This morning we both woke feeling good and not that stiff from our workout yesterday. This did surprise us both. We are heading over to the Glacier country today but it will be an easy day without any plans for a heavy walk or hike.
Before we leave we need to do some grocery shopping and have a look around Hokitika. This appears to be a small sized town but on the map it looks like it will be the largest for awhile. After we get the groceries we notice the National Kiwi Center and decide to check it out. This facility does have a couple of Kiwi birds as well as several other exhibits which include:The Tuiatara (the largest living dinosaur); Whitebait fish pond which is referred to as “white gold”; Longfin eels which are endemic to New Zealand and are becoming endangered; Weta which is a unique insect to New Zealand (could not see it in the exhibit though), and of course the Kiwi which is an nocturnal bird so we could not take any pictures of them. You will see other exhibits in my pictures that I have not mentioned as well.
After we finished wondering around the exhibit we decided we needed to fill up with gas since we were not sure where the next gas station might be. Since we had a coupon for 4 cents off per litre at the BP we went looking for this station. Karen (the GPS) took us out to the edge of town in one direction where the gas station has been changed to a different brand. (No one told her I guess.) So we turn around and head back into the center of town and discovered a BP on the way (we must have driven past it at least once and did not notice it.) So feeling lucky we popped in to get gas only to watch as the attendant put up out of gas signs on the pumps. Apparently they ran out of gas. So we had to drive across the road to another station (non BP) to get our gas but by now we just want to get gassed up.
The meant that we are not looking at lunch time so we decided to stay in town and have lunch at a place right beside the Jade Factory. Of course we then had to tour the Jade Factory and marvel at all the items that have been shaped, carved and etched into the polished rock. It was interesting to see that some of the Jade they use is from BC although most is found locally. One piece I really liked and would have considered bringing home as a souvenir was a mantel piece that had a Kiwi carved into the face of it with incredible detail. The $9600 price tag convinced me it was to be admired but left behind.
As we drove up the highway along the Southern Alps we were constantly reminded of driving in the Rockies (especially in the Banff area). The mountains here are very steep, lots of vegetation and all around us. As we got closer to Franz Josef Glacier Township we started to get views of Mount Tasman and Mount Cook. On both of these mountains is snow peaks and two glaciers run down from Mt Tasman. Mt Cook is the tallest mountain in New Zealand at a height of 3,754 meters (12,316 ft) and Mt Tasman is the second tallest mountain at a height of 3,497 meters (11,473 ft). Don’t worry; we are not climbing either to the peak.
The first thing we did after we got our campsite sorted was to book a Glacier Guided ½ day trip for tomorrow. We will be picked up here at the campsite and will be guided on a hike up to and around the Glacier for 4 ½ hours. Gear that we do not have (crampons) will be provided. We are excited about this and the blog tomorrow will describe what we did.
Then we decided to head over to Lake Matheson where there are potential reflective pictures of both Mt Cook and Mt Tasman to be taken on the lake. We enjoyed a walk around the lake where we were able to enjoy the views from “Jetty View Point”, “Views of all Views”, and “Reflection Island”. The path followed along the edge of the lake but was mostly in the trees. At Reflection Island we were able to stand on a platform extended over the water and watch an eel in the wild which was interesting since we had seen them for the first time this morning at the National Kiwi Center. There was too much ripple on the water for a good reflection shot but Wes suggested that if I laid down on the platform and took the picture as low as possible I could get a reflection shot. I did do it and got a poor quality one, but it is still better than nothing.
We left Lake Matheson to drive up to have a look at the Fox Glacier. This involved a drive up Glacier View Road and a three foot walk from the parking lot. Fed by four alpine glaciers, Fox Glacier falls 2,600m on its 13km journey from the Southern Alps down to the coast, with it having the distinction of being one of the few glaciers to end among lush rainforest only 300 meters above sea level. Although retreating throughout most of the last 100 years, it has been advancing since 1985. In 2006 the average rate of advance was about a meter a week. In January 2009, the terminal face of the glacier was still advancing and had vertical or overhanging faces which were continually collapsing. The outflow of the glacier forms the Fox River.
Thus we ended our quiet and relaxing day of inactivity to recover from yesterday’s strenuous climb. As I started to sort out the pictures we were told of a wonderful sunset so I did go out again to take a few more evening shots.
PS… tonight we finally found and saw the Southern Cross after Wes spent some time on the internet exploring for instructions on how to find it.
No comments:
Post a Comment