Final Walk at Franz Joseph

Saturday 16th October 2010

Mp3 track of the day: - The treason of Isengard - Lord of the Rings

Weather: cloudy, hot but very cloudy

I woke up early to start the mammoth walk I had planned for today; the eight hour 'Alex Knob trail' was my route. At 8am I left my hostel and, just like every other day here, I proceeded to the tourist information office to make sure the weather, which was due just to be cloudy today with no rain, hadn't changed ... It hadn't.

I suppose you are wondering why I was attempting an eight hour walk, that would accent high into the hills to a view point just over 1300 meters above sea level, when the weather stated cloudy ... surely I wouldn't see a thing and all that effort would be a waste. Well there were two reasons I had decided to give this walk ago; firstly it was the last walk within the ranz Joseph glacier region and I wanted to complete it. Secondly, and more importantly, I thought that, if I got high enough I may go through the cloud and shoot out into a magical photogenic world with a carpet of cloud and mountain peaks all peaking out around ... oh plus I was scheduled to get to the summit at around midday when the sun should be it's strongest (hopefully cutting the cloud from around it).

I got to my starting point and had a drink before attempting the climb; I had decided that I would stop every 30 minutes to top up my fluids. However this trail was so much easier than 'Roberts Point', the trail I followed yesterday, that I changed my schedule straight away to every hour (oh plus the clouds were blocking the sun so it wasn't as hot as yesterday).

I had promised myself that if the clouds blocked visibility along the path I would turn back as I know just how dangerous walking in low cloud can be. However most of my track was tree lined as so the trees broke up the cloud to provide me with 98% visibility so, apart from the odd spider web in my face ... oh and the huge steps that I had to climb once in a while, the path was a joy to follow.

About 1hr 30mins into the walk I had arrived at my first view point, 'Rata lookout'. The view here was stunning and worth the walk alone. I took a little while to photograph the Franz Joseph Glacier in front of me with heavy cloud acting as a roof for the photograph. Looking at the weather presented infront of me I hoped that my gamble of being able to walk through the cloud would pay off.

As I continued to walk ever upwards other views presented themselves, usually not for very long as the cloud soon hide them away. By now I had arrived at the sub-alpine region of the walk where I was quite surprised to find that the visibility was still very good. It was only 11:30am and I had reached the summit ... it had only taken 3hrs from the start of the walk (Flow had been up to her evil tricks again).

It was quite hot at the summit and so I sat down and had something to eat. Dense cloud was all around me but I was patient; I set-up my camera and waited. At least four times the cloud cleared momentarily for me to get a couple of photos of the mountains that were in front of me.

After about an hour at the top of the summit (which is 1303 meters above sea level, only 31 meters short of the summit of Ben Nevis in Scotland) I could see a new patch of dense cloud coming in; I thought that this cloud would take ages to clear and so I decided to head back down the 'Alex Knob trail'. Had my gamble paid off? No not really, the views were okay at the summit but not brilliant, still I had enjoyed the walk. The good thing about this trail is that it isn't at all sole destroying; when you climb up the trail you are always climbing up and this means, unlike 'Roberts point', you don't do a lot of hard climbing just to descend straight after and gain no height.

It was 3pm and I was almost down at the foot of the trail when I met a couple walking the other way; we exchanged an 'hello' but I hoped that they weren't going to attempt to reach the summit as the weather is due to get very wet tonight and it would take them at least five hours to complete the walk meaning that they would be back down here at 8pm ... way to late.

I got back to the hostel around 4pm where I had a quick bite to eat before heading back to the tourist office. The previous day I had seen some good photo books and I went back today to purchase my favourite. It was quite expensive but I had checked around the area and the price seemed the same as everywhere else ... plus any profit would be going to the park so that's a good thing.

After this I went back to my hostel to get some laundry done (I love the smell off clean clothes, I take this for granted at home but it's the one thing I really appreciate here ... however it is so expensive to clean your clothes in New Zealand) before chilling in the common room. I have loved my time in Franz Joseph but my feet are looking forward to a rest and so I'm looking forward to moving onto the town of Wanaka tomorrow.

I have to get up earlyagain tomorrow so I better have a early night tonight or I'll never get up in time for my coach.

Toodle Pip!

Iron Man Test Two

Friday 15th October 2010

MP3 track of the day: - The Black Rider - Lord of the Rings

Weather: Hooot!

I got up a little later than I had planned; my early night last night didn't really work out as three people came into the dorm shortly after I had got into bed. I said that they could put the lights on if they wanted as they were packing to leave tomorrow … what I didn't say is that they could then talk for the following hour.

Anyway so I got up, washed and visited the information office to check the latest weather report … all good. I started my walk towards Franz Joseph's glacier, just like yesterday, however after about thirty minutes, I turned off my track from yesterday and went across a large swing bridge to start the walk I had chosen for today, the walks name was 'Roberts Point Track'.

