Do Fox's Glacier Mints came from the Fox Glacier? I wonder if they are really tiny bits of the Glacier cut away for our delight. Doesn't explain Fox's Glacier fruits though...
The Road leaving Queenstown was interesting - loads of twisty roads leading to tops of mountains and then back down again. Needless to say the view was breathtaking - as we have come to expect from New Zealand so far.
Early afternoon we were following signs to Fox's Glacier, a really old Glacier that has been left since the last Ice age. It is now melting rather quickly and retreating at about a foot a day. It is still very impressive though, the valley that holds it is huge and very dangerous with rocks falling all the time. I didn't really appreciate the size of the Glacier until I saw some people right next to it who looked like the size of ants!!! The Glacier twists through the valley much like a frozen river. It has peaks and dips that are like a tide frozen on a canvass. Pretty amazing to see!
Today we are going to see another Glacier the Franz Joseph Glacier, it makes me think about the beginning of time and what the earth was like before humans invaded it!
Monday, October 24, 2005
Lakes, Queenstown, and jumping off mountains! (Steve)
Following our visit to Christchurch, we headed south towards Lake Tekapo and Mt Cook. The stunning scenery on the way made for a great drive and I am so pleased we came to New Zealand, the place is awesome in its beauty and I can see why its getting more popular every year.
Lake Tekapo is an aqua blue lake surrounded by mountains of the Mt Cook range (NZ's highest peak at 3715 metres I think), with the bizarre Church Of The Good Shepherd on the edge of it all on its own, the view looking towards the alter is the mountains behind the lake, really cool. They also getting the southern Aurora about 6 times a year, we didnt see that but I stole a photo from a local photographer with it above the church (see below). We also drove up as near to Mt Cook as we could, but didnt have time to climb it, not sure we could've anyway......and the huge, 42km long Lake Pukaki makes Tekapo look small, they are so smooth that when the sun comes out they are like mirrors reflecting the mountains, photos dont really do it justice.
The next day we went on to Queenstown, the adrenaline capital of NZ, and purely designed for the tourists,the worlds first bungy site is here, along with many others, we opted for the easier option of a jump off a mountain attached to a paraglider and someone who knows what they are doing. We jumped through the clouds from Mt Coronet (about 1100 metres) and took off for a brilliant ride across 5kms of woods and hillsides, we managed to kick the tops of some trees in a truely environment-friendly way!! I even got to do some acrobatics as we desended. Shame we can't post movies on here as they are funny, but pictures are below. We wanted to go again but money was a tad tight. The rest of Queenstown wasn't nearly as exiting, we went up a near vertical cable car and had a go at the 'Luge' -like go-karting but downhill without an engine, which was cool. Oh, and some great views of Queenstown as well.
Lake Tekapo is an aqua blue lake surrounded by mountains of the Mt Cook range (NZ's highest peak at 3715 metres I think), with the bizarre Church Of The Good Shepherd on the edge of it all on its own, the view looking towards the alter is the mountains behind the lake, really cool. They also getting the southern Aurora about 6 times a year, we didnt see that but I stole a photo from a local photographer with it above the church (see below). We also drove up as near to Mt Cook as we could, but didnt have time to climb it, not sure we could've anyway......and the huge, 42km long Lake Pukaki makes Tekapo look small, they are so smooth that when the sun comes out they are like mirrors reflecting the mountains, photos dont really do it justice.
The next day we went on to Queenstown, the adrenaline capital of NZ, and purely designed for the tourists,the worlds first bungy site is here, along with many others, we opted for the easier option of a jump off a mountain attached to a paraglider and someone who knows what they are doing. We jumped through the clouds from Mt Coronet (about 1100 metres) and took off for a brilliant ride across 5kms of woods and hillsides, we managed to kick the tops of some trees in a truely environment-friendly way!! I even got to do some acrobatics as we desended. Shame we can't post movies on here as they are funny, but pictures are below. We wanted to go again but money was a tad tight. The rest of Queenstown wasn't nearly as exiting, we went up a near vertical cable car and had a go at the 'Luge' -like go-karting but downhill without an engine, which was cool. Oh, and some great views of Queenstown as well.
Christchurch (Sian)
The 3 hour flight to Christchurch was rather uneventful, after collecting our Golden Wonder car we headed to our accommodation - a backpackers that was a bit like a B&B!!!
Christchurch is a rather pretty city and the trees are all like England, I felt at home amongst the Oaks, Lime, Chestnut and Willows!
Wanting to see Kiwi Birds we headed to the nearest Wildlife park where Giraffes, Lions, Cheetahs and African Wild dogs could be found! We fed Giraffes, watched the Cheetahs play a ball game and some massive Lions were fed. The Kiwi bird was found in a dark room pecking away at the ground - it was cute but over shadowed by the African wildlife!
We climbed the 135 steps of the cathedral tower for a view of the town - although being rather flat the view was a bit non descript, especially as we were standing in the most impressive building to be found in Christchurch!
Leaving Christchurch over the Canterbury Plains was bizarre, I had heard about the amazing landscape of New Zealand but it took about 90 minutes before we were in the mountains. It was worth waiting for, taking a twist in the road to be greeted by snow capped mountains and lush forests was rather special.
Christchurch is a rather pretty city and the trees are all like England, I felt at home amongst the Oaks, Lime, Chestnut and Willows!
