South Island Finished

I spent the last few days of my South Island time puttering around Nelson, the Marlborough Sounds, and Picton. Then I took the ferry from Picton to Wellington. Interestingly, the ferry from South Island to North Island travels mostly east, and a little south! Wellington is slightly south of Picton.

The ferry is large, and has two movie theatres. (The trip is just over three hours.) However, I had already seen both pictures, and didn’t want to see either again.

Typical NZ scene.

In Nelson, I went to the workshop of “The Nelson Bonecarver”, and made a bone carving. I figured: since I’ve done some jade carving, why not complement it with a bone carving?

Other than that, I drove around some of the roads in the nothern sounds.

It was nice to arrive in Wellington, and get a small taste of city and civilisation, after many weeks of outdoors and small towns.

West Coast

Pancake Rocks

I am finished with the West Coast of the South Island. I have a few more days to explore the North Coast, and then I take a ferry to the North Island. I have been in New Zealand for one month, and I have another month left.

On the same day the idiots were injured at the glacier, I also saw a meteor falling in daylight. It fell all the way to the horizon, so I am fairly certain it actually hit the ground. I have no idea how large, or how far away, it was. It is the first daylight meteor I have ever seen.  I only saw it for about 1.5 seconds, as it was travelling very quickly, and was already near the horizon when I spotted it.

Yesterday morning, I did some jade carving. The town of Hokitika is known for “greenstone” carving. One of the hostels there has a jade carving workshop. I spent the morning there and made a simple cylindrical carving.

Actually, the hostel owner carves the shape using machinery, and what is left to do is just sanding and polishing. It took me about two hours to finish the piece. It is fairly large, but only cost NZ$40.

The New Zealand greenstone is nephrite jade, which is a lower quality stone than jadeite. That is why a large piece only costs NZ$40, while the very small jadeite disk I bought in Shanghai was US$100.

Franz Josef: the full Monty

Here is a photo of the entire Franz Josef Glacier.

I made the gruelling hike up to Alex Knob to take this photo. The round trip is over seven hours, and you gain 1000 metres of elevation. I hauled the 4×5 camera up with me.

Once again, the hike is classified as moderate. It would be moderate with fewer scrambles up tree roots and rocks, and if the trail was in better condition. As it is, I would rate it as moderate, with many difficult sections.

Look closely at the vertical black streak that runs up the right side of the glacier. It is wider in the bottom 1/3 of the photo. To the left of where it narrows, there is a large bluish patch, with long horizontal cracks. It goes from the left edge of the glacier across to the black streak. That is where the full-day guided trek gets to “play”.

Also, if you look at the very foot of the glacier, you can see the ice cave (which I have labelled “Darwin’s Cave” because people go there to remove themselves from the gene pool.) The cave is the black dot, with a large white dot of snow (ie. the snow from the roof collapses) under it.

I should also mention something I forgot in the Glacier == Danger story: In order to reach the foot of the glacier, you have to cross two barriers. The first is over 2km from the glacier. It is a wooden fence that you have to clamber over. The valley up to the glacier has experienced large rockfalls, recently, so the entire trail up to the glacier is officially closed.

The second barrier is a rope fence about 500m from the glacier. Once again, you have to step over the ropes. At both locations, there are plenty of signs warning of the danger, and with pictures showing ice chunks falling on a person, getting swept away by water currents, and a couple of other hazards.

So, no one who ventures near the ice cave can claim ignorance of the dangers!

I am travelling north, away from glacier country, and up the west coast.

Glaciers == Fun && Glaciers == Danger

Yesterday, I went on a full-day guided trek through the Franz Josef Glacier, and today I saw two people injured by the same glacier. One was injured quite severely. Luckily, no one was killed!

On other notes, a good night’s rest staved off any hint of a cold. As a bonus, I have no allergy problems here in “glacier country”. I haven’t taken any antihistamines for a few days. I am taking some Vitamin-I for a sore knee – the result of some over-enthusiastic hiking a couple of days before the glacier hike.