The only information that I had seen on this walk was that it should take five hours to get to the viewing point and back again, oh and my map said that you 'climb via a rocky track and swing bridges to a high view point above glacier'. Rocky, ROCKY … understatement of the century. What the information failed to mention is that there was also some river hopping (not up to the dare devil standard of Alex's river hopping walks) to complete and one swing bridge which had a maximum load of one person. I felt a little nervous walking crossing this bridge as it starting swinging in all directions and there was quite a drop below me. At another point on the walk there was just a sheer cliff face with small foot holes that you had to use to climb up to get back onto the track. Finally there was a set of steps that actually went around the edge of a hill displaying your fate below them, in all it's glory, if you made one foot error. I started to sing the Indiana Jones theme tune.

This walk had to be one of the most shattering I had ever done, it was also pretty sole destroying in that, at the beginning of the walk, you descended nearly as much as ascending up the hill. This meant that you were putting in all the hard work but not gaining any height benefit, something that would happen in one huge go much later into the walk.

Just as if the above wasn't enough, at this stage of the walk you were greeted with shinny flat areas of stone with only a few footholds; add to that some water flowing over the rocks making it very slippy indeed. At the beginning of the walk I said to myself that if I met any of the above conditions I would turn around as it would be to easy to slip and side off the track. However I had gone so far that my 'British Bull-dogness' over took commonsense and I scrambled (on all fours at some points) up the final part of this hill. I knew that the way I was climbing would be the way I would have to descend, back to my hostel, but I tried not to worry about that for now, my only concern was getting to the view point of 'Roberts Point Track'.

Exactly two and a half hours after starting this track I had made it to the summit. At this point you are about 2/3rds of the way up the glacier, which is on your right. The viewpoint gave great views of the glacier itself but, due to a lot of bushes, the view was a little obscured. I was also not massively happy due to the fact that I had brought my tri-pod and, photowise, this wasn't a good spot.

With the sun beating down I only spent fifteen minutes at the summit, looking at the glacier and having a drink plus something to eat; I then started the decent. Oh my way up I had only met one couple walking this track, on the way down I had met about another ten idiots attempting this walk. Most asked me how far did they still have to go and I tried to give them an accurate description (unlike those Germans yesterday).

It took me just less than two hours to decent fully; it was now 3:15pm and, with my feet hurting, I headed back to my hostel. I was still deciding what I should do tomorrow; there was an eight hour walk with, apparently, stunning views or do I do a glacier hike? I was thinking that I could extend my stay here for another day and do both; however one major problem has come into play. So far the weather has been beautiful here but, when I read the weather report at the tourist site today, Sunday until next Wednesday is supposed to be a continual downpour of rain.

Therefore I have decided to leave Franz Joseph on Sunday and not stop at Fox Glacier as planned. Instead I'll head to either the city of Queenstown or the town of Wannaka for the bad weather, before continuing my journey south to Milford Sound. However the problem of what to do tomorrow still remained … hike or a glacier hike? After speaking to the lady at the tourist office the hike sounds quite strenuous, but she said that the views were well worth it. Sorted, I shall be doing the Alex Knob trek tomorrow, an eight hour round trip … lovely.

So would I recommend the trek I did today. If I'm honest no; it's a lot of hard work for not a very rewarding view, certainly your photos won't be that good … hopefully the hike tomorrow will produce much better views.

Once I had left the tourist office I headed into town to have a look in some souvenir shops for some photo books. Unlike Fiji the quality here is very high and there were at least two books that I wanted to purchase. I didn't buy any books and instead I decided that I would have a think and decide later, for now I headed back to the hostel.

After a quick shower and change of clothes I headed back into town to purchase tea; a great big meat pizza that'll do. Unlike the last time I bought a pizza to cook in a hostel I had already checked to see if there was an oven available; twenty minutes later my pizza was done and a further thirty minutes after this it was eaten (bar one slice as I was full). Tonight will hopefully be an early night (fingers crossed) as I'm pretty tired and tomorrow's hike will be one of the biggest I've done so far (so I need to get up early).

I've now been in New Zealand two weeks and apart from phrases which include the word 'sweet' (such as 'sweet as', 'that's sweet', 'that's sweet bro' etc) nothing else is really annoying me … oh one other thing, as warned by Sarah, is that shops here close very early. Last night I was about to go to the local supermarket at 8pm to get some tea, however it was shut and their was only one fast food restaurant open, and that closes at 9pm.

