02nd Oct Up at 7.30am and after breakfast down I went to FJ Glacier hikes office. We were geared up for the glacier hike with hats, gloves, waterproof trousers, jacket & crampons. Crampons are metal devices that have big teeth and are attached to your boots whilst walking in the snow. Off we went, 9 of us to the glacier. It was a 2.6km walk along the river bed to the ice. There were people cutting steps into ice as the steps disappear everynight with ice movement. Its a tough old job, cutting ice with a pick-axe. I'd have imagined a glacier to be a smooth moving block of ice but its full of cracks and crevices, tunnels, holes and all sorts of amazing ice formations. The glacier was about 1 kilometre wide and 10 kilometre long. We walked all day and I was telling our guide that I was doing an article for 'Snow and Ice' magazine. She was very nice to us all day. I met a lad on our hike from my home village in Bearna. His name was Sean Armstrong, a sound lad but id never laid eyes on him before.
03rd Oct Hopped on the bus to Queenstown at 7.30am and visited a few places along the way but it was lashing rain and NZ is a lots to do with views so nothing wild or amazing there. later in the day I arrived in Queenstown, a skiing town, that specialises in all kinds of excitement. I went to this place caled 'Ferburger' a burger joint that sells huge gourmets burgers. My burger was a half pounder with brie cheese, salsa, salad and fine juicy NZ beef. Quality. All was washed down and palet cleansed with a fine goblet of NZ ale.
04th Oct Quiet relaxing day today. Checked out the town and the lay of the land. Booked a car for the Milford sound trip. Bought a rain jacket, went on internet, went out for beers.
05th Oct Hit the road with Jacko (Finland) & Suzie (Ireland) in our rental Toyota Yaris automatic enroute to the famous Milford Sound (MS). There was feck all power in it for 3 adults and their luggage going up the hills and mountain roads, but was a grand little yolk all the same. We stopped along the way to look at a restored steam train which was class. I was allowed in the drivers (engineer) seat and I yanked the horn. The driver was mad with me for doing it and especially when I shouted 'All aboard!' Sure nothing like a bit of craic. We got to MS eventually, and although it was fantastic, the drive there was even more so. A lot of the scenes from the movie 'The Lord of the Rings' was shot in this area and that was great to see. We took a boat tour through the sound and as we were the last boat there were only 6 of us so we all had great views and photo opportunities. We stayed the night in a local backpackers.
06th Oct It was a beautiful morning and we popped back to MS to take a couple more pics. On the way home we stopped at this random cafe in the middle of nowhere. The owner greeted us warmly and was very freindly and all chat. He told us with great enthusiasm about his speciality coffees and his magic recipies... uh oh. Up till that point we took it all with a pinch of salt and thought he was just a bit ecentric. He had us cornered and started to Bilble bash us with quotes from St. John and repentence will set you free only if your born again and all kinds of wacko shite. i was biting my the inside of my mouth trying not to laugh. The others wouldnt look at me as they knew they'd burst. Half hour later we made our excuses and left for Queenstown, he followed us out telling us he had a crazy golf course and would we like a game. Nice man, but mad as a brush.
07th Oct Me and Jacko went to this place on the Hill in Queenstown called 'The Luge'. to get to the Luge you have to pay $25 for the Gondala or walk. We walked. Jacko was in the Finnish army and he flew up. My legs were fecked. Got there anyway and got our luge tickets. the Luge is a go kart track for adults, but the karts have no engines. Its all downhill on a special track with twists and turns. We paid for 2 runs, i won the first and jacko the second. We were flyin it and up on 2 wheels going round the bends, it was mighty craic and we were screaming in competitive excitement the whole way down. I havent laughed that much in an age.
Yesterday I saw an acrobat plane in the air and thought that I d love to do that. i asked the manger in the hostel about it and he said he could organise it. 2 hours later i was taxiing down the Queenstown airport in a 2 seater stunt plane (me at the front and pilot at the back). Once up in the air we did loop the loops, flew upside down, straight up and straight down, pearl harbours... the whole lot. We pulled -3G's and +5G's, whatever that means but im told its a lot. 15 minutes later i was ready to empty my guts. i was delighted i didnt pay the extra to do the 25 minute flight. It was a mad thing to do and certainly once in a lifetime. i never knew that it was a commercially available thing to do and it was unreal. It cost E140 but was worth it.
