of a rush. He feels the rush doesn’t last long enough and just when you’re getting that rush, it stops. Apparently jumping off a bridge is not enough of a rush for him.
The only consolation I had for myself was that I now knew the answer to the proverbial question: “If everyone was jumping off the bridge, would you?” I know now the answer to that question is no!
We left AJ Hackett after purchasing the photos and video of Andrew jumping so we can have this moment on camera forever.
Milford Sound
We headed towards Te Anau that evening but since we were quite tired we stopped at a town halfway there where we found cheap accommodation. The next day we arrived at Te Anau and found out the road to Milford Sound had been opened but you still needed to carry chains with you. The information office showed us some pictures of the roads and we opted to book a bus for the trip there, since we weren’t sure our car could handle all that snow. We booked a bus and ferry for the next day. That night we spent the night at Bob & Maxine’s hostel. They are a great older couple that had built a building just for the backpackers but it really feels like a large cottage with stunning views of the mountains from the common room. We had paid for a dorm room but were lucky enough to have the room to ourselves that night. The bus we were taking to Milford left at 10am and the 2 hour ride was accompanied by commentary provided by the driver. It was really nice to be on a bus again and just relax. For the past 6 months we had been the ones driving and we really missed just sitting back and relaxing, reading or sleeping.
Part of the bus journey is some stops along the way but the snow hadn’t been cleared off in the parking lots along the way so we couldn’t stop, which resulted in us arriving early at the ferry terminal. The drive to Milford Sound is stunning and it feels like you’re in a different world looking at the snow capped mountains. But there wasn’t that much snow. The crews had done a great job of clearing the snow from the roads, but there wasn’t that much snow on the sides of the road either. We really couldn’t see why the road had been closed for almost 2 weeks! The amount of snow that fell there wouldn’t even be considered a significant snow fall in Canada. Another Gold Coast Syndrome.
We boarded the ferry just after 1pm (even though I vowed I wouldn’t get on another boat again) and we couldn’t wait for the buffet lunch that was included in the price of the ticket. We were starving! We were lucky as the weather that day was amazing with the sun shining. Apparently this area gets an average rainfall of 8 meters a year and it has topped out at 10 meters one year. The cruise is along an outlet into the Tasman sea and you’re cruising among gigantic fiords. Even though the weather was nice it was still quite cold. Too cold to spend too much time outside so I was content sitting inside and looking out the window. I was excited to see a couple of seals, one in the water and one on the rocks! On the way back we saw another seal on the rocks and the boat came right up to it so we were able to get some pics. The drive back was pretty uneventful except for a herd of sheep that was on the road. There was at least a thousand of them. They were so cute. The farmer was herding them over to another field with the help of his dogs. It caused quite a stir on the bus. Other than that we spent the trip back napping on the bus and it was great.
Part of the bus journey is some stops along the way but the snow hadn’t been cleared off in the parking lots along the way so we couldn’t stop, which resulted in us arriving early at the ferry terminal. The drive to Milford Sound is stunning and it feels like you’re in a different world looking at the snow capped mountains. But there wasn’t that much snow. The crews had done a great job of clearing the snow from the roads, but there wasn’t that much snow on the sides of the road either. We really couldn’t see why the road had been closed for almost 2 weeks! The amount of snow that fell there wouldn’t even be considered a significant snow fall in Canada. Another Gold Coast Syndrome.
We boarded the ferry just after 1pm (even though I vowed I wouldn’t get on another boat again) and we couldn’t wait for the buffet lunch that was included in the price of the ticket. We were starving! We were lucky as the weather that day was amazing with the sun shining. Apparently this area gets an average rainfall of 8 meters a year and it has topped out at 10 meters one year. The cruise is along an outlet into the Tasman sea and you’re cruising among gigantic fiords. Even though the weather was nice it was still quite cold. Too cold to spend too much time outside so I was content sitting inside and looking out the window. I was excited to see a couple of seals, one in the water and one on the rocks! On the way back we saw another seal on the rocks and the boat came right up to it so we were able to get some pics. The drive back was pretty uneventful except for a herd of sheep that was on the road. There was at least a thousand of them. They were so cute. The farmer was herding them over to another field with the help of his dogs. It caused quite a stir on the bus. Other than that we spent the trip back napping on the bus and it was great.
