John Mee – Some programmer in Sydney

Wednesday, August 21, 2002
Snow capped mountains everywhere along the roadside. Beautiful. Day ???. Oh well, four days running was a pretty good effort, don’t you think?

Today is day ?, gotta count them, must be 10!? I did start an entry on day 5, but was just too tired to complete it and went off to sleep instead. Day 5, was the day on the glacier.

5) After reefton I drove down to Franz-Joseph Glacier, and found the major stop on every tourist’s map. So obligingly I took the full day guide trip onto the glacier. Wow, that was awesome. I ran out of photos on the glacier, and barely have an image since. Which is a crying shame… but we’ll get to that. Driving toward the glacier is fantastic, and I really started to feel some of the remoteness of where I was heading. But, on the same token, the road is so good that this extreme remoteness is accessible to thousands, so it was kinda weird.

Anyway, wandering around a glacier was very cool, in all senses of the word. With a guide, we got to crawl in between huge ice cracks and crevices, cross ladder bridges over cracks of indeterminable depth, and plunge ourselves into frigid, recently frozen pools of sky blue. Wait for the pics.
I am so cool :-> Not my girl, but… oh drat, that’s her guy hiding behind. I like this pic, makes me feel artistic. Our guide has only felt the ice move once.. but in a space this tight, once too many. Our fearless leader. This stuff is much bigger and mazical up close, eh. Don’t fall in, its a 50m drop

6) Well I stayed for a second night in Franz-Josef, but wasn’t liking it at all. The tourist traffic was too much for me really. The standard stay there is a single day, and around 300-600 people turning over per day. So I went for a walk out of town, saw the stars and the jungle at the end of the road, and figured I definately want to get out of this town, and into some bush.

So day 6, I took a morning visit to DOC (“Department of Conservation”), and enquired about going for a hike into the bush and staying at a hut somewhere. The only overnighter on offer was the Copeland Track, up to Welcome Flat (6-8 hours). However there is a little 2 man hut at Architects Creek, about half way. So filling out the return slip, packed my bag, and went bush.

Best thing I’ve ever done.
Isn’t it purty!

Fantastic. I’m an instant ‘tramping’ fanatic. I understand why it is called tramping, since from the moment you leave the carpark, your feet are going to be wet, until they get back to the carpark. The undeniable feature of NZ is water. Its everywhere. Everything is defined by it. From the carpark, you start with a river crossing. Get wet first up, and you wont be so worried about getting wet for the rest of the track. The next 5 hours were spent following a well marked trail up a pristine valley, with the most amazing views any postcard can attempt to show. It was just so much fun. Only saw two other groups coming out of the trail that day. The whole day was watching where those feet land, with the occasional water crossing ‘challenge’ to keep things interesting. I didn’t have a clue what I was getting myself into when I left that carpark.

By the time I found the hut, things were getting a little tense… light fading, unknown territory, no-one for miles around, cold, wet, drizzling, thunder, lightning, this is not a place where you want to crawl up under a tree for the night, I guarantee you that. Phew, found the hut, chop some wood, fire. King of all I survey. Snowy mountain ranges, dark green lush rainforest, red sky, long flowing waterfalls, birds, green green moss. You gotta go there. I’m coming back with a full pack and a one way ticket in. Highlight of the trip without a doubt.

No photos. But image heaven, and you’ve got the picture.

7) Day seven was more of the same. Coming back down was so reluctant. Just wanted to head up to the top two huts and be lost for a few days. Alas I had only food for a night, and an emergency. So more rock hopping, and physical challenges, and got back to the carpack before dark. Drove back through franz-josef, and stopped by a lakeside for the night. Again, not a soul in sight, beautiful snow peaked mountains backing, lush green forests, and this time with a perfect calm lake with a mirror reflection of the whole scene. Perfect. Except byo fire. The night in the car was pleasantly not uncomfortable, and the heavy frost and steaming lake in the morning another wonder of God’s glorious creation. A constant reminder of Him.
This whole lake was in a layer of steam an hour before.
Maate, what a day that was. I told Isabelle I’d be back Monday, and here it was monday morning, and I’m half an island away (technically only about 3 hours driving, but I certainly was not in a focused driving mode. A leisurely morning (instant) coffee and muffin (choc-chip) at the local minimart (the only place in town open), I enjoyed watching the locals trapse through in their wellingtons (or Rubbers?), grab their bits and pieces and get along.
Took a couple of detours on the way out of town. The surf was looking cold, dirty, and not at all appealing. There was a knoll/hilltop on the outskirts of town. Perfect spot to sit and warm in the sun. The cemetary. Well no one disturbed me there, and what a beautiful spot. The sea, the mountains, the sun, the birds. You can lay my bones there anytime thanks. So peaceful it is.

One quick misadventure on the way over Arthurs Pass I should recount. Running out of petrol on the freezing, wind swept plains at the top of the pass. Oh, I thought there would be lots of towns on the christchurch side… nope. Got a fun ride immediately with a fijian studying agriculture here, and visiting his uncle at Hokitita. 30km to the next petrol, and waited maybe 15 mins for a ride back with a car camper from Nelson/Golden Bay area. That was fun. Just made it back to the petrol station 10minutes before they closed for the night.

Christchurch, Isabelle, and the funny Churchill St crew. Home

Ok, which catches up to yesterday…

Yesterday I followed Isabelle to University, and we (she) pruned her vines. As a viticulture and oenology student (wine) she gets to maintain a row of vines for a season, and produce wine from it. This was all fabulously interesting for me (although a little unprepared for the cold dry wind of the field). So we spent the day chopping and weighing and tying, and generally contributing a day of love and attention toward 10 bottles of Chardonnay.
Last year’s tastes excellent to me :-!

Today we’re going Otago. Yippee for me.
What did you do today?

j.

posted by John Mee at 11:34 AM