08th Oct On the Magic bus at 8am enroute to Dunedin. Dunedin is 170km from Queenstown and is a small city. It is the home to the Cadbury Chocolate factory in NZ but its no Willy Wonka. i did the trip and was good craic but nothing too exciting. Got a few bits of free chocolate and took some photos. Not much to do in the town, and watched 3 videos in the hostel that night.
09th Oct Went on a wildlife trip this afternoon and saw giant Royal Albatross (wingspan 3m across), seals and their pups, ywellow eyed penguins & sea lions. We were up close to them in their natural habitat behind a gauze that allowed us to see but not them. The sea lions were huge fat yolks that weighed about 35 stone. It was very interesting.
10th Oct Left Dunedin this morning and on the way out of town we stopped at the 'World steepest street' aka Baldwin street. I climbed to the top and back down and wondered how anything drove up and down it. The road was covered in skid marks. went on to this place called 'Moeraki'. on the beach there were big boulders that looked like dinosaur eggs, mad lookin yolks. After a bite to eat we went onto the town of Oamaru. Just beyond the town I was dropped off to go to the Glenmac farmstay. i was the only one that got off, but didnt mind. I figured i was going to be a cowboy for a couple of days and do some mad redneck stuff. In reality I was bored within minutes. the hostess as not feeling well and not very chatty and her husband the farmer just watched TV. The brochure spoke of horseriding but that wasnt a runner. A neighbouring farmer visited and I asked him if he needed any help. He was in the process of assembling a trailer he bought so I went off with him and did that. Went to bed at 7pm.
11th Oct I went for a walk around the farm and i kept close to the fence so I could find my way back. It was a big farm and lots of hills and mountain and easy to get lost. I walked for 2 hours and saw 2 dead sheep and a dead cow lying in a river. When i got back the farmer wasnt too interested. On another walk that evening I came across another dead sheep which i unwittingly walked right up to and the smell was unbelieveable.
12th Oct Due to leave today so I went for yet another walk in the morning to pass the time. On my way back I saw a sheep lying on its own and in labour. Upon further inspection the lamb was dead and 2/3rds of the way out of his mother. The mother way lying on a hill side and her legs were uphill so she couldnt get back on her feet. I thought about doing the heroic thing and helping her out but felt i could get kicked and maybe attacked if she though I killed her lamb. So off I went down the mountain looking for farmer enthusiasm. I told him what i saw and he pondered for a while and decided to drive up the mountain in his 4wd and sort it out. We did and he took the sheep back to the farm enclosure whith shade and long grass to recover. He reckoned the sheep was there for 3 days and was completely exhausted, it couldnt even stand. i got no recognition for my awareness or help in the matter but i felf proud that I saved the sheeps life.
got picked up by the magic bus and went on to seee a hydroelectric dam and on to our overnight stop in the mountains to a town called 'lake Tekapo'. i booked a trip that night to Mt johns Observatory, a telescope station that allows public access to Government funded telescopes. They were the real McCoy that looked out through dome roofs with the gap for the scope. We saw nebuluses, constelations, stuff that 160 million years away. we were shown Jupiter and its moons, the Southeren cross, the clouds of majellan and real close up views of the moon. It was so bright and i saw craters and land formation etc. Amazing stuff.
13th Oct Left lake tekapo this morning bound for Christchurch. Stopped at a few places along the way. There was a good crowd of us and that night we went out on the town. We went into this Irish bar and upon recieving my drink at the bar, I said 'Slainte' to the bar man. He said'what?' and I explained that that was 'cheers' in Irish and he should know that. He said 'How should i know that, im a kiwi!' i replied 'the same reason you dont know the difference between good staff and average staff'. He didnt like that but the bar burst out laughing. Gobshite, good night though.
07th Oct
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