Day 16. 30th September 2010 Franz Josef to Greymouth

Franz Josef Glazier

Waterfalls at the Glazier

Info about the Glazier

Township Of Franz Josef

We were up early for our potential flight to the Franz Josef Glazier, a real record for us, but sadly the weather didn’t co-operate so our flight was grounded. The Helicopter folks didn’t think that the weather would improve. We then sought out a mechanic, because our hire car had developed a strange rattle. We had checked the oil and other fluids prior to the mechanic visit. However Murphy’s Law was in action, and he couldn’t hear anything.  He rechecked the fluids and had a look and thought maybe a stone had got got caught somewhere but didn’t think it was serious as there was no apparent overheating.   We returned back through town and went out to have a look at Franz Josef Glacier.  It was drizzling rain and quite cold and miserable and a little disappointing.  We were expecting to see snow and ice and saw rocks and ground rubble in a creek bed.  Current seasons meant more rain and less snow.  There were plenty of indicators and signs telling us where the glacier had been over the years.   We headed back to the car and drove back into town to look over a gift shop we had seen and have a hot drink.  We also could not resist what turned out to be some yummy pies for an early lunch.  

A Park on the way north

The girls panning at Ross

After hot drinks and our pies we set off for Greymouth.  It was interesting how the country side changed as we progressed up the coast.  Part of that was probably about 40km inland and was quite lush and rainforesty in parts.  Aas we drove along the coast line it was quite open and very windswept in parts.  There were very few towns along the coast and mainly quite small.  There were still plenty of lakes but they were generally smaller.  The creeks, however, as they were converging to meet the sea were often very wide and very fast.  We also spotted many waterfalls both between Franz Josef and Greymouth as well as Wanaka and Haast.  Most could be seen quite clearly in the distant mountains.  There were also many smaller ones on the side of the road.  We stopped at many recreation areas, which were often on the lakes or creeks.  One amazing stop we made was in the middle of the afternoon at a town called Ross.  It turned out to be old gold mining town and gave us the opportunity to pan for gold.  So for $12NZ we bought our own gold pan and walked to a spot that we could pan for gold.  In case you were wondering we will be returning home as planned, we didn’t find enough gold to retire.  We weren’t able to give the panning the time it needed but believe we did find some flecks of gold which gave the girls a thrill.  More time, more patience and better weather would have been good.  These small towns seem to embrace their history and display it well in ‘real life situations’.  We have seen several on our travels.  Oamaru, Old  Cromwell,  Arrowtown and Ross stand out.  Dotted around Ross are old gold mining relics, houses etc all well tagged with appropriate historical information.

Wild ocean at Hokitika

Town clock at Hokitika

We moved on and arrived in Hokiitika.  We would have liked to potter around a little more here but time had slipped by during  trip and it was starting to rain again.  What was supposed to be a 2 ½ -3 hour trip, with all the stops and gold panning took closer to 5 hrs.  It was nice knowing that the actual travel time was so short and we could take our time.  In Hokitika we did go to the beach to have a look.  It was wild and murky and very blowy and cold.  During WWII the New Zealand defence forces set up four Pill Boxes as part of their defence.  One was at the beach where we stopped.  We left Hokitika and drove the 30 min to Greymouth.  On our way we spotted Shanty Town.  We now have tickets as it is meant to be working gold mining town and well worth the visit.  We will see that tomorrow as well as a visit to Punakaiki and the Pancake rocks.  Apparently the Pancake Rocks should be particularly good due to the weather.  Hopfully for once the will be on our side.

Day 15 29th September 2010 Skylarking in Wanaka to Western Shores (Franz Josef)

Cos in a WW2 Era Tiger Moth

Over Lake Wanaka

Scenery on the way to Haast

Today was our last day in Wanaka, we checked out early to drive out to Classic Flights to see if Cos was getting a joy flight. Luck was in, the weather was perfect and the pilot was keen. Suited up like Biggles, Cos is stuffed into the original 1941 era Tiger Moth ready for his 20 minute flight over Wanaka and surrounds.  A Tiger Moth is an open canopy, biplane, trainer designed to train airforce pilots during WWII.   Cruising at 160 knots/hour and approximately 1000 feet above the landscape the views over Wanaka were wonderful.  Cos felt for the pilot as we got the impression that his preferred plane was the Silver Demon and more acrobatics in flight.  Cos believes that if he had gone up again the pilot would have got his wish.  It was a very safe and entertaining flight.  Classic Flights out of Wanaka Airport were fantastic and we thoroughly recommend them.  Ivan was definitely very helpful, obliging and skilled.