Fun

The full-day guided trip into the glacier was fantastic! I highly recommend taking it. Also, take the full-day, rather than the half or three-quarter day, because you get up higher, and do cooler things.

There is a good amount of time spent climbing, but, once that is done, you get into the large seracs, like in this photo. Look at the people in the lower left corner to see the scale of the ice.

Amongst the seracs.

We also went through a few “tunnels”, made of translucent blue ice.

Tunnel of blue ice.

This photo shows how far we went up the glacier.

The view back to the valley.

The guide was very good. A few times, we had to wait around for 15 or 20 minutes while he was out of sight carving footholds with a huge ice axe. When we finally saw where he was leading us, a few people made the comment, “I think he is trying to kill us!” We definitely were not doing “beginner” stuff. At times, it felt like we should have been roped up and using ice-climbing gear.

We only had some simple crampons that fit to the bottom of flexible hiking boots. They were more like “ice cleats” than crampons. But, they did the job on all but the rare super-hard ice. The ice and snow on the glacier surface is mostly quite soft and easy to walk on with the cleats.

In the end, even the people who thought they would die many times over were raving about how fantastic the experience was. It was far more exciting and challenging than the dainty (and super-safe) walk through the ice that I was expecting when I first signed up.

One woman had done the heli-hike a few days earlier. She said the full-day hike was much more interesting and challenging than the helicopter trip. But, on the heli-hike, you do get some better views.

Danger

A lot of people want to take photos of the “ice cave” from whence the river appears at the foot of the glacier. It is the main internal drainage of the glacier. They also want their friends to take photos of them standing in front of the cave.

Ice cave at Franz Josef Glacier. Note the people, to get a sense of scale.

What they don’t seem aware of, even though it happens frequently, is that large blocks of ice routinely fall from the top of the ice cave. Note the pile of ice rubble under the arch! Or that pretty much any piece from the front of the glacier can fall down with no warning. There are plenty of signs warning of the dangers, but lots of people seem to think that it does not apply to them. (Especially the French, as you shall see.)

So, this morning, I head back to the foot of the glacier to take some photos with the 4×5 camera.

I can see cracks around a huge chunk of ice at the top of the cave. I estimate that it will fall within one hour. (How do I know? I’m Canadian, of course. We know these things. It’s in our blood) The photo was shot the day before, and you can see the big blue block of ice at the top of the arch. A piece even larger than that, but in the same position, had some large cracks around it.

I set up my camera at a relatively safe position, and wait to see if I can capture a shot of the big icefall. I am over 80 metres away from the entrance of the ice cave.

In the meantime, lots of stupid, stupid people are getting far too close to the glacier. I watch a small group of seven or eight guys in their late teens or early twenties horse around and take photos of each other very near the cave. They are closer than the people in the photo. Then a Frenchman heads in with his large digi-slr camera to take photos. Finally, and old French guy (around 60) also goes in, and encourages his wife to come over to where he is. She hangs around for a little while, and then retreats to a safer spot.

At one point, a number of small blocks of ice fall down and splash in the river. This sets off the group of boys to whoop and holler.

It is just after 12:00 noon, so the guided half-day groups are coming down off the glacier, and other groups are preparing to go up. The whooping attracts the attention of the guides and a couple of them walk over to “advise” the people of the danger they are in. Since it is in a national park, the guides cannot tell them to leave.

The boys were starting to leave the area, anyway, and continue to a safer spot.

The young Frenchman’s wife is walking, holding their infant child, farther from the entrance, but still too close. One guide advises her to go back a good distance, which she does.

This leaves on the young and old Frenchmen in harm’s way. A minute later, the old Frenchman starts slowly clambering out of the most dangerous area. I cannot see the young guy, but I had seen him earlier climbing up the scree at the side, and think maybe he has climbed out that way.

Then, the huge chunk of ice breaks free! It is the size of at least two cars, maybe three. I snap my shutter as it falls. I hope I got the timing right.

