On our way down the coast we stopped in Hokitika to buy some food, since there're no real stores in Franz Josef - only a small shop where they might not have any food from time to time, 'cause it takes bloody long to deliver =) So you know me - I managed to buy three bags filled with food... ouch.. heavy...
We also passed by a maori gallery with this sculpture outside - I was thinking of buying it but changed my mind..
We got to Franz Josef quite early, around 1pm - so I had time enough to get ready for the kayaking trip at 3pm at Lake Mapourika - and once again, why does it have to be so f**king B E A utiful?!?! You could go religious for less I'd tell ya..!
BUT - this time I had an advantage, haha no-one can say that I don't learn how to do stuff =) - 'cause now we had a photographer with us - tjoho! Perfect quality guaranteed! So I can't really say anything else than enjoy the show! (there's also pics from all around the area - also from the pro camera man - so we have a mix of photos from my trip, and from earlier - glaciers, lake life etc - my pics from the glacier comes later on, they'll have their own introduction!)
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My arms were a bit sore that evening, but nothing major even though we paddled across the entire lake - twice!
When we got into the forrest on the other side of the lake we spent some time floating underneath the trees that inspired Peter Jackson in the creating of the tree Ents - and wow! They really are the Ents! Wicked!
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Next day - Full Day Glacier Adventure! (my pics from now on)
ANYONE GOING TO THIS AREA - YOU MUST DO THIS!
AWESOME, WICKED, SWEET AS, FUCKING A IT'S GREAT!
We all got geared up in the morning, got instructions and off we went - the bus took us to the viewing point of the glacier - this is a fence you're not allowed to pass unless with a guide - that lesson came down hard on two tourists one week earlier, they went up to the glacier and 100 tonnes of ice fell down upon them.. well, no need telling you that they didn't survive, right?
We split up into two groups, the slow one and the fast one - I was in the latter of course!
Andy - now on his way south, bye bye, see you another time!!! - had told us that the fast group gets to see a whole lot more than the slow group, and it's not really supposed to be that much harder if you're fairly fit. Hehe, okey I can tell you that it wasn't extremly hard, but when our guide set off from the viewing point towards the glacier it sure was tempo! tempo! tempo! I thought ohmigod(!) I'll never be able to keep up... just like the Tongariro Crossing when the guys flew up the stairs, although this time I didn't have the option of lagging behind and going my own way.
Very well, it turned out that we slowed down a bit once on the glacier - the brisk walk (sprint if you ask me) was just to make sure that we got well ahead of the slow group, and to check that everyone was in good shape - we all passed =)
On with the crampons - the spikes under the shoes (Ollie and I thought of tampons everytime...), and we were climbing away! This is also something I can't really describe so you'll have to see for yourselves:
(oh, the guy in lot of the pics and some movies is Ollie from England - nice one =) we took the most pics and made the most movies of the entire group)
(maybe should warn you that this post is a huge ego-kick - a lot of pics of me!!)
Lunch!
After lunch our guides decided to go a whole new way - or well, on a glacier it's all new all the time since everything changes constantely, but they had a way prepared and took another one.
It was super - we had to force ourselves along this really narrow corridor of ice that stretched up several meters towards the sky above - I don't really know how they would have coped if someone had stuck... They got to do an invicible BMI-check up before we go or something, 'cause (and I'm sorry but I think it's true) many people from nz, oz, america and england would have struggled - a lot! I had difficulties squeezing by - so remember before you do this, you need to be generally fit, and you need to be able to fit (!) as well =)
We got a group picture at the top - well of course not the top of the glacier dumbass, what d'you think? It's a full day adventure, not a full week! - but at the top for us, before turning back.
And Ollie and I really enjoyed the ice axe - like any normal person with some connection to the child within - so that pretty much explains all the glacier-lumberjack-pics =)
We also did a movie serial =) two productions about how to make steps and stairs on a glacier (the sequel covers the stairs), starring Ollie in the first movie, and our guide (with a really complicated maori name) in the sequel. Hehe, just playing that's all - but we might get an invitation to the Short Film Festival in Cannes next year, who knows?!
Okey, our day on Franz Josef Glacier was over - and it was one of the best things I've ever done! Highlight among others!
This evening I was extremely nervous - 'cause I was going to do a skydive! You know mama, that's when you're throwing yourself out of an airplane some 3 kilometers (12 000 feet) up in the air, and then you freefall for almost a minute before the dude attached to your back releases the parachute (hopefully), and takes you down nice and easy - just like Goofy on Christmas Eve =)
First I had it booked for Thursday morning, on the way out of Franz Josef, but it got cancelled 'cause that was the day the plane goes into it's monthly service... So I could jump if I wanted to, but it might've been tricky without a plane... So I re-scheduled for Wednesday evening instead - sunset here I come!
Franz Josef would be the ideally place to skydive (although everywhere's so damn cracking-up-adorable), 'cause here they take you up for a scenic flight above both glaciers - Franz Josef and Fox - for quite a while, at other places they call the flight up a scenic flight but that lasts like 10 minutes - in Franz you get up to half an hour cruising above the glaciers and the mountains. One of the doors in the plane (small plane) is just window, and you're allowed to bring your own camera to take as many pics as you possibly can - even when you're jumping! Okey maybe not while you're jumping out - the instructors would like you to be focused etc - but as soon as you've found your bearings again you're free to shoot away (with the camera - not in the air)! They also only take two people to jump at a time, so it's more personal and not so crowded - and they charge only 35-40 dollars for the pics, and DVD+pics is 180 - in Queenstown they rip you off; a bit more than 200 dollars for pics, and almost 300 for DVD+pics...
So now you may understand why I really wanted to jump here? =)
(Andy recommended it as well, and since this skydive was cancelled as well, due to wind and clouds, he's the source of the info above)
Relieved, and disappointed as well, I went to sleep thinking that I'll jump in Wanaka next afternoon.
So, hang in there!
to be continued...
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