Kia Ora once again,
I'll get to the title of this post in a few. Firstly, back to the recap. The wine tour was a lot of fun. New Zealand wineries give 5-9 tastes each (at least the three we went to) which was nice. Everyone else on my bus was from Belgium, so Tom, I got to see how life is like for you every day (not understanding a word of Flemish and all). Later that evening I went out in Picton with some people from the hostel and met some others out. Good times. The next morning I headed to Nelson on the Magic bus once again. Met a few people on the way and booked my day hike in Abel Tasman the following night. Had to leave the hostel at 7 AM (doing New Zealand rapidly doesn't allow for much in the way of sleeping in) and we took a bus to a boat to the drop off for the 20 km hike on the famed Abel Tasman trail from Barks' Bay to the start of the trek. Unfortunately the weather wasn't so great. It was kind of like Portland, grey and drizzly. But it was still a lovely walk. The next morning I was off to Greymouth. We spent the whole rainy day on the bus with a few quick stops to see a seal colony, do a short hike, and see the highly overrated (in my mind) pancake rocks. There isn't much to do in Nelson so most of us opted for the Monteith's brewery tour followed by a bar-b-que and out to see some live jazz. Early the following morning we were off to Franz Joseph where I was looking forward to a half day glacier hike with 2 hours of it actually on the glacier with crampons. The weather gods are not smiling on us however. Heavy rains caused all treks to be canceled so we spent the afternoon in the movie lounge at the hostel. This morning we were geared up for a 7:30 AM departure to Wanaka but the rain has caused the roads to flood so we are still in Franz Joseph in the rain. I know there is a lovely glacier nearby, I just wish I could see it... But I'm optimistic that tomorrow the roads will clear and I'll be off to do more hiking and exploring in beautiful SW South Island!
Random fact about New Zealand- there are 10 times as many sheep as people. And nearly as many deer. We saw a film about how men used to jump out of helicopters and tackle deer back about 20 years ago. And now you can understand why New Zealand is the pioneering country for skydiving and bungee jumping...
Until next post. Keep the comments coming!
St
PS- pics are posted. All unfortunately and editing and captions are needed, but check them out if you wish:
1 comment:
Um...what's a crampon? Is it like a cranky tampon? Sounds like you are making the most of some rainy days...
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