Queenstown
We left Franz Joseph and were heading towards Queenstown but first we had to pass through the Hass Pass. This road goes through the mountains and some high altitude terrain and is prone to snow falls. Most of the way it was clear but as we climbed higher the snow started collecting on the ground. Rain had turned into snow. The tires on our car are not very good and it became slippery very quickly. We pulled over to put our chains on and joined a family of 3 who were trying to put the chains on their camper van. Neither Andrew nor I had even put snow chains on so it was interesting trying to do it for the first time in the cold. I was instructed to document this with Andrew’s camera. I could see the family was having a hard time putting their chains on so once Andrew was done with our chains, I asked him to help them, which he did. As soon as they were done with the first tire, a guy drove up in his pickup truck from the opposite direction and told us once we passed the hill, the rest of the way was clear so chains weren’t really needed. So the family opted not to put the chains on the second car and we left. The guy in the pickup was right. As soon as we had passed the hill the road cleared and we had to pull over and take our chains off. It wasn’t that bad on the roads and we coined a new term, “The Gold Coast Syndrome”. It was based on the warnings of free-camping in the Gold Coast and the fines associated with that, only to find out it was all hyped up. The Gold Coast Syndrome is wide spread throughout Australia and NZ.
We arrived in Queenstown late in the afternoon after stopping in Wanaka, which turned out to have very expensive accommodations. We booked 2 nights at a hostel in Queenstown, but quickly found out the standards weren’t very high. We saw people wiping the floor with the tea towels in the kitchen and then hanging them back up. Andrew was completely disgusted by this and we started pre-washing and not drying everything we used. We refused to use the tea towels. Also, the fans in the bathrooms did not work so the condensation from the shower would collect at the top of the ceiling and if you went to use the toilet the drops of water would drip on your head. It was gross. It was a good price however so we decided to put up with it. We really liked Queenstown as it’s a medium sized town but it has a very cool vibe with a lot of skiers in the area. It’s definitely a vacation town. That night we went out for a few beers and we really enjoyed the $3 beers before 9pm.
The next day Andrew did some research on the ski conditions as well as the cost of renting ski clothes and equipment while I caught up on the blog. Then we went for a Fergburger, for which we had to wait an hour for! Fergburger is a very popular gourmet burger place. The burgers are homemade and huge. A very good deal for just $10 each and we were quite full after each eating one. We didn’t even need fries! Andrew went to an internet café while I went to get a haircut. It has been a year since I cut my hair and it needed a trim very badly. The cut and blow-dry cost me $65 but it was a necessity.
One of the trips we wanted to do was go to Milford Sound from Queenstown, but it was a 4 hour drive there. The town of Te Anau was in between so our plan was to stop there, but we found out the area had received a lot of snow in the past couple of days and the highway between Te Anau and Milford Sound was closed, but they were expecting to open it any day.
The next day we decided to drive to Te Anau, a 2 hour drive, in hopes the highway would open the next morning. We had a phone number to call to learn about road conditions but it’s updated every 3 hours and they don’t receive definitive information about when the road will open up. Te Anau is a very small town and there really isn’t much to do there. We decided to stay at another “park” (similar to what we stayed in for the Tongariero Crossing) but this one had a really good common area and the room was heated fairly well. Unfortunately the bathrooms and shower areas are not heated. I again spent the time writing the blog while we watched TV. Unfortunately the road to Milford Sound did not open the next morning so we decided to head back to Queenstown.
