Epic New Zealand Road Trip - Glacier Hike

Saturday Feb 9^th

We got up early to drive to Franz Josef for a glacier heli-hike. Before taking off, we walked to the beach behind the Airbnb to see it in the early morning.

We got to Franz Josef Glacier early enough to be able to switch to the earlier time slot because the departure for our scheduled time slot was pending due to weather. I was glad we already stopped for pastry and coffee in Hokitika and we were able to give an affirmative yes when asked if we were ready to go.

We got our own helicopter with just the three of us and the guide as passengers. I got to sit in front on the way there and was able to take a few nice pictures from the air. We were in a group with six others who were in another helicopter. We put on crampons once the helicopter dropped us off on the glacier and waited for groups that came before us to leave before we followed our guide on the ice. Our guide carried an ice axe to clear the ice and make way for us. When the slope is steep, he’d make a staircase as a path. At one point, we could choose to slide down the ice. When he said the glacier water was safe to drink, Liên and I tried it and we were the only ones who did. Near the end of our hike, dark clouds approached and we had to be on the move to get back to the landing to be evacuated out by helicopters. We had lunch before soaking ourselves in the Franz Josef Glacier Hot Pools. 

After the hot pools, we went in search of glow worms by taking the Tatare Tunnels, created in 1897 to bring water from the Tatare River to sluice the gold laden terraces of the Waiho River. You have to be willing to get your feet wet to traverse the tunnel, but we didn’t know that at first. We were very careful walking slowly on rocks and avoiding the water. That was futile. We made it through the other side of the tunnel. That was our second sighting of glow worms.

We changed from wet shoes to dry flip flops and drove to Fox Glacier where we’d spend the night. We followed a map to drive to Peak View Point to see Fox Glacier. The map wasn’t to scale and we concentrated so hard on making sure we were in the right direction that we totally missed seeing the Fox Glacier as we drove by its view that was in the open and not obstructed by trees for quite a while. We did see a group of people stopping on the road to take pictures and we laughed that they were taking pictures of cows. Later we figured they must have been taking pictures of the glacier!

After viewing the glacier at Peak View Point, we drove back toward town and could see the glacier in glorious display on our right. We stopped at Lake Matheson and decided to eat dinner before exploring. Liên and I shared a lamb and a gnocchi. Debbie had a steak. We all shared a panna cotta for dessert. The food was delicious. We walked around Lake Matheson. Our favorite spot was Reflection Island. On the way back, we caught the sight of sunset on the open meadow.

When it was dark, we went out and took the Minnehaha Walk to see the glowworms. Debbie and I linked arms because we didn’t want to separate from each other in the dark. Liên went ahead of us and would stop and wait for us when she spotted a good sight with many glow worms. This was our third glow worm walk.

It was a beautiful day. As it was my birthday back home today, my grandson sent me a birthday greeting. A special day, indeed.

Epic New Zealand Road Trip - Birthday Celebration

Tuesday Feb 5^th – Thursday Feb 7^th

We left for New Zealand on Vietnamese New Year Day, the Year of The Pig. I worked part of the morning. Debbie left her car at our house. Tom dropped us off at Dulles. The weather was nice. The government opened back up a few days earlier and assuaged our fears of flights not taking off.

Amazingly, our four legs went smoothly and our luggage made it through customs in Nadi and arrived with us to Christchurch on Thursday Feb 7^th with no problems. (Yes, we lost a day travelling across the International Date Line.) While in Nadi, we received news that Liên’s flight was postponed for 24 hours. We didn’t know that she could arrange other flights until we got to Auckland. The final arrangement gave her a 13-hour delay rather than the 24-hour delay, but the price for that was an additional $300 and a night at the airport for Liên. We were grateful for that, though, because that meant the only disruption for the planned epic trip was having to shorten our first hike by about 5 hours.

We decided on adding a GPS to the rental car and with it, we found the Airbnb easily enough. A real estate agent came by the place to advertise his service, but instead of getting potential clients, he got us - people who needed the use of his cell phone. We drove out to a local Chinese place for dinner and settled in for the night, thankful for not having to get up at midnight to pick Liên up at the airport – which would involve driving on the left side of the road in the dark while tired. Debbie fell asleep easily. I stayed up a bit to explore what to do in Christchurch before Liên arrives.

Friday Feb 8^th

I got old a day earlier in Christchurch. Today was my birthday. 

Debbie and I found white bread and stale cereal in the kitchen for breakfast. We had toasts with jam. I made myself a cup of instant coffee. After breakfast, we took a walk to Jellie Park, a park next to the Airbnb. I sent Liên a picture of myself at the lake in the park when she texted “How was Jellie Park?” Later I realized and she confirmed that she meant the Airbnb (Stay At Jellie Park). But I’m glad she had my happy picture to contrast to her sad one spending the night at the airport in Brisbane.

After the walk, we checked out and went to Christchurch Gondola. We got there before it was open, so we walked some of the Bridle Path, a popular trail next to the gondola, before going up the gondola to the top of the hill. We spent some time on top savoring the view and hiking.

We wanted to be closer to the airport when Liên arrived and Debbie said she didn’t mind driving into the city, which is between the gondola and the airport, so we went into the city and learned how to park on the street and pay for it with a credit card and even showed a local how to use the system. We visited Christchurch Cathedral and the Botanic Gardens.

Liên’s flight was about half an hour late, but we were able to connect and after adding Liên’s name to be an additional driver to the rental car, we took off for Hokitika. On the way, we stopped at Arthur’s Pass National Park to take pictures of Castle Hill and hiked to the Devil’s Punch Waterfall.

Liên treated me to my birthday dinner in Hokitika. The restaurant is right on the beach. It was a beautiful setting. We got free drinks for staying at the Drifting Sands. When it was dark, we walked to the Glow Worm’s Dell. That was my first seeing the glow worms that Liên talked so much about.

Collage #50

We waved goodbye to 2018
And welcome the year that comes after
New adventures await us
While the old comfort remains
We’re grateful that we have
So much to share among ourselves
We rejoice in our happiness
As we spread it all around us
We bask in love and friendship
And celebrate our blessings
We give thanks for the year that’s gone
And for the new one that'd just begun

Time to Remember

I hold your body

Warm to the touch

My Beautiful Angel

Wrapped in a Christmas blanket

You let me hold you

And snuggle tight

You lay your head on my shoulder

I rock you to sleep

With a lullaby

Your breathing is labored

I hope you’re touched by calm colors

In sweet dreams

When you’ll wake

I’ll feed you ice cream

Of your favorite flavor
Without asking if you have
Finished your dinner
It doesn't matter 

Though you’re not well

We’ll have a swell time

To be remembered