3/30/10 (lake paringa)

Lake Paringa-Queenstown

As soon as we woke up we started our drive down to Queenstown, which it self-proclaimed itself as the adventure capital of New Zealand. Every crazy outdoor adventure you can think of is available there. Bungy jumping started the hype and from there came jet-boating, paragliding and rafting. We thought you could also do zorbing but that was only in Rotorua so we missed out on that adventure. Many of our friends had recommended it so we’ll have to put that on the list for the next trip. 

On our drive down we passed by some beautiful lakes, Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka, and there was mini waterfalls right alongside our road. We stopped at a roadside waterfall, Fantail Falls, for a quick photo snap before hopping back in the car. We were on a mission to get to Queenstown which we had heard so much about. 

One thing that we passed and didn’t get the chance to stop at was Central Otago known for it’s wineries and Pinot Noir. Another thing to add to the list of things to do next time.  We did some wine tasting in Marborough (northern part of the south island) but they are mainly known for their whites. 

As we entered Queenstown it reminded us very much of a ski resort with lots of outdoor clothing shops and people walking about carry plastic bags carrying mementos from adrenaline adventure. It was a bit of a sensory overload for us compared to the places we had been. When we checked into our campsite it was as if we entered another universe. There must have been over 100 spots for campervans and they packed us in there like sardines. Most of the campsites we had stayed at barely had 5 campers and some we were the only ones. This wasn’t exactly our type of adventure city. But we were city folks?! You would think we would miss all the action and people but all I wanted was to retreat back to nature.

We decided we had to do at least one thing here so we agreed on the gondola ride, which takes you up to the top of a mountain and you get a beautiful view of Queenstown. We went at night and had a spectacular night view. While standing there admiring the view we talked about the things we still wanted to do on our trip. One thing I mentioned was to do some more local stuff like seeing a comedy show or local band perform and going to a farmer’s market. 

After we left the gondola ride we went to a local bar and guess what they had…a local band playing!! They were called The Blackspots and actually were pretty good. We even got crazy and stayed out till 11:30pm on a Tuesday night though every night feels like a Saturday night to us.

Like: beautiful raining scenery, gondola ride, The Blackspots

3/29/10 (franz josef glacier)

Franz Josef glacier-Lake Paringa

New Zealand hasn’t seized to amaze us. We joined the half-day Franz Josef glacier hike, which started with a 20-minute walk/hike to get to the glacier. The tour provided us boots and clamps, especially designed for glacier hikes, and a raincoat. Even from a far distance you could see and feel the awesomeness of the glacier. Franz Josef is the smaller of the two glaciers you can hike and the other one is Fox. What was more amazing was that the glacier had a lush green mountain on one side and a rocky mountain with beautiful waterfalls on the other side. It was as if you were looking at three completely different topographies right next to each other. As you get closer to the glacier you begin to notice the jaggedness of the glacier, which looks like a huge waterfall frozen in time.

Our tour guide, Pearl, carried this really cool ax to slice away at the glacier as we hiked up to pave our path. The clamps on our shoes helped stabilize us on the ice. There were deep crevices between sheets of ice and ice melting in other areas. We went through small ice tunnels, which we barely fit through. Jon started feeling a little claustrophobic since you feel like you are incased in ice by yourself since only one or two people can walk through at the same time in a single file line. Pearl even found a hidden tunnel and axed a hole on top of it so we can climb through it. People were skeptical to go through the hole since it seemed only a few inches wide and Jon was the first in line. People hoped he would make the hole bigger for everyone else but we were all able to fit through just fine. 

We hiked for about 2km/3 hours and had perfect weather. As we arrived back at base camp the rain started pouring. When we come back again we definitely would consider the helihike, which is a lot more expensive and entails a helicopter ride to the top portion of the glacier and you hike a full day down on the glacier. But our hike was still a cool experience and it’s not everyday you get to see a glacier.

After our glacier hike we were a bit tired so grabbed a bite at a local pub at Fox glacier and then headed down south to a free camper site that our friends, Pete and Danielle, told us about. We got to the park near Lake Paringa around 8pm and luckily found a spot since it seems everyone else also knew about it.

p.s. Jon is now considering being a glacier guide so he can also carry a cool looking ax and some of the male guides also wear tight butt hugging shorts. Shorts for glacier hiking…those crazy kiwis!