I watch as the ice hits the river, after a 30 metre fall. There is a big splash, and an even bigger shockwave of air and water races away from the impact. I see it knock down the old Frenchman, and it is heading for me!

My only thought is, “Holy crap, this could be bad!” I turn my back to the oncoming spray of water, and hope for the best. Luckily, at my distance, the shockwave has lost its force, and I just get a quick horizontal rain shower. (Checking my camera, afterwards, there is a fine spray of water droplets on the front element of the lens.)

I turn back and see the old Frenchman getting up off of his hands and knees (he was facing away, at the time), and scurrying to get away. The old Frenchman was standing where the young Frenchman’s wife had been holding her baby. If she had remained there, ignoring the guide’s advice, she would also have been knocked down!

The guides come running over, to check for injuries. They see the old Frenchman, and go to him. Then, we hear yelling from somewhere out of sight, near the cave entrance. It is the young Frenchman. He was still close to the entrance when the block fell.

The guides go to carry him out. It is quite possible that another block could fall any time, so they hurry. A couple of guides run to their packs for first aid gear.

They carry the young Frenchman out to a safe spot. He is not screaming continuously, so there are probably no broken bones, but he does scream whenever his left knee is bent, and the knee is bloody. They strip off his pants, and his knee looks pretty bad.

I do not see the large, expensive digi-cam. It was probably knocked from his hand and smashed on the rocks. It may even have been washed away in the splash-water.

The old guy is bleeding from the back of his head. He may have been hit with a flying piece of ice, or a rock. I am not certain what caused his injury.

I left, shortly after this, so I don’t know how they transported the wounded away from the glacier. It is a 2.7 km hike to the carpark. They may have used one of the heli-hike helicopters to carry the young Frenchman out, since it didn’t look like he would be able to walk out anytime soon.

Glaciers!

You know you are in some real mountains when they have glaciers. Yesterday evening I hiked up a valley to Rob Roy Mountain, which has a glacier. Nearby Mt Aspiring also hosts a glacier.

Mt Rob Roy

I have learned that when the Dept of Conservation description of a trail says “moderate” difficulty, it actually means “difficult” (or at least “moderate”, with many difficult sections). When it says “difficult”, it really means “deadly”.

The road to get to the trailhead was surprisingly primitive, too. Over half of the 50km distance was one lane of gravel, with creek fords! I guess New Zealand’s population is too low to support a lot of infrastructure.

Mt Aspiring

I think I have caught a cold. I am feeling tired and weak, and my nose is even more stuffed up than usual (from hayfever). I am probably losing three litres of water a day just from blowing my nose.

I think tonight I will check in to a “luxury” campground (ie. one with showers and a kitchen, rather than nothing but an outhouse – or not even that). I haven’t had a shower for five days!

I will be continuing on through glacier country, as my route will take me to the Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers.

Middle Earth

Paradise, aka Isengard.

The area around Queenstown should be renamed Middle Earth. Those locations were used heavily in the filming of The Lord of the Rings.

The photo above shows the location used for Isengard (the tower of the wizard who turned evil).

I have bought a book detailing the locations used in the films. I will be travelling to many of the places, and it is always fun to compare them to what is seen in the films.

The Narnia film also used this location. Apparently, they are currently filming a Narnia sequel, as well as a number of car commercial in the area. I have seen a lot of movie equipment trucks in the vicinity.

The Black Robins are very cheeky! This one is pecking at my backpack. It has probably learned that packs often contain food. It is even smart enough to attack the seams!

I was hiking and photographing in the regenerating rainforest around Lake Sylvan when this happened.

Sunset over Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu.

More fun NZ facts:

New Zealand had no mammals, except for three species of bats, until around 1000 years ago. That’s when Polynesians arrived (they became the Maori). For long ocean voyages, the Polynesians brought live rats as a source of food. When they arrived, the rats either escaped or were released.

The fauna of New Zealand was almost entirely bird-based. Most of these birds had no natural predators (except, perhaps, other birds). Many became flightless, since foraging on the ground takes less energy than flying, and flying is mainly needed to escape to safety.

