Day 21. Glaciers

This should really be, Glaciers, Hitchhikers and Shooting since three pretty fun things happened today!

First things first it was a gorgeous sunny day so cancellations were out the window and it was off down to the helicopter launch site!!

 A beautiful view of the mountains from the launch site 

 Our helicopter coming into land

 The ride started by taking us over 'rainforest' clad mountains it was surreal how the clouds looked being so close and how high up

 And then we started to go further into the Alps with the snow covered mountains at our feet

 We got to see three glaciers, including the big two. Fox, Frans Josef and Tasman. As well as a look out over to Mt Cook.

 Me in the helicopter!

 We also booked in to have a landing at the top of the Glacier which I'm so glad we did, it was more expensive to have a landing but it was great to actually be out in the snow

 I should probably add we took this photo so we can submit it to the Lancaster Study Abroad Society Photo Competition - we weren't doing this weird pose for no reason!

 After about 10 minutes or so we set off again over the glaciers

 The view was stunning, and I'm pretty sure I had my mouth open for most of the ride

  

 It was back over the rainforest down to the landing site again, the whole thing took around 45 minute (it should have only been half an hour but we made sure to keep the driver chatting when we landed so we got some extra time) but it was possibly the highlight of my trip so far. It was very, very cool.

 So after packing up the car and getting changed we were off on the road again! We decided to mix up the seating arrangements as it's not been often we've all been driving together so I sat in Axel and Cara's car while Axel drove and Cara say in ours. 

 We stopped (I made us stop) at Knights view point to see our last glimpse of the ocean for a while, and to grab a photo of the stunning view 

 It was around this point, just before we actually got into the body of Haast Pass that we passed some hitchhikers, we and Axel drove on as we weren't sure we'd have room and didn't know if the other two wanted to pick them up. Just down the road I stopped for this photo and George and Cara said they wanted to pick the two guys up, so. We turned around...

My first time picking up hitchhikers was fun, Christoff from Switzerland came with me and Axel while Neil from Plymouth went with Cara and George. They were really nice and had some funny stories to tell about a car that lasted them two days before it broke down and was then too expensive to fix!

 We stopped off at one of the mirror lakes which I'm so glad about as they were at the top of my 'to-see' list, and they didn't disappoint!

 After the mirror lakes we came to Wanaka which is where the guys wanted to be dropped off, while there me and Axel ran to find a toilet while Cara and George carried on ahead - there's only one road so we knew we'd easily catch up!

But. Me being impulsive and Axel being easily persuaded meant we did a little stop off along the way.. On the road there was a saying 'have a shot' and I've never held a gun before nevermind shot one so, we did a minor detour to a gun range!

It was really fun, we got 25 bullets to shoot at this tiny target. And I did pretty well, if I do say so myself, 20 in the middle 5 in the red just outside the middle. Natural good shot the guy said :)

 Aside from that little detour we took our time getting to Queenstown - mainly because I kept wanting to stop!

Day 19. Hokitika Gorge

Today has been interesting. After a lovely relaxed start to the day, where we sat on the veranda having a, free, cup of tea, we set off down to Hokitika. It’s an incredibly tiny ‘town’, I hesitate to use that term, but it’s cute and it had two things we wanted to stop off and see on the way down to Franz Josef.

First stop was the Jade Gallery.  Recently me and George have been looking into what sort of Jade we wanted to buy by going to different galleries and we decided we wanted to buy out pieces in Hokitika. Jade’s an important stone for the Maoris and New Zealand has some of the most beautiful types of Jade in the world, it’s also a bit of a symbol for the country. Hokitika is one of the best places to buy New Zealand Jade as the source is close by and it is known as the place to buy jade.

After perusing what was on offer for a while, armed with leaflets telling us what the different symbols and carving meant we made our purchases, and pushed ourselves way over our daily and weekly budgets…

I bought a Fishhook which is meant to bring prosperity and encourage strength and determination, while George bought one in a Toki shape which should encourage strength and courage.

 Next stop was the one we were really looking forward to having read about it in the guide book. Ready? The Sock Knitting Machine Museum.

 The Sock Museum!

I don’t really have anything else to add to it, it was an… interesting stop. (the video they had playing was weirdly hypnotic though and we stood staring at it for way too long)

Another hours drive brought us to Hokitika Gorge.

I should probably mention, as this blog is to give me something to look back on to remember by time travelling New Zealand, that we very almost, nearly crashed and died at this point. I’m sure I’ve mentioned, on the odd occasion, the state of the roads in some parts, well here tarmac suddenly stopped and became... I want to say gravel but that’s too nice a word for what it. Basically we skidded, a lot. The scariest bit was that there was a sheer drop on the side we were skidding towards while the other was a high fence… It’s a bit of a miracle George somehow got the car under control.

(before you hyperventilate mum it’s fine, I’m fine)

Aside from that minor speed bump, which left us both white faced and shaking, the Gorge was beautiful. A 15minute walk took you to a look-out where we got to see the shockingly icy blue river and the stunning white rocks which line it. We only spent a few minutes on the lookout though before George looked down, squeaked, and then started squatting at his legs. The Mosquitos hit again.

Although I’m not entirely sure they were mosquitos this time, or maybe just a different type, as they left little cuts all over our ankles… We ran back to the car to get the insect repellent, smothered ourselves in the stuff, and then set off towards the swing bridge.

The bridge was a similar size to the one in Able Tasman although this one felt much safer as it didn’t rock so much and the view, if possible, was even more beautiful! This was probably one of my favorite sights I’ve seen so far.

Once again we ended up making a speedy exit off the bridge though as a group of 6 tourists decided to come onto the bridge all at once… despite there being no less than 4 signs warning no more than 6 people to be on the bridge at any one time…

And after that things went a little bit downhill as me and George started to really not feel too well. George is now putting it down to the high altitude that the drive was at but regardless we spent the next leg of the journey feeling sorry for ourselves. My head felt funny, I could barely keep my eyes open while I was convinced I was about to faint and be sick all at the same time. Considering our longest drive was 8hours and this was a measly 3 it felt like the longest, by far.

Aside from how rubbish we felt, the drive was incredibly beautiful. It was described as a very scenic drive and it certainly lived up to its name.

I haven’t really mentioned on here how beautiful many of the drives we’re doing are, some are literally jawdroppingly stunning, but obviously since we’re driving, I can’t take photos so I wasn’t sure there was much point telling you how beautiful the views are when you can’t see them! 
(I did force George to pull over on the side of a few busy roads while I jump out to take photos a couple of times yesterday though…)

We finally go to Franz Josef, checked into a hostel (we both have bottom bunks!) and I think we’re just going to relax and try and stop feeling so sick this evening. And cross our fingers tomorrow’s activity isn’t cancelled as the weather forecast isn’t too promising!