Like: glacier hiking, ax for glacier hiking, park that permits free camping

3/28/10 (punakaiki)

Punakaiki-Hokitika-Franz Josef Glaciers

Last night we got a torrential downpour of rain for a few hours, which wouldn’t have bothered us except we had just hung some clothes to dry from our wash. To make matters worse, our clothes in the dryer wasn’t completely dry either. So we put our really damp and somewhat dry clean clothes in a bag until we got to the next campsite. This is totally against my organization self but what can we do?! We decided to go back to the pancake rock in the morning to get some more pictures and this time we got to see even bigger blowholes. The blowholes are caused by the force of the surf hitting the sea cavern, which then sprays up into the air through small pockets in the pancake rock formation.

We then headed down south toward Franz Josef Glaciers and stopped at the i-site in Hokitika.  They have these wonderful i-sites in most towns, which are information centers that help you with everything and anything from booking trips to providing free maps to giving helpful advice on just about any topic, even where the nearest pharmacy is. I wish the states had such things because the people are really knowledgeable and friendly. We met a very nice lady who worked at the Hokitika i-site who spent about 45 minutes with us as we debated which glacier walks to do and fiorldand trips to take. She even helped us map out our entire week.

After careful consideration we decided to do the half-day Franz Josef Glacier hike tomorrow and the overnight Doubtful Sound cruise on Thursday. These trips aren’t cheap and we just dropped $700! I’m sure it will be worth it and everyone who has done it says it is amazing.

Hokitika is also known for their jade, which the Maori call pounamu (hard nephrite jade). There’s two types of jade and the ones I’ve seen are from China which is a different type of jade. On the surface it looks like there’s black specs in the jade and it’s not as pure as the ones from China but really they are just as magnificent. Jon was sweet and bought me a pounamu necklace in the shape of a fish hook which represents good fortune.

Now we are relaxing and getting ready for our glacier hike tomorrow.

Like: pounamu necklace, booking our trips

Dislike: sandflies

3/27/10 (karamea)

Karamea-Little Wanganui-Punakaiki

We went caving for the first time at the Crazy Paving and Box Canyon Caves in Karamea. Our original plan was to head to the little raft competition in Little Wanganui. However, we met a couple from Nelson staying at the same campsite who said the caves were worth checking out so we decided to take their advice. We put on our headlamps, which the Kiwis call torches, and entered a really dense forest before we arrived at the caves. It felt like walking through a jungle. It was truly amazing. The name Crazy Paving comes from the mud step stones that have formed, which paves the way into the cave. I know caves are supposed to be dark but this was nothing like I had expected. Thoughts of the Blair Witch Project entered my mind and I wondered what would happen if one of our torches went dark. It was cool and scary at the same time. There were lots of different passageways and some led to more passageways. It was so dark that you can only see a few feet in front of you. The caves were lined with limestone so they would glitter when the light shined on them. Some people wear special caving clothing because you can get really dirty especially if you start crawling around in the caves.  But we didn’t do any crawling. It was a neat experience and I’m glad I did it but I have to admit it was a bit spooky.

We then drove onward to Little Wanganui to see if the race was still going on but no one was there. On our way out we got stuck in the road since a portion of it was in sand. Jon pushed the car while I stepped on the gas but our tires just kept spinning. Luckily a car came by and the nice folks helped us push the car out. We were worried a bit since sometimes you don’t see a living soul for a few hours but it all worked out.

We headed down south to Punakaiki to check out the pancakes rocks and blowhole. They have these amazing rock formations that look like pancakes stacked on top of each other. Of course the café across the park was selling pancakes with maple syrup.

When we arrived at our campsite Jon suggested we go to the local tavern to have dinner rather than cook dinner. It was our Saturday date night. It was nice to have someone bring food to you that you didn’t have to cook or wash the dishes afterwards.

Like: pancake rocks

Scary: caves and getting stuck in the sand