The largest bird was the Moa, which stood nine feet tall! This was extinct before Europeans arrived, probably due to Maori hunting and rats eating eggs and chicks.

Europeans introduced rabbits, which got out of control due to a lack of predators. So then they introduced the Stoat (a small form of Weasel) as a predator. However, the flightless birds are far easier to catch and eat than rabbits. As a result, New Zealand has lost a great many bird species.

Dart River Jet Boat

The jet boat ride up the Dart River was fun, although I have some bruised ribs which are still a little tender.

Jet boat, leaving after dropping us off.

We did six 360 degree spins. It was on the second that I was pressed into the metal bar at the side of my seat abruptly and forcefully, which was absorbed by a couple of ribs. Ouch! I was sitting too relaxed, instead of bracing hard for to resist the motion.

I learned a few things about the jet boat:

It was invented by a New Zealander, who put an irrigation water pump into a plywood boat hull, driven with a car engine.

It can travel at high speed in as little as three inches of water.

Steering and stopping is performed by aiming the jet nozzle.

The most interesting thing, to me: In order to travel in shallow water, the hull has to be made to hydroplane on top of the water (instead of floating in it). On my jet boat ride, the pilot was having difficulty, initially, getting the boat to hydroplane. Eventually, we had to return to dock and rearrange the people in the boat, putting the lightest people at the back.

The problem is that, while the boat is floating and trying to reach “critical speed” to hydroplane, the pump intake is sucking the back of the boat downwards, which fights against the lift needed to hydroplane. Even then, after stopping, we had to stand up and lean forward to help the boat rise up.

Once the boat is hydroplaning, it is very fast and very maneuverable! It also burns one litre of fuel per minute, in its eight litre V8 engine.

The Dart boats are also not the fastest. The Shotover Jetboats are twin-engined, and go even faster! They also do more of a “thrill ride”, but I think I have had enough jet boat thrills. I don’t need to pay another $200 for a slightly more thrilling experience.

Hayfever and Black Flies

Just so you don’t start to think that everything is rosy in New Zealand, I have encountered two serious problems: Hayfever, and Black Flies.

From the moment I arrived in Christchurch, my allergies went berserk. I was constantly sneezing and stuffed up, and my throat and roof-of-mouth itched unbearably.

I had brought a good supply of Loratadine (ie. Claritin), which is usually sufficient to overcome my hayfever. After taking a double dose for a few days, it was clear that Loratadine was completely ineffective.

I went to a clinic to make an appointment with a doctor to get a better allergy medicine. Fortunately, the nurse saved me some money by pointing to that, in New Zealand, there are a number of other hayfever medications available over-the-counter (unlike the U.S.).

I have tried “Razeen” and “Telfast”, both of which are more effective than Loratadine, but still not completely satisfactory.

Telfast is quite expensive. I first tried the 180mg tablet ($3 apiece), which is very effective for seven or eight hours. It is supposed to be a 24 hour dose. When that ran out, I went to another pharmacy, and commented on the shorter effective time. He told me to try three 60mg tablets ($1 apiece) throughout the day. This improves the time issue, but it is not as strong.

In Queenstown, I have switched back to Razeen, for the moment, as it seems a little better here. (On the South Coast and Milford area, the Telfast was better.)

The other problem is the Black Flies. They need blood to feed their eggs, and they get it by biting people. Unlike a mosquito, the Black Fly does not have a stinger. Like a mosquito, it injects an anticoagulant into you, which raises an itchy welt.

The Black Fly bite welts stay for many days! They are far more nasty than mosquito bites.

Fortunately, a good deet-based repellant keeps them off; also, they cannot bite through even thin clothes. Unfortunately, they are very good at finding the one unprotected area that you failed to cover up with clothes or repellant!

Glowworms

Unfortunately, photography is not allowed in the glowworm cave. This is understandable, though, since you’d either need a flash (and you would not see the “glow” anymore), or a long exposure on a tripod.

