Leaving Queenstown we took the high pass across to Wanaka, where we hoped to have a good view of the beautiful lake. Unfortunately due to the cloud cover, the lake was rather obscured, so we continued instead to Puzzling World. Situated close to the town of Wanaka, Puzzling World is an attraction loaded with optical illusion rooms, holograms and a gigantic two level outdoor maze. The illusions are amazing and the maze is very challenging, so much so that I am afraid to say that we gave up halfway! With our brains and legs having been given a good workout, we got back into the trusty camper and continued our journey.
Once again the beauty of New Zealand delayed our progress as the weather had cleared and we were treated to a fantastic view of firstly Lake Hawea and then lake Wanaka. Eventually tearing ourselves away from the view, we managed to get the rest of the way to Fox in time to book a Heli hike for the next day.
Rather surprisingly, the temperature during the night was warmer than we had been used to, so we woke up early feeling fresh for our trip up the glacier. At about 9am a bus took us to the heliport where we got kitted out in thick socks and boots and awaited our turn for the short helicopter ride up the glacier. The flight although quite short was stunning, as the pilot took us high up the glacier to where the ice is moving at a rate of 30m per day (you did read correctly 30m!). Eventually we landed on a safer spot and were quickly kitted out in crampons ready to trek across the ice. During the next 2 hours we climbed through ice caves and tunnels, stared into deep crevasses and in my case had a trouser crampon incident. We had a really good guide during the trek; although his judgement as to whether someone could fit through a gap in the ice seemed a little off, when one of the guys from our group got stuck! In fairness after his rescue the guy was still adamant that he would have fitted if he hadn’t got his crampon stuck, we were all just pleased to see him back! In what seemed like no time, our time on the ice was over and we headed back to meet the helicopter for the return trip to base. The experience of walking on such a vast glacier was amazing, but it was very good to get the freezing boots off our feet!
As it is almost impossible to go anywhere in New Zealand, without seeing a postcard showing Mt Cook and Mt Tasman reflected in the crystal clear waters of Lake Matheson, we thought we had better go and have a look. After a snack and coffee at the nearby café we set off around the lake, stopping frequently to marvel at the beautiful reflections. Unfortunately due to a fair amount of cloud cover we were unable to get the full pristine view, but the scenery was still stunning. After what seemed like quite an energetic day we headed back to the camper for a rest and to get packed up for the journey to Greymouth the next day.
Once again the beauty of New Zealand delayed our progress as the weather had cleared and we were treated to a fantastic view of firstly Lake Hawea and then lake Wanaka. Eventually tearing ourselves away from the view, we managed to get the rest of the way to Fox in time to book a Heli hike for the next day.
Rather surprisingly, the temperature during the night was warmer than we had been used to, so we woke up early feeling fresh for our trip up the glacier. At about 9am a bus took us to the heliport where we got kitted out in thick socks and boots and awaited our turn for the short helicopter ride up the glacier. The flight although quite short was stunning, as the pilot took us high up the glacier to where the ice is moving at a rate of 30m per day (you did read correctly 30m!). Eventually we landed on a safer spot and were quickly kitted out in crampons ready to trek across the ice. During the next 2 hours we climbed through ice caves and tunnels, stared into deep crevasses and in my case had a trouser crampon incident. We had a really good guide during the trek; although his judgement as to whether someone could fit through a gap in the ice seemed a little off, when one of the guys from our group got stuck! In fairness after his rescue the guy was still adamant that he would have fitted if he hadn’t got his crampon stuck, we were all just pleased to see him back! In what seemed like no time, our time on the ice was over and we headed back to meet the helicopter for the return trip to base. The experience of walking on such a vast glacier was amazing, but it was very good to get the freezing boots off our feet!
As it is almost impossible to go anywhere in New Zealand, without seeing a postcard showing Mt Cook and Mt Tasman reflected in the crystal clear waters of Lake Matheson, we thought we had better go and have a look. After a snack and coffee at the nearby café we set off around the lake, stopping frequently to marvel at the beautiful reflections. Unfortunately due to a fair amount of cloud cover we were unable to get the full pristine view, but the scenery was still stunning. After what seemed like quite an energetic day we headed back to the camper for a rest and to get packed up for the journey to Greymouth the next day.
No comments:
Post a Comment