So once we had thrown ourselves off a cliff for fun we set off for Franz Josef. The map said it would take around 4 and a half hours so we knew it was going to be a hefty journey but we had packed our trusty tuna sandwiches and apple bars so we were ready.
We stopped in Wanaka to eat our lunch by the lake and stock up on food and beers at the local supermarket. We also had a few other little stops to look at beautiful things and take pictures of them. In the end it took us around 6 hours to get to Franz Josef and the last bit was really windy and Chris felt a bit like he was going mad. We finally got there and set up the tent, cooked some dinner, watched some telly and went to bed. The following morning we had a fairly late start and after a good old-fashioned shouty argument about packed lunches and showers we were ready for our awesome glacier hike.
Now, most people's photos of their glacier hike at Franz Josef look like this:
Our photos look like this:
Let me explain... the minibus picked us up from the campsite at 12:30, at which point it was a little bit grey but not too bad. They took us to their main building where we were given waterproof trousers, waterproof jacket, hiking boots and crampons (spiky things to help your boots grip the ice) and wooly hat and gloves. We were already wearing about 3 layers of our own clothes so at the time it all seemed a bit much but we took all the stuff they gave us and went and got on the bus.
When we arrived at the beginning of the hike we were given the option to choose what group we wanted to go in - Group 1, for hardcore keeno's who think they are awesome, Group 2, for normal people or Group 3, for oldies and cripples. We chose group 2. We set off with our tour guide, who was also called Chris, and made our way towards the glacier which was about 2.5km away. It was still a bit grey but the closer we got, the colder it got and then it started to rain. And then it rained a bit more. And then it didn't stop raining for the rest of the day. Like really hard rain that soaks you right down to your pants. Even though you're wearing your alledgedly waterproof clothing provided by Franz Josef Glacier Guides.
Nonetheless the hike was still very cool and once again we were impressed by our stamina and new-found outdoorsy ways. Some people in our group were clearly lying to themselves and should have gone in Group 3 with the oldies and the cripples but we did really well and didn't cry or nothing. When we got to the top of the hike the guide said "we'll just stop here for a bit and have a rest before we go back down again" - but it was still pouring with rain. And then everyone proceeded to get out their sandwiches and eat them IN THE POURING RAIN! We felt a bit like saying "Less talky, more walky!" but instead we just kept quiet, safe in the knowledge that our precious corned beed sandwiches were tucked away in Chris's rucksack and we would eat them once we were back on the dry coach.
Luckily we didn't hang about for long and coming back down was a lot quicker, but also a lot slippier. When we got near to the bottom some rather large rocks started tumbling down because it was raining so much and we definitely felt like it was time to leave. When we got back to the coach it was 5pm and we hadn't eaten since breakfast so we inhaled our sandwiches and other stuff despite the fact our hands were actually wrinkly from the rain. By the time we got back to the campsite we were going a little bit mental with cold, and it was still raining so we grabbed dry clothes and ran to hot showers, where we stayed for about the next half an hour.
We spent the rest of the evening in the camp kitchen eating a hearty dinner and looking at the rain through the window, feeling a bit terrified. When it finally stopped we went to bed.
The next morning we woke up to glorious sunshine. What a bastard.
We set off for Greymouth which was only 2 and a half hours away. When we got there the campsite was right on the beach and whilst it was still windy it was quite sunny and we felt a bit happier. We put up the tent, did some washing, had some lunch and found an awesome games room with old-school arcade games like Streetfighter 2 Turbo. In the evening we headed to Monteith's Brewery for a tour and beer tasting.
When we arrived, there were a few people in stupid big green hats and we remembered it was St. Patrick's Day so we agreed to head out into Greymouth for a few drinks afterwards. The brewery tour was fairly interesting but it was pretty obvious that we were all there for the free beer. Although not technically free as we paid for the tour... But we tasted the beers and poured ourselves a pint and then walked into Greymouth in search of Irish festivities. When we got there, there seemed to be nobody around but then we found a bar called Danny Doolan's and discovered where everybody was. We then made the slightly foolish decision to get some food before we started drinking and ended up at a pizza place eating massive bready pizzas and feeling a bit full and sleepy. But we still headed back to Danny Doolan's and had a few pints as well as joining in the singing of such Celtic classics as "Danny Boy", "Belle of Belfast City", "The Wild Rover" and "London Calling" (??).
The next morning we decided to leave Greymouth and go back to Christchurch a day earlier than we had planned. We had been reading the news about Cyclone Tomas in Fiji and were a little bit unsure about what to do as we were due to fly there in a couple of days. We emailed STA travel in London for some advice but the nice lady who normally helped us was away and the person who replied instead was a bit shit - so we thought we'd go to the STA office in Christchurch and get some advice there. Unfortunately they were a bit shit too. They basically said it was entirely our decision and that meant they could in no way be helpful at all. She looked at us like we were idiots and then handed us a phone number to call British Airways if we decided we wanted to change our flights. The phone number turned out to be a number for a security company and we later discovered that our ticked is with Qantas and not with BA. Good work STA.
We did a bit of internet researching and whilst the cyclone has ended now there is still quite a bit of damage in some areas and the weather for the next few weeks is still likely to be very wet and windy. As you can imagine we are ready for a bit of sunshine and the thought of more rain made Jen nearly cry. So we phoned up Qantas and managed to speak to a lovely helpful lady who helped us to switch our itinerary round so we can go to Australia first, give Fiji a bit of time to calm down and then we'll head there in 5 weeks time.
We didn't really like Christchurch last time, especially the campsite with the big black flies, so we headed further out along the Banks Peninsula to a small place called Akaroa and set up on a campsite here. It's very lovely with nice views of the sea and last night we had fish and chips to celebrate sorting everything out.
Today (after another freezing cold night in the tent - the novelty value of camping is well and truly wearing off now) we had a nice lazy morning and then went down to the docks to go on a boat trip to go swimming with dolphins! They are Hector's dolphins and they are very small and the rarest breed of dolphin so it was exciting to be able to get in the water with them. They gave us wetsuits and all that business and took us out on a tiny boat - when we saw some dolphins we got in the (freezing!) water and they swam around us. A few came really close to Jen and we saw about 10 or 12 dolphins in total. Chris had his underwater camera again but they're quick little buggers so he didn't manage to get any photos this time.
Tonight is our last night camping, and our last proper night in New Zealand. Tomorrow we have to drive back to Christchurch to drop off the car and fly to Auckland, where will catch our plane to Sydney the following morning. This means a night in the airport which will be a real treat (!) but sleepinginairports.net rates Auckland airport quite highly so maybe it will be ok. As long as it's warmer than the tent we'll be pleased.
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