Franz Josef Glacier- A day on the Ice

Wow...so after joining the Stray Bus, we headed over to the Franz Josef glacier as the first stop on the tour. After arriving to New Zealand from exotic Byron Bay, the first thing I noticed was the significant drop in the temperature. In Byron Bay, it was a marvelous 85 F to 90 F or (27 C to 30 C) and in Christchurch it was around 55F( 15C). As we approached Franz Josef Glacier, the air became more cool and crisp, it started to remind me of something. I wasn't quite sure what it was yet...but it was definitely colder and the warmest thing I had with me...was my LuLu Lemon hoodie...body shock was coming....Ah Ha...then I remembered...I had my doubled up pair of mittens with me that I took on my last business trip from Chicago after the Feb blizzard... That would save me from freezing a bit....:) At the end of the day, our group signed up for the 8 hr glacier hike the next day.

At 6am the next day, we got up for the glacier hike trying to pack as practically as possible..What to carry? What to bring for lunch? It reminded me of working in Yellowstone when we could order a sack lunch if we were going hiking that consisted of a sandwich, a can of juice, cookies or chips and a piece of fruit....:) My lunch was definitely similar, but the view was going to feed us...not the crappy sandwiches we brought along. When we got there....we were given pants, jackets, hats, gloves, wool socks and boots. They also gave us crampons...to walk on the ice...which were very useful. Each group had a guide who would help carve the steps into the ice.

It's going to be a long way up...Yellowstone flashbacks

First Glimpse

In the beginning of the hike it was a little daunting to walk on the ice, but gradually you got used to the ice...and  remembered the shuffle shuffle...cross over step to walking in the snow. We walked in between the ice layers of the glacier. The glacier has actually reached the ocean at one point but had retreated since then. It's isn't the last of the glaciers to be seen on this trip. We weaved our way in between the different ice sheets that were taller than everyone....and we crossed over a few black holes....where if you fell down the ice....they might not find you for a million years...It was a little scary.

The ice had this blue color...which I can't remember the scientific explanation now...one of the science geeks i know will have to chime in...;-)

Inside the ice

We just kept walking through the cracks and up and under stuff. Every step would require attention...at leas tin my case...not to trip and fall...

 Our group kept moving through the ice sheets, in some places, there were ropes to hold on and pull yourself up the stairs. At some point it was pretty difficult and I found myself cursing the winter and the cold...I thought I'd escaped that when I left Chicago. But hey it's only a day...I can deal..:)

We had gotten really lucky and there wasn't a cloud in the sky that day, so the sun was intense but it was cold...everywhere you stuck you hands it was cold.

Towards to the top, the ice sheet got steeper and more slick as your starting to get tired and again in brought me back to Yellowstone...when all you could think about was ripping open your sack lunch when you were at the top...even if the food in it wasn't that good. 

When we got to the top, we plopped down hungrily to eat our lunch...we are only in the middle on the glacier at our furthest point up. You could go further....:)

Is this Hoth?

On the way down, we saw some spectacular ice formations and occasionally off in the distance...you'd hear a big crack and a crash when a "bit" of ice fell off the glacier.

                                                         

  It's amazing isn't it? ....and the ice moves every day!

There were even a few challenges and of squeezing yourself threw some little tiny crack in the surface..all with ropes and very safe for the tourists of course...:)

After all that, at the end of the end we trudged back to the lodge to talk about our day...and wandered over to the thermal pools after dinner. It was heaven to be in the thermal pools after a long day of hiking through the ice.

Welcome to New Zealand- Christchurch

After seeing and saying goodbye to a few friends I made on the trip I flew from Sydney to Christchurch. I've been waiting a few weeks to tell this story. When I was planning my trip, it was about the same time as the earthquake...while the earthquake has destroyed some of the most touristic landmarks in Christchurch, that's where I was starting my tour.  I had no idea until I arrived the devastation the earthquake has done to the town. Every other building was destroyed...the entire city center was blockcaded and each building was being searched and deemed habitable or inhabitable by the military. After arriving at my hostel outside of town, I thought I would do my typical tourist thing and take a walk around the city...see what there was going on and then find a nice place to eat. 

A local church, not the famous one though, it was in the city center and wasn't accessible to anyone.

But even this was a hard task in Christchurch, it seemed like a ghost town. I walked around for a little while and saw so many abandoned buildings, one after the other. I couldn't even find a cafe to get a coffee.After wandering around and seeing only lonely backpackers who didn't plan ahead and book a hostel and were no left with no place to stay, I happened upon a little cafe...that looked a little shabby to say the least. The retro style cafe with old furniture barely had an attached door. I asked kindly for the nearest place to get a proper meal and was given directions to a local pub called Pomelroy's. Local beer and cider was on tap and they all your pub food favorites like fish n chips, steam mussels(my personal favorite), burger and cheese plates for the carnivores.  

There were quite a few people in this pub and I thought...so this is where everyone is at in town. I met a few older local gentlemen who were telling me about what has happened in town since the earthquake. Alot of the local inhabitants moved out of town and it seemed there was a depression that was working its way into the spirit of the people in town. One of the guys started telling me how he was a builder in town, and I said "well that's great for someone in your profession" He said..."well my home was destroyed too and normally you don't expect to bring your work home with you" He said the earthquakes had forced the locals to get out of their neighborhood and mingle a little more...but it was clear that without alot going on in town, most people were spending their time in the pub.

The next day i was traveling to meet the Stray Bus, which was a nice way to get around New Zealand and you didn't have to drive, this was great for me. So the next day, I rolled out of bed and found the bus that took me over Arthur's pass to a little town in the middle of nowhere called Greymouth which was tiny...you could blink and miss this town. It was Easter weekend and I waited for the Stray Bus to come....and waited...and waited...."Do you see where I'm going with this?"

So...my bus had been rebooked for the next day...and there was no bus coming for me until Easter Monday.  Well it didn't turn out to be that bad. Although I was really excited to start my adventure I had to wait one more day. That's like turning up for your spin class and finding out your instructor is sick..:) But after I found the Neptune's hostel and heard the words..."Free Internet" I was a happy girl...:) I met some of the people staying at the hostel...and they had a huge DVD collection so we watched a couple Kiwi movies...like "Heavenly Creatures" which was Peter Jackson's first movie about two girls from New Zealand. Kate Winslett is in the movie....It was a little creepy to say the least. We also watched "Boy" which was about a little Moari kid...who loved Michael Jackson...It was hilarious! 

So the next day, I wandered up to the same rainy spot...to wait for the bus and thankfully...the big orange blob appeared. The Stray bus had a bunch of people mostly Europeans and Americans in their 20's and 30's and you could hop on and hop off at different destinations. The first destination was Franz Josef...