We decided to stay at the same hostel again since the price was good, but this time we stayed in “The Shed” outback as it was much quieter. We didn’t get a lot of sleep the 2 nights we had already spent there due to the coming and going of others. This was literally a garden shed converted into a room with no insulation, but it had a pretty good heater which had to be on the whole time in order to keep it warm. The lack of efficiency is extremely frustrating! This applies to everywhere we had stayed up until this point. In order to keep the hostels warm, the heaters have to be on the whole time because otherwise the heat just escapes.
The plan was to go skiing the next day but we slept in and spent the day checking out the ski hills in the area and visiting the A.J. Hackett bungy jumping center. We had been talking about bungy jumping in Queensland as it was the place it was started. It was very interesting the people jumping from the bridge and as I was looking at them I though, I could do this. It didn’t seem that bad and I said “Let’s do it. Let’s go now”. But Andrew started saying “The lighting for pictures is not that good, it’s very gray outside, let’s do it another day when the light is better”. I told him let’s do it now because I may chicken out but he was confident I wouldn’t so we left. We went and picked up the ski rental equipment and clothes we would use for skiing the next day.
We started our evening by pre-drinking my wine before heading to the bar. We had a great night drinking 2 for 1 beers and we topped the night off with a Canadian Club on the rocks. Needless to say the next morning we woke up with a headache. Unfortunately we had already paid for the equipment rental so we had to go skiing. We decided to take our chances and try going to Milford Sound again, so we checked out of our hostel before going skiing.
We went skiing at Coronet Peak which is approx 1650m high, however the ski area starts at 1100m so there is only 500m of ski area, just a touch higher than Blue Mountain. We were not in our best shape that day and we hadn’t been on skis in over a year and half so it was hard going. Also, since it was Saturday there were a lot of people on the hill and the wait for the lift was around half hour. The views from the top were stunning. From the top we could see the Remarkables Mountain Range as well as Queenstown. Unfortunately during our 3rd run a cloud came in and covered the peak and the views were gone. After 6 runs we called it a day, my legs were done and I didn’t think I was going to make it down the last run. It wasn’t worth the $95 per person we had paid for the lift tickets. On the back down the mountain, I looked up and saw only the peak of the mountain was covered in cloud. The rest of the sky was crystal clear. Figures.
We arrived in Queenstown late in the afternoon after stopping in Wanaka, which turned out to have very expensive accommodations. We booked 2 nights at a hostel in Queenstown, but quickly found out the standards weren’t very high. We saw people wiping the floor with the tea towels in the kitchen and then hanging them back up. Andrew was completely disgusted by this and we started pre-washing and not drying everything we used. We refused to use the tea towels. Also, the fans in the bathrooms did not work so the condensation from the shower would collect at the top of the ceiling and if you went to use the toilet the drops of water would drip on your head. It was gross. It was a good price however so we decided to put up with it. We really liked Queenstown as it’s a medium sized town but it has a very cool vibe with a lot of skiers in the area. It’s definitely a vacation town. That night we went out for a few beers and we really enjoyed the $3 beers before 9pm.
The next day Andrew did some research on the ski conditions as well as the cost of renting ski clothes and equipment while I caught up on the blog. Then we went for a Fergburger, for which we had to wait an hour for! Fergburger is a very popular gourmet burger place. The burgers are homemade and huge. A very good deal for just $10 each and we were quite full after each eating one. We didn’t even need fries! Andrew went to an internet café while I went to get a haircut. It has been a year since I cut my hair and it needed a trim very badly. The cut and blow-dry cost me $65 but it was a necessity.
One of the trips we wanted to do was go to Milford Sound from Queenstown, but it was a 4 hour drive there. The town of Te Anau was in between so our plan was to stop there, but we found out the area had received a lot of snow in the past couple of days and the highway between Te Anau and Milford Sound was closed, but they were expecting to open it any day.
The next day we decided to drive to Te Anau, a 2 hour drive, in hopes the highway would open the next morning. We had a phone number to call to learn about road conditions but it’s updated every 3 hours and they don’t receive definitive information about when the road will open up. Te Anau is a very small town and there really isn’t much to do there. We decided to stay at another “park” (similar to what we stayed in for the Tongariero Crossing) but this one had a really good common area and the room was heated fairly well. Unfortunately the bathrooms and shower areas are not heated. I again spent the time writing the blog while we watched TV. Unfortunately the road to Milford Sound did not open the next morning so we decided to head back to Queenstown.