One thing I haven't talked about yet is all the travelers I keep bumping into. There are two Irish guys that I first met in Wellington, then Nelson and are now here in Franz Joseph. There both really nice and, whilst in Nelson, we played a little table tennis and watched a film. More amazing is that I've met a girl today who I last saw in LA, over a month ago! I had a quick chat to her before she headed off to get her bus. This is one of the things I love about traveling, all the people you meet over and over again, sharing each others stories.

I love the terrain, it's so beautiful here on the west coast of New Zealand. One slight disappointment is the lack of wildlife around the country. New Zealand has a lot of wildlife but it's mostly native bids which, even though make a forest sound great as you walk through, are very difficult to spot. Unlike Canada and Alaska, you won't see bears or bump (literally) into Elk, Moose or Caribou. However this does have it's benefits as you don't have to check park offices for recent bear sightings. The people are great here, once you can start up a conversation, and are more than willing to help you. Another good thing is that I'm still well below my budget with my daily average at £36 per day.

Toodle Pip!

This is why I came to New Zealand

Thursday 14th October 2010

MP3 track of the day: Concerning Hobbits - The Lord of the Rings

Weather: Hot and sunny (no need for a coat ... damn!)

The plan was to have a long lie-in this morning however that didn't happen. At 7:15am some women in my dorm decided to get ready for something or other; anyway they made so much noise that it woke me up, one girl in particular was rustling a carrier bag for over an hour ... or it seemed like that. Anyway I tried to get back to sleep but at 9:00am I admitted defeat and got up; I hate sharing a room with girls, there messier than men and less considerate.

I was out of the hostel at around 10am and my first port of call was the tourist office for Franz Joseph Glacier to check the weather. All was good and so I proceeded along the road towards the glacier. The path seemed to just go on and on and on. Looking at the times indicated for each walk it felt like 'Flow the slow' hadn't been consulted and instead this park had hired Usain Bolt to do the times and maps.

I made it to my first scheduled stop at around 11:30am, Peters pool. This small pond (which was created by a lump of the glacier itself that remained here, and melted, when the glacier receded) made a superb photo opportunity with the snow capped mountains in the background reflecting into the pool in the foreground. I stayed here for a little while, had something to eat and drink.

Soon I was off; having seen the glacier, in the far distance, I was eager to get there. However my next port of call was a small hill that acted as a lookout onto the mountains, glacier and the glacier basin below us. The view here was stunning and I could see below me people making their way nearer the glacier. I packed up my stuff eager to join them.

Now as I was a) planning on taking loads of photos today and b) would be situated near a glacier I had decided to pack a lot of warm clothes. As the sun was beating down I was regretting this decision; as I walked down the glacier basin my fleece was put away in my bag and I held onto my coat. It was quite a long walk along the basin to the glacier itself. The basin was pretty much dry with only one small stream to cross. As I crossed this waste land of stone it did become apparent just how far this glacier had receded. Just like in Canada the glaciers here had receded at an amazing rate and I just wonder how long these natural beauties will remain.

Eventually I made it to the foot of the glacier; before photographing the thing to death I stopped and had something to eat. The glacier was pretty cool with what appeared to be a sheer wall of ice over hanging a small stream that flowed away. Above me I could see a group of people preparing to do a glacier walk and I was thinking about whether I should partake at a later date ... we shall have to see.

Once I had finished at the foot of the glacier I crossed the barren basin stopping only to take a couple of photos before I heading back to the hostel. It was 2pm now and I reckoned it would take a further hour to get back; I imagined that, once I got back, I would rest my poor feet and then head into town to get supplies for tomorrows hike, then possibly catch a film at the hostel before hopefully having an early night. However just then I saw a path I hadn't seen before; my adventurous side took over and I decided to see where it ended up ...

... high up was the answer, the path was continually going upwards and I was just about to turn around when I met a German couple. They were both very nice and said this path lead to (ready for the name) Lake Wombat. They continued to say that even though it wasn't that great I was only ten minutes away. Being so close to the lake I decided to have a look; twenty-five minutes later I still hadn't arrived at the lake and I was cursing the German couple (if ever they came to the UK I would describe the distance between Birmingham and Cardiff as a 'gentle stroll). I arrived at Lake Wombat and it was pretty disappointing compared to the glacier earlier. I didn't even stop to take a photo and, after a small mouthful of water, I headed back down the path I had come.

I was short on water and my feet hurt a lot. I decided it was time to head for home and so that is what I did. I've booked an extra night at this hostel (four nights in total, last time I spent four nights in one place was Mango Bay at the beginning of this trip) because there are another two hikes that I want to do; each hike heads up either side of the glacier valley and apparently the views are spectacular.

Depending on how those hikes go I might stay a fifth night and part take in a full day glacier hike; I haven't spent a penne ... err cent today so far (well apart from paying for another night here) and so if I can save enough money over the next three days, by doing these free hikes, then I might just splash out of a full day glacier tour ... everyone seems to be doing it (and it is soo much cheaper than the one in Alaska I could have done).