Bridge to no where?

The beach??

Township of Franz Josef

After leaving the airport we returned briefly to the edge of town to fuel the car and buy insect repellent.  West Coast sand flies aren’t perturbed by the weather and are apparently comparable to helicopters on a good day. Thankfully, so far, we have only come across a few small ones.  Leaving town and heading west we passed Lake (Hawea?) and the end of Lake Wanaka.  The scenery was drop dead glorious along the way, and changed from Alpine to semi-tropical to scrubby plain. We moved onto Haast and the west coast which took about 2 hours.  Western NZ has many one lane bridges, often over beautiful Alpine rivers. One bridge leading out of Haast simply disappeared into the mist, we found out it was quite long with three stopping bays to allow two way traffic.  Didn’t see much coastline through the trees but did see one beach that sported a Beware Debris on Road after Very High Tides sign.  See photo to see the drift wood on the beach.  Edge of the beach was only 10-15 metres from the road edge.  After stopping a salmon farm for some fresh salmon for tea we reached Fox Glacier then arrived at Franz Josef 30min later.  Both Alpine townships are small and quaint.  After checking in and returning to a supermarket for additions to our salmon we returned to cook our ‘catch’.  It was about 2/3 the cost of Woolies and very yummy.

The Van Park is typical of what we have seen so far in NZ, though somewhat more modern than some. We booked for tomorrow a helicopter flight to the glazier, for a brief walk on the ice, then a 10 minute flight back to township. The flight is very dependent on the weather, which is very hit and miss we have been told.

Day 14 28th September 2010 Cardrona Ski fields back to Wanaka

We didn’t blog yesterday simply because we lacked access to the web. 

Eagle hunting on route down mountain

Snow flake crystals

Our strange dreams continued last night, so hopefully tonight closer to sea level we will sleep well. Pack-up went well this morning, no issues as we left our apartment on time. We took a slow trip down the mountain as it was snowing on departure and we were overly cautious of the road and others. This paid off as we were overtaken by an idiot (want-to- be rally driver) on sheer drop off bend after he just caught up with us. Being fair he probably knew the road well, but he is still a bloody idiot on his choice of overtaking as he would have had plenty of safer overtaking locations 30 seconds on.   

Lake and Mts around Wanaka

Boat Marina on the lake

Girls at play

Lake views

Sunrise from Cardrona and
Charlotte loved the
eraser collection at the Toy
and Transport Museum

A trout?

Once back in Wanaka, we stopped at a lakeside park to let the girls play and take photos of the scenery.  A coffee, hot chocolate and two strawberry smoothies later we went on an exploration of the lake shores, and found a very nice park.  Dozens of photos later, we headed out to the airport to see if our joy flight was possible. Sadly high winds and weather front grounded us today, but we scheduled a morning flight for tomorrow.  We also visited Wanaka’s Toy and Transport museum, which was huge and very interesting. The range and scale of collectables, toy, car, trucks, tanks, and aircraft is simply amazing.Charlotte loved the eraser collection, and Cos enjoyed the numerous displays of Star Wars collectables.

SEsa

We returned to Top Ten Van Park mid afternoon to check-in, have lunch and have a rest. 

The evening was spent eating Mexican and a cake to celebrate Jacq's 10th birthday. Tomorrow we will return to the airport to see if we can get a joy flight, failing that then we head west regardless . 

Day 13. 27th September 2010 Cardrona Ski Fields

 

Getting up half an hour earlier (4.30am EST) 7.30am NZT meant that today was less rushed and therefore a much more pleasant start to the day.  However we are finding that we are having strangest dreams and nights’ sleep that we have ever had, it could be something to do with the higher altitude of 1650 metres.  Never the less, our sleep is not as satisfying as we would like. Once we are back at sea level it will be interesting to see if anything changes. Dehydration is another item that must be taken into account at this altitude, so we constantly drink water, which helps.  Of course we all feel physically sore from our previous day’s exertions, which is to be expected.  Our apartment is very nicely appointed with all mod cons and excellent kitchen, so we ensure that we all get hearty day’s breakfast.  

