A little while has passed since my last blog. On Xmas Eve I left Arthur's Pass (reluctantly, I really enjoyed my time there) and headed for Franz Josef Glacier, a wee village built around glacier trips basically. I had booked a glacier walk earlier and took the trip at 3pm that afternoon. Not cheap $105. I must say my expectations were limited from what I had heard, but it was really good. The trip lasted from 3-7:45pm, with just about 2 hours on the ice. There was the usual faffing around to sign in, get gear (proper 10 point crampons etc); then a 10 min bus ride was followed by a 3km walk across moraine to the base of the glacier. Then we climbed steps which had been cut in the ice and walked up through crevasses and up a couple of metal ladders to a flat area about half way up the glacier. I could have done with a bit more time there but overall I felt I had a good feel for climbing on glaciers. We had a bit of a clown from London as a guide (some of his attempts at bonhomie failed totally). The group comprised about 25 people of all ages, nationalities and fitness levels. But I was pretty pleased overall. Had a nice meal that evening in the village - to celebrate Xmas!
On Xmas Day I reckoned that there wouldn't be much open and had planned to drive from FJ Glacier to Queenstown, which I did. It was about 350km and I arrived at the Lakefront YHA at 2:45pm. Again a pleasant drive through varied landscapes: from the high peaks of Mount Aspiring National Park (but wide valleys compared with Arthur's Pass); to lovely lake scenery especially Lake Wanaka (where the hills were lower and more rounded, with many fewer trees, making it very reminiscent of Scotland, the first time I could say that); and finally to vineyards again and fruit farming on the run into Queenstown).
Queenstown is a attractive town by Lake Wakatipu and surrounded by mountains. From the small places I had been in the last few days, it was a bit of a shock with all the tourists: quiet groups of Asians contrasted with the exuberant Brits who had taken over some of the waterfront to party - in a friendly albeit noisy way - for Xmas. Some tourist shops and restaurants were open, and I ate Italian for Xmas!
Misc Blogettes
1. All the way down on Xmas Day I was thinking about doing my washing-pretty sad really! This leads to to thoughts about 'Happiness while travelling..':
First, is getting washing done. I hadn't done any since I arrived in New Zealand and I must have smelled (the fact that I couldn't smell anything untoward supports the point!) Anyway it made me happy! So instead of new clothes from Santa, I got clean clothes from the washing machine! The other time I was really happy getting washing done was in Agua Calientes in Peru with Juliette, but that is another story.
The second, which doesn't apply to New Zealand, is washing and shaving. I can think of numerous places where it was too cold to wash (baby wipes are a good substitute) or there were no washing facilities, and having access to a shower or even a river is a pleasure indeed.
2. A follow up on earlier observations about investment in tourism, the Department of Conservation offices ('DOC offices' as they are known) in every town are absolutely great. Good materials, many free, and excellent, helpful and knowledgeable staff. Also the iCentres are very useful and efficient in terms of booking forward.
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