We decided to stay at the same hostel again since the price was good, but this time we stayed in “The Shed” outback as it was much quieter. We didn’t get a lot of sleep the 2 nights we had already spent there due to the coming and going of others. This was literally a garden shed converted into a room with no insulation, but it had a pretty good heater which had to be on the whole time in order to keep it warm. The lack of efficiency is extremely frustrating! This applies to everywhere we had stayed up until this point. In order to keep the hostels warm, the heaters have to be on the whole time because otherwise the heat just escapes.
The plan was to go skiing the next day but we slept in and spent the day checking out the ski hills in the area and visiting the A.J. Hackett bungy jumping center. We had been talking about bungy jumping in Queensland as it was the place it was started. It was very interesting the people jumping from the bridge and as I was looking at them I though, I could do this. It didn’t seem that bad and I said “Let’s do it. Let’s go now”. But Andrew started saying “The lighting for pictures is not that good, it’s very gray outside, let’s do it another day when the light is better”. I told him let’s do it now because I may chicken out but he was confident I wouldn’t so we left. We went and picked up the ski rental equipment and clothes we would use for skiing the next day.
We started our evening by pre-drinking my wine before heading to the bar. We had a great night drinking 2 for 1 beers and we topped the night off with a Canadian Club on the rocks. Needless to say the next morning we woke up with a headache. Unfortunately we had already paid for the equipment rental so we had to go skiing. We decided to take our chances and try going to Milford Sound again, so we checked out of our hostel before going skiing.
We went skiing at Coronet Peak which is approx 1650m high, however the ski area starts at 1100m so there is only 500m of ski area, just a touch higher than Blue Mountain. We were not in our best shape that day and we hadn’t been on skis in over a year and half so it was hard going. Also, since it was Saturday there were a lot of people on the hill and the wait for the lift was around half hour. The views from the top were stunning. From the top we could see the Remarkables Mountain Range as well as Queenstown. Unfortunately during our 3rd run a cloud came in and covered the peak and the views were gone. After 6 runs we called it a day, my legs were done and I didn’t think I was going to make it down the last run. It wasn’t worth the $95 per person we had paid for the lift tickets. On the back down the mountain, I looked up and saw only the peak of the mountain was covered in cloud. The rest of the sky was crystal clear. Figures.
Franz Josef Glacier
There are two main glaciers people visit while in NZ. Franz Josef and Fox. They are with 50km’s of each other and actually come front the same glacier at the top of the mountain range, but split off in their respective valleys. We arrived at Franz Josef in the evening and found a cheap double room at the Franz Chateau. It’s not actually a chateau but a hostel, but I loved it as in addition to the heater in the room, we had electric blankets! This was the first time I was toasty warm since arriving in NZ. I didn’t want to leave the room!
That night it was pouring rain. It was more like a torrential downpour combined with hail. I thought the streets were going to flood as I watched the rivers of rain on the streets. In addition to the pouring rain we had thunder and lighting. It was all very exciting until the power went out. Andrew went to check out the situation but I stayed behind to hold on to the warmth of the electric blankets. We now had to heat at all! Luckily the power came back on within 30 minutes but as soon as it came on a siren started wailing just down the street. We had no idea what the siren was, and everyone in the hostel as well as the surrounding hostels came out to see. We were close to the sea and we thought it might be a Tsunami warning. The worst part was the owners of the hostel had left for the night so there was no one to tell us what was going on. After a good 10 minutes Andrew and I got into our car and drove around looking for the source to discover it’s the volunteer firefighter’s station and that’s the siren they use to call the volunteer fire fighters in case of emergency. The fire alarm had gone off in the YHA next door. Once the firefighters arrived the siren went off. When I actually looked at the map later on, we weren’t that close to the Tasman Sea so a tsunami wasn’t really a concern here. It just goes to show how paranoid we had become about a tsunami.