Today we all started the day with lessons. Cos progressed to the top of the beginners’ area slope to learn turning, but had his 2 hour lesson cut short by 20 minutes when he hurt his upper left leg in fall. Nothing serious but put him out of skiing for the rest of the day as his leg needed to rest. He took up new duties as cameraman which he enjoyed. The girls both took to the slopes and skied down the mountain with ease as did Melissa. The afternoon saw Melissa and the girls doing runs down various Mountain runs with increasing skill and speed. Some breath-taking views of the surrounding countryside could be seen on their runs. Melissa took the camera off Cos to record some of the scenery at these higher altitudes later in the afternoon. Snow boarders seem to be both numerous and very daring (and out of control) on the mountain. Melissa had a close encounter of snow boarder kind on one of her runs.  While standing still after helping one of the girls had my legs basically knocked out from underneath me and fell on the edge of the board and now bare a long thin board bruise on my hip.  No major damage and the guy was very apologetic.  The sound of the board is like a jet liner behind you and you are constantly on the lookout for them.  Can’t really understand the logistics of being able to control them very unlike skies.  Generally people are quite polite and willing to have a chat especially when on a chair lift in a lesson.

Generally our experience here has been pleasant, although seems to be interesting communication skills between the different sections.  Instructors have been great and very helpful.   Over the ten lessons between the four of us we have encountered Kit, Charlie, Jae Sin, Andrea, Rob, Oliver, May and Gary (and one other who that girls had) all have been great.  Especially the girl’s instructors, they have always given us great feedback and the girls great support.  Definitely do recommend Cardrona as a family/children ski school.

Day 12 26th September 2010 Cardrona Ski fields

Today started with daylight saving pushing the clock forward one hour so 8am is now 9am. Less sleep again sadly, as we really haven’t moved to NZ time. 

The girls spent the day in lessons with other kids, they progressed rapidly as they can now ski one of the Cardrona’s mountain runs. Melissa is now in the more advanced group skiing down the mountain, and Cos is learning how to turn and more importantly stop.  We all feel very sore and tired but satisfied with our progress.

At 4pm the field closes, and the horde of skiers leave the mountain. For us it is quiet time to build a snowman (Christopher) and the girls to toboggan down the beginner slopes. There is one problem, finding a way to stop without crashing.

Day 11 25th September 2010 - Wanaka to Cardrona Ski Fields.

Typical street in Wanaka

Today we awoke to a perfect day. The sky was blue, the wind was low and the birds were singing. Today was the day we moved up to Cardrona Ski Fields accommodation, so it needed to perfect. We checked out of the top ten van park, and headed into Wanaka to purchase some food and some late minute additional clothing items. After loading our purchases, we headed to the Mountain. 

Road up the Cardrona Mt

The mountain road is narrow gravel road which needed either a 4 wheel drive or a chain equipped 2 wheel drive vehicle.  Breath-taking views can be seen as you ascend up the mountain (assuming you take your eyes off the road to look!) Guard rails, what guard rails, not looking forward to the descent in three days time, as the road is slippery and narrow and finally the want-to-be rally drivers just don’t get it that mere mortals use the road too.

View from the Cardrona road

At the top, cars park on the edge of oblivion, but plenty of parking controllers assist new folks into a park. Sadly there is just not enough room to maneuver; we nearly reversed into a vehicle parked in the drop off zone. This was painful, especially when people park where they are not supposed to.