Well I'm now in the hostel; all I have to do tonight is buy supplies for my hike tomorrow up the left hand side of the glacier valley (called the Roberts point track) and tea tonight ... oh and I might have a look at some photo books at some point, see iff there are any worth buying and shipping home. After this maybe catch a film and definitely have an early night (as trying to have a lie-in didn't work today) so I can get up early tomorrow.

Toodle Pip!

Collapsed Coaches

Wednesday 13^th October 2010

MP3 track of the day: Not afraid - Eminem

Weather: Nice and Sunny

As it turned out I didn't need the second alarm. It was quite a cold morning and, due to the coach probably being sat at the bus station all night, the coach wasn't much warmer. There were only ten people on the coach so we all had plenty of room; three of those people were a group of Indian students studying over here in New Zealand. From the amount of stuff they were carrying it looked as if they were moving, each one had two to three good size bags and it took five to ten minutes to load their stuff into the coaches holdall. Anyway none of this mattered, we were off on time.

This bus driver was just like all the other drivers I've had whilst being in New Zealand, talkative, happy and completely nuts … but a great character. We set off and I was glad that it looked like we didn't have to turn around due to a 'coach keys in the back pocket' incident again. It was all going swimmingly until three hours in, after our first break, when we stopped outside a fire station. I thought the driver was dropping off some mail (looks like the intercity buses here are like the Greyhounds in Canada in that they deliver mail too) but as I looked out of the window I could see the driver looking at the front left tire.

It soon became apparent that we had some technical fault; after ten minutes the driver announced that the coach was 'loosing air' and that we could all get off the coach, go for a walk if we wanted as it could take a little while to fix the problem. My first thoughts was that it was a tire loosing air, however a lady who sat near the driver said that she had herd him radio back to HQ saying it was the air from the brakes that was escaping. This I thought was a good reason to stop as breaks, especially on the mountainous windy route that lay before us, would probably be an important aspect of the coach.

As us passengers sat in the sun chatting, we could see the driver and a 'bod' open up the engine covers to have a look. More time passed and whilst the driver and this 'bod' found the pipe that was leaking air I found out that the three Indian students did originally have a car … until the engine over heated and died, that was why they had such a lot of stuff for a coach ride.

Just then the coach driver announced that a mechanic was on his way, and so was a second coach. We had to take our stuff out of the coach and get it ready for the replacement. The mechanic arrived first and he had a fiddle around; it soon turned out that the pipe which held the air for the breaks was totally destroyed … oh and the mechanic didn't have a spare … so he went off again. An hour and a half after our coach broke down a replacement coach came and we were off. This coach was a lot smaller than the other, but that made it quicker. We made it to our lunch stop very quickly.

When we arrived at our lunch stop we were told by our driver that a coach would pick us up from here and it would take us the rest of the way to Franz-Joseph. We therefore unloaded this coach in preparation … as luck would have it, turns out the other coach was actually going to pick us up at the next town, Greymouth. I was staring to feel sorry for the Indian students as they again put all their stuff back onto the coach. All through this the coach driver kept smiling and he was great, a really cherpy guy, but a little nuts.

We then raced off to Greymouth and switched to another coach, hopefully for the last time. Our original driver switched with us and off we went at a great rate of knots. The terrain was previously still English like, with rolling hills and lots of live stock. Now nearer the mountains we were heading into Swiss terrain with large green fields, a few tress and an impressive snow capped mountain range located at the back of this beautiful view.

The driver really went for it and even at his stops he was running to deliver the mail. Whilst driving we were sometimes on the left hand side of the road, sometimes on the right and sometimes in the middle … however it was still a very comfortable ride. We arrived at Franz-Joseph 45 minutes late … which was remarkable considering we wasted over two hours in break downs, changing coaches and stops … the driver had pulled out all the stops. One final nice act from the driver was that he took us all to our accommodation.

The youth hostel here is lovely and I checked in before heading out into town to purchase tea for tonight and have a look around. Franz Joseph is tiny so it didn't take me too long to look around; I did see a store offering scenic flights. I stood a while watching the film of the flight on the big plasma screens within the store. I have to be honest that a flight over the glaciers here isn't half tempting, but at nearly £150 it's a bit out of my budget range, and would it really be that good? There are so many 'experiences' here just waiting to take your money off you, I decided that there are also a load of good free walks so I thought I might do these first and then decided if either a flight or a glacier hike would be a worth while investment.

After having two early starts back-to-back I will have a super lie-in tomorrow and then walk to the bottom of the Franz-Joseph glacier. As I said above, there is so much to do here that my original three nights might have to be extended.

Toodle Pip!