Franz Josef and the ice

After being disapointed many years ago when our Heli Hike on the Franz Josef Glacier was cancelled at the last minute due to bad weather you can imagine our excitement we were told that we were good to go this time.

We all gathered at the booking hut eager to go, I say all, Dawn was a little aprehensive.
Kitted out in our boots and crampons we boarded the helicopter. As advised we were dressed in our 4 warm layers! It was a beautiful sunny day and we soon found out that the extra clothing was not essential for today at least.

We were met on the glacier by George (no not that George) who explained how to attach our crampons and what we could expect to see whilst we walked on the ice.
There is no sense of scale on the glacier, The creaking wall of ice. that seems to be in touching distance is brought into reality when you see the tiny figures in another group that are closer to the face than we are.
George was almost as informed about the history of the ice as bus driver George was about the area.

He straight away had Chris at ease with his laid back hippy style. We walked on the ice, crawled through brilliant blue ice holes and watched in amazement when two large chunks of ice tumbled down towards us. We were quite safe of course because George had kept us a safe distance from the face.
We walked for about 2 hours and returned to wait for the helicopter which as it turns out was 45 minutes late. Eventually it turned up to whisk us off the ice and back to the town in time for a beer. What a great day we had and it was certainly worth the 12 year wait!

As we sat enjoying the scenery who should drive by giving us a toot as he passed, you got it, George (not bus driver George) but Hippy George of the Mountain!

Has anyone seen George?

We left Queenstown on the slow bus north to Franz Josef Township, it was overcast and quite cold. Our driver was not the happiest of. people, he had been called in on his day off at short notice and I don't think it went down well. Anyway he was only taking us to the halfway point of our journey and he cheered up a bit as he reached the end of his stint.

As we crossed the mountains and onto the West Coast the weather changed dramaticaly and so did the mood of the driver! Our new man, George, was a different character all together. He was cheerful and very talkative, pointing out all of the landmarks on the way. George also seemed to know all the local history and he loved to tell you all about it.

We disembarked the coach at the small settlement of Franz Josef, George dropping us off outside of our accomodation and that was the last we would see of him, or so we thought.

We went for a beer before dinner and who should be in the bar but George dressed in his civies and having a beer while watching the rugby on the TV.
Turns out that he is one of the few residents of the township and only drives the bus two days a week.

George's house in Franz Josef, opposite was a car in the window was a notice advertising it for sale. The notice simply said contact George.

The next morning we were walking to get some breakfast when George passed us, this time in his overalls and driving a tractor! Looks like he is the local farmer as well.

Our plan today is to go on a Heli Hike on the glacier as long as the weather permits.
We arrived at the office to be told that we should call back in 40 mins, worried we might not be able to fly we went away for a coffee.

On our return we were informed that to our relief that the helicopter was good to go. After being taken to collect our boots, crampons and coats we were led to the helicopter. We were tasked with taking a chocolate milkshake up to our guide who was already up on the glacier.

After a short flight over the glacier we set down on the ice about 5km from the face and were met by our guide.

Imagine our surprise when we found out that it was George! A much younger version but George nonetheless. It seems that everyone in Franz Josef is called George or at least it did to us.
What about the glacier I here you say, well that was stunning but I will tell you about that another time.

Queenstown and the snow

We arrived in Queenstown on a wet and grey day, but worst was to come. The following day we awoke to snow on the surrounding mountains! Snow in summertime!

The view from the Gondola was fantastic, I think I might have to jump off on a paraglider maybe.

It was a very cold early morning when we left for the Shotover river and the jetboat ride, thank heavens for the heated handrail.

But Queenstown came into it's own as the sun came out in the afternoon? Talk about all the seasons in one day!

All in a Days Work

It's early morning at the Bowie's house in Pongaroa, having looked in Bruce's gun cupboard someone was up early bagging some game for the evening meal.

Meanwhile the rest of us were out mustering sheep so that. they could be drenched.
Chris was in his element as the sheep were sent up the race for him to administer the treatment.

Meanwhile I was trying my best to catch 4 black face sheep in a mob of 425 and then carry them to another yard! It's not easy I ended up wrestling with one on the floor. I had him but how do you stand up without letting him go?

We finished at 4.30 and it was time for a beer and a most enjoyable one it was too. I don't know quite how much use we were but we all really enjoyed the day. Even if I did get the quad stuck in a creek and our herding skills weren't great.
Thank heavens for Stubbs, Jazz and Tangy we couldn't have done it without them.
They are dogs by the way.