Wanting to see Kiwi Birds we headed to the nearest Wildlife park where Giraffes, Lions, Cheetahs and African Wild dogs could be found! We fed Giraffes, watched the Cheetahs play a ball game and some massive Lions were fed. The Kiwi bird was found in a dark room pecking away at the ground - it was cute but over shadowed by the African wildlife!
We climbed the 135 steps of the cathedral tower for a view of the town - although being rather flat the view was a bit non descript, especially as we were standing in the most impressive building to be found in Christchurch!
Leaving Christchurch over the Canterbury Plains was bizarre, I had heard about the amazing landscape of New Zealand but it took about 90 minutes before we were in the mountains. It was worth waiting for, taking a twist in the road to be greeted by snow capped mountains and lush forests was rather special.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Monday, October 17, 2005
Moto GP (Steve)
Not more than one day back in Melbourne and we were off to Phillip Island with Wei and Jamie to watch some loonies racing motorbikes at stupidly high speeds, of course the weather was perfect and we got to see some close racing and not too many accidents. Oh, and an F-18 jet barely 500 metres above our heads travelling at the speed of sound, making the ground shake like a small 'quake was starting under our feet.
Television really doesnt give the full impression of how fast the bikes go, Valentino Rossi was flying past us at about 320kph, even the junior class on smaller bikes hit 250 on the end of the straight where we were standing. Scarry stuff. The noise is something else, we couldnt even hear the helicopter above our heads!! Didnt get too many picies but there are some below.
It was in stark contrast to the beauty and peacefulness of Tasmania, and we're flying to New Zealand tomorrow for two weeks of mountains and, well other stuff, will let you know what we find there.
Television really doesnt give the full impression of how fast the bikes go, Valentino Rossi was flying past us at about 320kph, even the junior class on smaller bikes hit 250 on the end of the straight where we were standing. Scarry stuff. The noise is something else, we couldnt even hear the helicopter above our heads!! Didnt get too many picies but there are some below.
It was in stark contrast to the beauty and peacefulness of Tasmania, and we're flying to New Zealand tomorrow for two weeks of mountains and, well other stuff, will let you know what we find there.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Tasmania (sian)
Our time in Tasmania seemed to fly by far too quickly. What a wonderful place it is! Our first day on the island was a little bizarre, partly because both Steve and I still felt like we were on the ferry. The ferry from Sydney was fun but rough and far too long... The boat hit a storm at about midnight, I felt like I was going to fall out of my bunk bed!
After the land drive through the wonderful rolling countryside we settled in our cozy cabin near Hobart.
On our first complete day we explored Hobart taking in batter point and some rather funky shops. Hobart is a lovely city with a beautiful mountain back drop. It feels more like a town and the people are really friendly.
You can also never underestimate the size of Tasmania, it may look like a little Island but it is about the same size as England! We realised this when we decided to drive (Steve drove) to Freycinat Peninsular to see wonderful Wine Glass bay... It took us 3 hours to get there. Still we managed to take in a great walk and saw some wonderful sights. The walk to the bay was fun but tiring, all up hill for 30 minutes, all down hill for the same amount of time and the same in reverse. The view was breathtaking - turquoise seas and a white sand beach. From the viewing platform it looked good enough to swim in but was a tad too cold once we were on the beach!!
The following morning we managed to scale a mountain too!! Steve drove us to the top of Mount Wellington where we got very windswept.
Port Arthur was interesting, although a little new by English standards. It's an old convict settlement built in 1830. Unfortunately we couldn't go in as we were too late in the day and they were charging a huge fee to look around. We found the tessellated pavement a bizarre rock formation that makes the rocks look like paving slabs.
Our final day in Tas was wonderful, every twist in the road lead us to something new, copper mines, tin mines, farms, lambs, calves, bulls, cows, sheep goats, forests, lakes, waterfalls... It is such an amazing part of Australia and so under rated. I am really looking forward to going back. Unfortunately we didn't see any wild Devils, but will keep my eyes and ears peeled for them next time...
After the land drive through the wonderful rolling countryside we settled in our cozy cabin near Hobart.
On our first complete day we explored Hobart taking in batter point and some rather funky shops. Hobart is a lovely city with a beautiful mountain back drop. It feels more like a town and the people are really friendly.
You can also never underestimate the size of Tasmania, it may look like a little Island but it is about the same size as England! We realised this when we decided to drive (Steve drove) to Freycinat Peninsular to see wonderful Wine Glass bay... It took us 3 hours to get there. Still we managed to take in a great walk and saw some wonderful sights. The walk to the bay was fun but tiring, all up hill for 30 minutes, all down hill for the same amount of time and the same in reverse. The view was breathtaking - turquoise seas and a white sand beach. From the viewing platform it looked good enough to swim in but was a tad too cold once we were on the beach!!
The following morning we managed to scale a mountain too!! Steve drove us to the top of Mount Wellington where we got very windswept.
Port Arthur was interesting, although a little new by English standards. It's an old convict settlement built in 1830. Unfortunately we couldn't go in as we were too late in the day and they were charging a huge fee to look around. We found the tessellated pavement a bizarre rock formation that makes the rocks look like paving slabs.
Our final day in Tas was wonderful, every twist in the road lead us to something new, copper mines, tin mines, farms, lambs, calves, bulls, cows, sheep goats, forests, lakes, waterfalls... It is such an amazing part of Australia and so under rated. I am really looking forward to going back. Unfortunately we didn't see any wild Devils, but will keep my eyes and ears peeled for them next time...
Saturday, October 15, 2005
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