My old-school travel blog: October 2007

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

So long New Zealand

My time in New Zealand is quickly coming to an end. Tomorrow, I fly to Melbourne, Australia. Soon, I'll be posting my thoughts on my entire New Zealand experience. Australia promises to be a much different experience. Stay tuned to find out why....

Thursday, October 18, 2007

River of Ice: Franz Josef Glacier

The main attraction in Franz Josef is, of course, the Franz Josef Glacier. When I went to sign up, the girl explained the trip to me - what equipment would be provided, what I am expected to bring, and the conditions I am expected to encounter. She asked if I had any pre-existing injuries. I told her about my knee. She said if I can’t make it down the mountain, I’d have to pay to have someone come get me - $500-900, she said. I said “I will make it down!” I was speaking with a couple guys at the hostel. They had done the glacier before and said that if I could do the Tongariro Crossing, I could do this.

I reported at 9:15, as required. They gave me a sheet of paper with the usual disclaimer - I recognize the a glacier is an unstable environment, I can die and it's not their fault - even if they throw me over the edge, blah, blah, blah… I also had to indicate on the sheet any pre-existing injuries or medical conditions and sign. I was given a pair of over trousers, boots and socks, talons, mits and a hat, and a rain jacket.

We loaded on to the bus for the 10 minute drive. There was a pathway that led to the mostly dry river bed. From there we could see the glacier. On of the guides asked how far we think it is to the glacier. He said most people think it is just about 500m, but it more than 2.5 km. So we had about a 45 minute walk before we got to the terminal wall.

At this point they showed us how to put on the talons on the boots. Without these, we would be slipping a sliding on the ice and probably end up dead. The broke us up into 4 smaller groups, with those who think they were more fit in groups 1 & 2. And those less fit in groups 3 & 4. I was in group 3.

Climbing the glacier was easy for two reasons. The talons really made walking on ice effortless. Also, the guides had cut nice little steps into the ice for us to climb the steep parts. At locations where they felt there was some danger of us slipping or falling, they installed ropes for us to hold on to.

Close to the highest part of our hike, we passed thru a very narrow section with really blue walls. I asked someone to take my picture, and he dropped my camera into some water. This, unfortunately, had a damping effect on the day for me. Now, instead of this hike costing $130, it will cost more like $430, as I will now have to replace the camera. But I know now, by learning the hard way, not to trust anyone to handle my things.

Coming down was surprisingly easy. I was worried about the steps cut in the ice and the effect it would have on my knee. But I never experienced any soreness or pain. There was only one location where I was a little scared. Immediately after passing thru a narrow passage, we came to some steps on a very steep slope. With the talons on the boots, there was little chance that I would have slipped, and I descended with little difficulty.

When we got back down off the ice, I told the guide that that was easy. We should do it again - without the steps. On the walk back across the river bed, the only thing on my mind was my camera. Would I be able to get the pictures off of the SD card? Would the camera work fine when it is dried? Will it still take pictures even though the display is not working? Or is it completely dead?

On the bus ride, I tried to recall the beautiful scenery to remind myself that it was a great hike. But I couldn’t take my mind off how much it will cost to replace the camera. I sure hope I can get some of those pictures off the SD card. Or all I’ll remember about this hike is the broken camera.
---
I was able to retrieve all the photos off of the SD card. The display is shot, but I can still take pictures using the viewfinder. Without the display, I can not change any settings or use any of the camera’s many features. I’ll continue to use it, and wait until I am in Asia to buy a new camera. Everyone says electronics are very inexpensive in Asia.

Within two days, I recovered from this mishap. I no longer harbor ill feelings toward this unknown person who dropped my camera. And I do not wish him an untimely death.

:-)

Tuatara

A statue of a Tuatara in front of the museum in Invercargill.

A real live tuatara in the live exhibit inside the museum - or so they said. I didn't see it move. Not even a blink, eye movement or nervous twitch. The average lifespan is about 60 years, but they can live to be over 100 years old. This one is believed to have been born in the late 19th century.

More on the way to Queenstown

The inside of the Magic Bus.

Photo of bridge, taken while standing on the bridge where bungee jumping started.

The bridge where bungee jumping started. I did not jump. I refuse to spend $150 for a 5 second thrill.

On the way to Queenstown

New Zealand: Land of the 1-lane bridges. The traffic volume is so low here on the west coast of the south island, that most bridges have just one lane. There are a few 1-lane bridges that also carry trains - with no signal to tell you if a train is coming.

a random river....

I will not set foot in one of these. I don't need to see the mountains from above.

Tourists dutifully taking pictures of the scenery.

Yep, I took a picture of the same scene.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

even more photos from the glacier

aha...me wielding the ice pick

no, we didn't do that

There may not be anymore pictures for some time. While on the glacier, I asked someone to take my picture, and he dropped my camera in some ice water.

more photos from the glacier

Narrow passageways...

people...

the guide working on the steps

me pretending to wield the ice pick

Pictures from Franz Josef Glacier

Franz Josef Glacier from about 2.5 km away.