What about dinner I hear you say, well we ate well that night thanks to........

We all ate well and the beers flowed.

I woke up here!

After a drive from Napier we ended up in Pongaroa via the metropolis that is Dannevirk. We had just enough time to drop our bags off and accompany our genial host to the Pongaroa Hotel, formally the Pongaroa Tavern.

We conveniently got there just in time to watch the Super 14 rugby, Blues v Crusaders. After several pitchers of DB Gold and a delicious steak meal we rturned in the dark to the Bowies residence for more beer and rugby.

After a good nights sleep we awoke to the spectacular views from the house on the hill.

A lazy day planned, a walk up the hill, a ride on the quad and lunch on the deck.
I can think of worst ways to spend a Saturday morning!
Afternoon and we are off to Wahi Falls and then on to Akitio to have a look at the Bowies beach house and a stroll on the sand.

Wahi Falls above, Chris decided to try to walk along the top!

Akitio Beach above site of the Bowie's beach house.

Quite a full on Sunday now for a more laid back Monday, mustering and drenching sheep. Chris was in his element. It was a bit of fun but really quite hard work.

Time goes too quickly tomorrow it's off to Wellington and our flight to Queenstown and all that that brings!

Rotorua and the rain!

After some glorious days up in the Bay of Islands where the sun shone and we all managed to get sunburn whilst on the water watching dolphins. We find ourselves in Rotorua in the rain! The long drive from Russell via the Coromondel peninsular with an overnight stop in Thames was hard going but we eventually made it.

The Sunkist in Thames, above, was our first taste of backpacker accomodation and it was a great place to stay and a bit of fun.
Anyway back to Rotorua and the rain, we booked a trip on the Duck, a world war 2 apmphibious transport that took us around the town and onto two of the lakes.......it poured down most of the way.

Then it was rafting and the rain didn't matter at all! We got soaked! But what fun we had, it was a great day out in the rain.
Oh and did I mention that we caught up with the All Blacks Rugby Roadshow and the Web Ellis Trophy.
Rain or no rain we had fun in Rotorua!

Hurray! The Flight Socks Work!

Someone wiser than me once told me that at my age I should wear flight socks if I wanted to fly long haul, Me wearing stockings I thought. Well I suppose if it mean't that I could get to the land of the Long White Cloud then it was worth the embarassment, afterall who would know that I was even wearing them.

So the journey began, socks and all we left Heathrow on the 5990 mile, eleven and a half hour flight to Hong Kong our halfway point and on arrival we celebrated with a well deserved if a little expensive round of G&T's.
A 3 hour transit time turned into 4 hours due to a delay to the Auckland flight but we were soon on our way, ahead of us another 10 hours and 4987 mile marathon.
The flight was made more bearable after I found the TV series ' An Idiot Abroad' and other movies.

Anyway we all arrived safe and well to start our adventure, we were whisked away from the airport by the most miserable taxi driver in the southern hemisphere. After dropping off our bags we headed into Auckland for a meal on the harbour front and a few beers, I say beers.... we ended up in a bar with it's own micro brewery.
Not knowing what to order Chris decided upon 'Old Fort' a very dark beer that tasted like a mixture of wood and metal! Our second choice was not much better 'Gold Rush', it was a bit lighter in colour and a slightly less like drinking wood shavings!

We were all falling asleep in the bar so we called our trusty taxi driver friend and made our way back to the motel ready for a good nights sleep (that didn't work, jetlag and all) and our trip north in the morning.

Oh yes back to the socks, they were much like any other socks, they were just as smelly as any socks that hadn't been changed for 2 days! although we did all arrive in New Zealand safe and well so I suppose they were a success?

Illuminate Bath

A cold Saturday night in January and strange things are happening in the centlre of Bath! There are butterflies fluttering around the windows of the tourist information centre in the Abbey Churchyard whilst there is a photoshoot going on in the upstairs room.
Meanbwhile a group of children chased coloured lights as they moved across the flagstones. A mysterious phone box had appeared outside the Pump Rooms, Mickey Mouse climbed on the walls of the Roman Baths and blue smoke was rising from beneath the pavement in Bath Street.
Were we being invaded by. aliens or was I dreaming? No it was some of the exhibits on show in the Illuminate Bath light show. A great way to spend an hour or so in the centre of Bath on a winters evening