Cardrona Base Camp

The girls' snowman

The accommodation is great, very comfortable, and right on the spot to the ski fields. After dropping off our luggage, we raced down to booking office to buy ski passes and lessons. Quite an experience getting kitted out to ski. We have our own gloves and goggles, but the rest had to be hired which is not cheap, though much cheaper than Australia apparently. It took an hour to finally make the fields, 10 minutes late to our lesson, where we were greeted by the sister of the security woman we met 19 months ago in Frankfort airport.(see 2008 Basel blog) She was neither helpful nor friendly; it wasn’t a great first impression. It seemed to be that there could not be any learners as we had to repeat at least 3 times that we were coming into beginner A & B.  Luckily another lady instructor stepped in, and arranged a male instructor to take us. He was great, and certainly a great teacher, thank you Kit! Even though Cos was a complete beginner  and I had skied many years ago as we were running late we ended up in the same lesson but this was fine as I was a little unsure.  We had a very nervous return skier and three second lesson attendees.  Towards the end of the lesson Kit said I might like to ride up the pommel and ski down and he would watch.  So that was great.  Tomorrow I will join a higher group.

Our Accommodation

Jacqs and hide and seek

The area the girls started in was on the way to the adult section so the girls were place very quickly and efficiently with May.  The girls had a great session and learnt heaps.  They were riding the basic Pommel about half way through their lesson. 

Fun getting off ski boots

So it seems that we have some very enthusiastic skiers so let’s hope the weather is as good tomorrow as it was today.  It is quite windy and snowy out there currently and quite disconcerting being on a mountain in a snow storm.  A family was here during the recent bad weather and although the lifts were not operating they were able to walk and ski around the learners’ area and there is plenty of snow close by for the mandatory snowman.  The girls have already made a little one on the seat outside out room on the blown in snow.  The accommodation is warm and very comfortable

Day 10 - 24th September 2010 - Wanaka - A Explore.

Sitting in a Piper

Tiger Moth

Unfortunately we woke this morning to a cold rainy, miserable day.  So after cooking ourselves a nice hearty bacon and egg breakfast we set out for an explore.  First stop was the Cardrona office in Wanaka.  We found out from the lady that once again the field had been closed due to strong winds.  Great … we can’t ski because of out the ordinary adverse conditions.  And add salt to the wound they have apparently actually had the best late season snow fall in years.  Cardrona currently has 105cm of snow.  Generally the road has been OK, big problem is the winds on the fields.  We are still able to access the accommodation but it is not looking good for skiing.  If the field is open we will head up relatively early and ski.  If not we will head up for check in time in the afternoon.  At least we have travel insurance, so if weather prevents us from getting there we should be able to claim.

Paradiso Theatre Wanaka

Size optical illusion room

Puzzling World

Theatre

After Cardrona Office, we headed out to Classic Flights to potentially arrange a joy flight, pending weather. We had heard from many that the cinema was worth a visit, so with rainy weather as a motivator, we went to the movies. Wow! It was wonderful. The cinema is quaint, it has total seating of about 85, very community driven affair. The seating is mainly a series of lounge chairs, rockers, and even a car! The advertising is locally made, and it shows, but in a quaint way is very effective.  Interval was run at half way point, with home-made and freshly baked on site hot various flavored biscuits. After the movies we went to “Puzzling World” theme park, which includes a 3D outdoor maze of 1.5kms, which takes the average visitor 3-5kms and 1 hour to get out. Inside a series of puzzles and optical illusions await the visitor. Overall “Puzzling World” theme park is certainly worth a visit. One amazing room featured cleverly generated household structures at opposing angles to the ‘normal’ so it appeared pool balls rolled uphill, water ran up hill and people were standing at an angle.  It was very hard to move around and we actually felt a little nauseous when we left. 

Angle Illusion room

Finally we explored Wanaka’s shops a little more this afternoon, and then enjoyed dinner at “The Cow”. The scenery that surrounds the town is very beautiful, with mirrored lakes and snow capped mountains. It would be difficult to decide which has the best scenery, Queenstown or Wanaka. I guess it comes down to personal taste, for us Wanaka has the edge.

Roman toilet with 'Romans'

The Van Park here at Wanaka is great. Again probably not best of sites we have visited but still very good with helpful and friendly staff.  This one is a little dated, certainly not as new and modern but warm and comfortable.

Clearly there is still more to see in this sleepy little town, with the lake, a rifle and archery centre and the Toy and Transport Museum at the airport to visit if Cardrona’s weather continues to disappoint tomorrow.