I can highly recommend the Te Anau Glowworm tour!

In the main glowworm chamber, it is almost like seeing constellations of bright green stars at night. The group travels into the chamber in a small boat, which the guide pulls along by grabbing ropes. Once your eyes adjust to the darkness, the glowworms are incredibly bright, and you can see the other people in the boat (especially white clothing)!

Key Summit

I also hiked to Key Summit, which is the summit of a “triple divide”, ie. water from the summit can find its way into either of three drainages, towards the west, south, or east side of the south island.

Key Summit is near one end of the Routeburn Track, which is the second most popular multi-day hut-based “tramping track” in New Zealand. The most popular is the Milford Track. Unfortunately, these tracks are so popular, you have to book many months in advance to hike them.

Jet Boating

 I am in Queenstown, now. It is New Zealand’s capitol of adventure and adrenaline.

Tomorrow, I have booked a jet boat trip up the Dart River. This is a scenic tour, not a thrill ride with 360 degree spins, and so on. I may do one of those trips, later.

The Dart River tour is a jet boat ride, followed by a 4wd coach trip back. They promise to show us some Lord of the Rings filming sites. There are numerous Lord of the Rings tours! The hardcore ones are quite expensive, and have extras like dressing up in costume to have your photo taken.

More Boat Antics

Here is another shot from the Doubtful Sound cruise. The Skipper wanted to gove us a close up view of some foliage:

Because the sounds have are glacially-carved valleys which were filled with water when the ocean level rose following the last ice age, the sides are quite steep, and continue their steep drop below the waterline. So, the boat can go right up to them, with no danger of running aground.

Four Days on Water

Milford Sound is the most popular, and possibly most “dramatic” of the fiords. However, it is also fairly short, and can be seen in two hour cruise.

The most exciting part was when the skipper put the nose into a waterfall, so everyone could get wet from the spray.

I have booked four days in a row of “water travel”, and I have completed three.

First, I had a day cruise of Milford Sound. This took about 2.5 hours.

Then, an overnight cruise of Doubtful Sound, which I finished this morning.

Tomorrow, I will take a boat across Te Anau Lake to see the Glowworm Cave.

In between the boat cruises, I have also had time to do some half-day hikes in the Fiordland rainforests and alpine areas.

Milford Sound

Classic view of Mitre Peak.

Milford Sound is the most famous and popular of the fiords. However, it is fairly short, and can be visited in a 2 hour cruise.

It has some fairly dramatic views, with waterfalls coming down steep cliffs.

One of the more exciting moments was when the skipper put the nose of the boat very close to a waterfall:

Doubtful Sound

This is about three times longer than Milford. It is also more difficult to access. We took a boat across Lake Manapouri, then transferred to a bus to drive over a pass, then finally to the cruise ship.

Doubtful Sound is not quite a spectacular as Milford, but the overnight cruise was more fun. On the first day, we got to perform an extra activity, either kayaking, or a guided tour on a small tendercraft (ie. power boat).

Since I had already kayaked at Kaikoura, I opted for the tendercraft, which was better for photography.

While the kayaks and tendercraft were out, the skipper gave a crew member a shower in a waterfall:

One kayaker tipped over, and we had to rescue him.

The meals were quite good, and the cruise was relaxing, overall. The bunks were comfortable, and I got a good sleep.

I took the offer to swim at 6:15am on the second day. The water was very, very cold and I only stayed in for about one minute.

Heading back, we ran past a pod of dolphins:

The dolphins were heading the other way, so we only saw them for about a minute.

I can highly recommend either (or both) of the cruises!

Hikes

After the Milford Sound cruise, I had time in the afternoon to hike in the Gertrude Valley:

It was nice to have an opportunity to see an alpine area, and compare to the temperate rainforest at lower elevations. As you can see, these mountains keep some snow (and even get fresh snow) in the summertime.

The Moon is Upside Down!

Someone pointed out to me that, when viewing the moon in the southern hemisphere, it is upside down!