The next day it was still pouring. We had planned on doing a guided glacier hike but it didn’t look very appealing in the rain. We stayed in bed for a good portion of the day but went for a drive to the Fox glacier village just to see what was in the area. When we came back we went to see what the weather would be like the next day to see if we could do a glacier hike and the weather looked somewhat promising for the next morning so we booked a half day hike.
We woke up early the next day and put on our warmest clothes, had a good hearty breakfast and walked over to the office where we were to meet the guide. It was still raining but not too bad and we were hoping it was going to clear up. As we waited in line to check in we found out all the hikes had been cancelled for the day due to extreme weather coming in. We were so disappointed! Now what were we going to do for the rest of the day? We decided to do the walking trail which would take us right up to the Franz Josef glacier. It was the next best thing to actually climbing the glacier. We did the 1.5 hour return walk without encountering any rain. It was windy and cold, but no rain. We felt ripped off (even though we got our money back…although we did end up losing $13 from the return because of the exchange rate) as we could have done the hike! After that we drove to the Fox Glacier village to do another hour walk. It would turn out the extreme weather didn’t come in until that night, with some serious thunder and lighting. Andrew said it had been the biggest thunder and lightning storm he had ever seen, but I slept through it all. It seems I can sleep through pretty much anything.
That night it was pouring rain. It was more like a torrential downpour combined with hail. I thought the streets were going to flood as I watched the rivers of rain on the streets. In addition to the pouring rain we had thunder and lighting. It was all very exciting until the power went out. Andrew went to check out the situation but I stayed behind to hold on to the warmth of the electric blankets. We now had to heat at all! Luckily the power came back on within 30 minutes but as soon as it came on a siren started wailing just down the street. We had no idea what the siren was, and everyone in the hostel as well as the surrounding hostels came out to see. We were close to the sea and we thought it might be a Tsunami warning. The worst part was the owners of the hostel had left for the night so there was no one to tell us what was going on. After a good 10 minutes Andrew and I got into our car and drove around looking for the source to discover it’s the volunteer firefighter’s station and that’s the siren they use to call the volunteer fire fighters in case of emergency. The fire alarm had gone off in the YHA next door. Once the firefighters arrived the siren went off. When I actually looked at the map later on, we weren’t that close to the Tasman Sea so a tsunami wasn’t really a concern here. It just goes to show how paranoid we had become about a tsunami.
The next day it was still pouring. We had planned on doing a guided glacier hike but it didn’t look very appealing in the rain. We stayed in bed for a good portion of the day but went for a drive to the Fox glacier village just to see what was in the area. When we came back we went to see what the weather would be like the next day to see if we could do a glacier hike and the weather looked somewhat promising for the next morning so we booked a half day hike.
We woke up early the next day and put on our warmest clothes, had a good hearty breakfast and walked over to the office where we were to meet the guide. It was still raining but not too bad and we were hoping it was going to clear up. As we waited in line to check in we found out all the hikes had been cancelled for the day due to extreme weather coming in. We were so disappointed! Now what were we going to do for the rest of the day? We decided to do the walking trail which would take us right up to the Franz Josef glacier. It was the next best thing to actually climbing the glacier. We did the 1.5 hour return walk without encountering any rain. It was windy and cold, but no rain. We felt ripped off (even though we got our money back…although we did end up losing $13 from the return because of the exchange rate) as we could have done the hike! After that we drove to the Fox Glacier village to do another hour walk. It would turn out the extreme weather didn’t come in until that night, with some serious thunder and lighting. Andrew said it had been the biggest thunder and lightning storm he had ever seen, but I slept through it all. It seems I can sleep through pretty much anything.