The first climb.

Alpine parrot...supposedly the world's smartest bird.

So this is what a glacier is like....

Abel Tasman National Park. 21 km. 6 hours.

After a bus ride from Nelson to the Abel Tasman National Park, the trip really began with a water taxi ride to Bark Bay. We boarded the boat while it was still on the trailer on land and a tractor was used to launch the boat. The launch was the most unusual I‘ve ever seen. I expected the tractor to back us into the water, but instead the tractor pulled us into the water. As I saw the tractor headed toward the water, I was waiting for it to turn around just before it got to the water‘s edge, but it kept going and going, the water up past the axels. It pulled us several hundred feet thru the water. Salt water. And they left it there as we departed for Bark Bay. It was low tide. After we got past the reef, we picked up speed. It was a little rough and the lifting and dropping reminded me of cruising in my uncle’s boat when I was a child, but it also kept remembering the ride from St. Thomas to St. Croix, back in August, when I had to use the vomit bag. I guess my stomach isn’t as strong as it used to be. No need for the bag today. We arrived at Bark Bay without incident.

There was no boat dock at Bark Bay. They just pulled the boat in as far as it can go on the beach. Again, just like we did when I was a child. I took off my boots and socks and waded in to the shore. The water was freezing and the sand was very course. After just a few steps, the soles of my feet were in pain. I slowly made my way to some large rocks to sit, rest and dry my feet, and put my boots back on. Then I realized that I would have to walk thru more water to get to the start of the trail. After a several minutes my feet got used to it, and I arrived at a shelter near the start of the trail. I rinsed my feet, dried them with my fleece jacket and put my boots back on. After filling up my water bottle I started walking the trail at 9:50 am.

The particular trail I took was a 21 km trail from Bark Bay back to the entrance of the park. Overall, this is not a difficult hike, even with the hills. It is just long. Except for brief stops to take pictures, I was walking constantly for 6 hours. I even ate while walking. I passed several people along the way and more going the other direction. And while I walked with a guy from Spain for about ½ hour, I did this trek mostly alone.

If you’re into native New Zealand flora, there was much to see here, but to me it was just lots of trees and ferns. But there was more to see than that. Lots of stunning views of the coast and beaches too cold to swim at. There was also the sounds of the native birds. When I heard them, I thought of ways to turn their songs into symphonies. Then I soon forgot them.

Crossing lagoon at Torrent Bay presented me with a little problem. Because it was low tide, I could cross lagoon and shave 1 hour of my hike. So I started to cross. About a quarter of the way in, I found out that there was still water to cross. Remembering how the sand had stuck to my feet back at Bark Bay and how difficult it was to dry my feet, I started looking for the shallowest, narrowest section to cross. I found a section where I thought I could get across with just 3 steps. I crossed in just 3 steps, but it was deeper than I thought, so my boots and cotton socks had gotten wet. No problem, when I’ve finished crossing the bay, I’ll take them off, lay them on a rock and let them dry.

Two-thirds of the way across, I came across more water. This time it looked to be about waist deep. If I turned back now and took the long way, I would have added about 1 ½ hours to my hike rather than save an hour. I decided I would follow the water to the edge and crawl over the rocks. But that didn’t work. The rocks were too slippery and I risked falling in, getting completely wet and ruining my camera.

I eventually found a section that was about knee deep, took off my boots and socks and crossed. Then continued walking barefoot thru the clam covered mud until I picked up the trail on the other side. Luckily, just at the end, there was a shallow stream of clear water where I could wash my feet. Standing on one foot, I again dried my feet with my fleece jacket and put on my socks and boots. The socks were damp, but not too bad. I was back on the trail again.

I had decided to give my GPS unit a reason for its existence by doing a little geocaching along the way. Geocaching is fairly simple activity where someone - anyone - hides a small container with a logbook and posts the coordinates on a website so that other people can find the container and sign their name in the logbook. Geochaching at Abel Tasman, while racing to catch my bus, didn’t work out to well. Because the coastline has many inlets and bays, when the GPS units says the cache is 1 km away, you’ve got 3 km or more to walk and there is no telling which bay it may be in. After ½ hour, I got within 300 m of the cache, but I was facing a steep drop-off and no trail in that direction. So I gave up and went back to the main trail.

I reached the end of the trail 35 minutes before the 4:30 pickup time. It was a beautiful hike and unlike my Tongariro experience, my knee did not give me any trouble. Ok, I didn’t really hike 21 km. The low tide crossing took a few km’s off, but still… The next time I visit Abel Tasman National Park, I’ll do a multi-day trip, in the summer, with kayaking and camping. I’ll be back in 3 years!