Kingfisher #2

The cheapest beer I could find in the New Zealand store turned out to be quite good.  It reminds me of Heineken, only half the price and made in India.  The beer is absolutely hitting the spot after our relatively long excursion through the Franz-Joseph.  The Franz-Joseph glacier (glassier), was our last stop of the evening.  With our expectations low from the day's previous events, Franz-Joseph was quite the surprise.  It was still raining when we entered the park, but once I saw the hikers walking the full stretch between the flats and the glacier, it just didn't matter any more.

During the 1 to 1.5 hour hike, we passed countless numbers of waterfalls (most I would say were over 200 ft. high).  At one point, I watched in amusement as a group of 4 guided hikers offered themselves mercilessly to the bottom of one of the falls.  I guess some people welcome the opportunity to get slapped on the head with countless buckets of water...it looked so painful...they were having the hardest time just standing up.  Anything for the the right photo opp. I guess.

Once we reached the foot of the glacier, Jude and I quickly found the guide paths up the rocks, which led us to a much better view of the glassier.  I think to fully appreciate such a wonder of the earth, you'd have to see it up close, in all its lively dangers.  But this trip, I was content with the view from the rocks.

All of the tours had ended, and we were 2 of about 10 people left in the gigantic park.  Our persistence had finally paid off.  I enjoyed perfectly diffuseed light (shooting pictures of the waterfalls).  Jude directed my attention to the sunset that had miraculously found its way through the clouds...lighting up the upper peaks and glassier a brilliant shade of red.  Sometimes hell is worth the heaven in the end.  We enjoyed the sunset to its fullest extent.  Then we helped a German bump start his campervan, and found our way to a holiday park just outside the city.

Tonight's journal wouldn't be complete without describing the transformation taking place inside the campervan.  Albeit a tiny little space, Jude and I are finding simple ways to be courteous to one another.  We are becoming used to our shrunken environment and finding way to make it work.

With total satisfaction, I'd say that 80% of our day kind of sucked, and about 20% was excellent enough to say that today was a good day...here on the wet, western coast of South Island, New Zealand.

Cheers,
Ryan

Putting the Rain in Double Rainbow

Falling asleep to 'I Might Be Wrong' just couldn't have been any more right.  Radiohead is good at sending me to dreamland.

After a good night's sleep, we awoke to a double rainbow!  And just the beginning of lots...and lots...of rain.

Today was a day full of dynamics.  Jude decided to drive, and went through a grueling several hours drive...through twists and turns, incline and decline, on roads that were meant for cars the size of a Geo Metro (although we were passing full on tourist busses in our oversized vw campervan in the pouring rain.  You could just sense the rain changing the mood of our trip.  Jude talked about aborting the planned loop in favor of back tracking, and shortening the route. 

After a drenched 30 minute walk on the rocky beach and getting eaten by sand flies, I can pretty much guarantee that thoughts of the Routeburn Track came flooding back into both our minds...and how much better of a time that was.

One savior was the iPod my dad bought me for my birthday.  There are virtually no radio stations we could pick up on the west coast of South Island.  Beck and The White Stripes blaring through the tiny built in speakers of the iPod in the front of the campervan was quite nice - an encouraging soundtrack for the rain.

After a loooooooooong drive, we arrived at Fox Glacier sometime just before 4PM.  Fox was quite a dissappointment.  There was a no-pass barrier setup to prevent walking traffic from advancing far from the entrance walk to the glacier.  I overheard one of the DOC workers explain that a rock slide that had occurred amidst the pouring rain.  There are reminders everywhere that we are in a dynamic landscape.  The water flowing from the base of the glacier was quite impressive.  We took some videos from the swinging bridge and moved on.

The next stop, Lake Matheson, was another bit of dissappointment.  Supposedly, the reflection of Mt. Cook - New Zealand's tallest mountain - on the still water is breathtaking.  The mountain must have been buried deep behind the clouds, but from the pictures shown at the tourist center, I'd say the vista probably looked more like a tourist snapshot opportunity, than it did breathtaking.  I guess I won't know for sure unless I come back to see it on a finer day.

The farmland in the neighboring area was somehow refreshing for me.  It's excellent to see animals enjoying open pasteurs, wondering around, adding personality to the landscape.