Nelson & Greymouth
We arrived in Nelson in the afternoon and we decided to spend the night there as we had been up early that morning and were quite tired. The town is quite small and after some grocery shopping we stayed in, made dinner and watched a movie. The TV room was quite small and cold so I turned the heater on as I was really cold, but I guess it got too hot as a guy and a girl told me it was too hot in there and to open a window! I wouldn’t let them open the window and told them if they wanted to they could open the door. But I did turn the heater off. We also enjoyed a free chocolate pudding and vanilla ice cream offered by the hostel. It was delicious. We also opted to stay in a dorm room because it was much cheaper than a double room. It’s always interesting spending the night with a room full of strangers. That evening we met a kiwi and we started chatting about the road conditions in the south with the snow that had begun falling lately. He told us there are times when road are closed (which could hamper our travel plans to get to Christchurch on time for our flight) as well as roads where you will require snow chains. That is something we didn’t have. I knew we could have rented them with our car, but since we rented the car in Auckland, we didn’t even think about snow or snow chains. We called the rental company and found out they have an office in Greymouth where we could stop and rent a pair of snow chains. Which is exactly what we did the next day on our way to the Franz Josef Glacier.
Picton, South Island
I was excited to go to the South Island as it’s known for its mountains and stunning views. All of NZ is known to be beautiful but particularly South Island. The ferry we were taking was leaving at 8am but we had to check in an hour before for the 3.5 hour journey. This meant we had to get up much earlier and I was not happy about it at all. It also meant we were taking another boat and I just hoped the time would pass quickly and perhaps I would be able to get some sleep during the journey. We took our car on the ferry and because we were right on time, we were one of the first ones on the ferry, which meant we had to park in the lower hold. This also meant we would be the very last ones to get off. This is what happens when you arrive on time. Tardiness pays off sometimes. We spent the hour exploring the boat and waiting for the sun to rise, as it was still dark outside. Once we were finally off I tried to sleep, but 20 minutes into our journey, an announcement came on that a Tsunami warning had been issued and we had to change course, which would add an hour to our travel time. I looked at Andrew and told him “Every time I get on a boat something happens! It’s like I’m destined to drown! After this we are not taking any more boats or ferries!” I have tried to tell myself I’m being silly and all these things are coincidences but they keep happening when I get on the boat. Luckily 40 minutes later the announcer came back on and said the Tsunami warning had been cancelled and we were back on course. I could breathe again. But there was no way I was going to sleep. I had to keep my eyes and ears open for any signs of danger.
I didn’t get to see the sights as we were pulling into Picton as I spent the last hour in front of the laptop trying to catch up on the blog. It has been extremely difficult to keep up with the blog especially in Australia and NZ. We are constantly on the move and in a different place almost every night so we spend all our time walking around and exploring and I never have the time to sit down and write. It’s amazing how time consuming it is! Sometimes I have to give up seeing something or participating in something just not to fall too far behind. I fell 2 months behind at one point and it took forever to catch up. You just don’t remember the details after that long.
Once we arrived in Picton, we had to wait an extra 30 minutes to get off the boat. Once we were off we stopped to have fish and chips but it wasn’t very good and we didn’t feel too good after it. Picton is a very small town so we kept moving on. We took the scenic drive to Nelson, and although the views were amazing, it was pouring rain. Something it would continue doing while we were on the West coast of the south island.
I didn’t get to see the sights as we were pulling into Picton as I spent the last hour in front of the laptop trying to catch up on the blog. It has been extremely difficult to keep up with the blog especially in Australia and NZ. We are constantly on the move and in a different place almost every night so we spend all our time walking around and exploring and I never have the time to sit down and write. It’s amazing how time consuming it is! Sometimes I have to give up seeing something or participating in something just not to fall too far behind. I fell 2 months behind at one point and it took forever to catch up. You just don’t remember the details after that long.
Once we arrived in Picton, we had to wait an extra 30 minutes to get off the boat. Once we were off we stopped to have fish and chips but it wasn’t very good and we didn’t feel too good after it. Picton is a very small town so we kept moving on. We took the scenic drive to Nelson, and although the views were amazing, it was pouring rain. Something it would continue doing while we were on the West coast of the south island.
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