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New Zealand Trip

Marahau to Barrytown

On the way to Barrytown we stopped in an old gold mine city called Westport, and some tried to find some gold as did the pioneers, with just a plate. And it worked ! Later we did a nice walk along the coast to go and see a seals colony, and we met some strange birds called "Weka". They look similar to kiwis for the size, but the beak is way shorter. They are really nosey animals, and really funny to watch.

At the accomodation in barrytown I couldn't resist to take a picture when I saw this strange character waiting quietly sitted in a chair... It was a nice place close to the sea, but as it was raining once again we just stayed there for the night with nothing special happening.

Barrytown to Franz Josef Glacier

This day we didn't do much but driving. Meanwhile, we arrived in Franz Josef quite early, at around 4pm, giving us the opportunity to go for a walk from the bottom of the glacier back to the village. This track, though quite short ( 2 1/2 hours ) was really great, and the flora we got to see was absolutely magic. A foresight of the Routeburn we did later. A great moment.

At night we all went to a pub and had a good night, to prepare the next day's trip to the glacier...

PHOTOS

Franz Josef Glacier to Haast

Waking up at 7, we went to the bottom of the glacier with all the ice climbig gears for a full day expedition on the ice. This trip was good but only lasted untill 3 O'clock in the afternoon, which was a bit short in my opinion. As I already climbed a glacier in the French Alps, I was a bit deceived by this trip, as it was not sporty enough.

But those trip have to be fit for everybody, therefore the tempo is a bit slow if you intend to climb to the summit and to reach a real personal challenge. Anyway the walk was pleasant and we could see some really nice ice formations in that region.

After the expedition we took the road again to Haast, our night stay. This place is the last one on the west coast before we finally head to Queenstown, more in the middle of the territory.

Haast is really amazing, as it is only a thin stripe of earth between the tasman sea on one side and the mountains on the other side. This provides some incredible views of snowy mountains while you are sitting on hte beach : nice ! As you can see on the pictures, that night all the landscapes were a bit misty, rendering a magic atmosphere to that already special place.

The reflections on the small water tanks was gorgeous too, as you could judge by yourself. The left picture is unfornately a bit blurry, but I chose to display it anyway as it renders the realy special ambience of that place, with the wooden heaps on the top of the beach.

Haast to Quenstown

Saying goodbye to the west coast for a while, we headed that day to Queenstown, capital of the thrill and of the cold fear in New Zealand. On the way we stopped for a lookout at Knights Point : with the sunrise, it makes it gorgeous, right ? A bit of mist in the atmosphere, once again...

Nothing more for that day, only driving and watching some scary videos of people doing some bungy jumping, in the bus, just to put the pressure on us. Just before finally reaching Queenstown we stopped at the Kawarau suspension bridge, for the first session of jumps. This one is "only" 43 metres high, but it does the work already. Good fun after a big fear for the ones who dared. Personly I was waiting my time, on the next day...

Queenstown !!!

This place is famous for its "high sensations" activities, as bungy jumping ( the highest being the Nevis, 134m high from a gondola... ), jetboating ( being driven in a jetboat riding full speed in a narrow canyon ), rafting, mountain biking...

For me, it was "only" doing my first bungy jump, from the location called "The pipeline", as being an ancient pipeline used during the gold rush. The area is called "Skippers Canyon" and is one of the most dangerous in New Zealand. So dangerous that if you rent a car, it is one of the only road which is not covered by the insurance...

Thus you can imagine the ride to the bungy place is by itself a part of the thrill when you see the sharp cliff going sharply 100 meters down the canyon, few centimeters of the side of the Range Rover...

Arriving at the pipeline itself the atmosphere was a bt tense, as all my mates were about to jump for the first time, same as me, and part of the game was that the guy reinforced that feeling by telling us some facts about the bungy breaking sometimes and stuff. You laugh at it, but only after you've jumped, trust me !

Part of the adrenaline is when you have time to think about what you are about to do, which is frankly wrong, while waiting for your turn to be strapped in the legs. And when the guy calls you, you smile at him and come, pretending everything is alrigh and that you are a tough guy, but in reality you are REALLY freaking out. At least I was. This jump is 102 metres, in a canyon therefore the rocks form two walls on the sides of your jump zone, which makes it even more impressive.

The good thing is that everybody is doing the countdown, and you don't really think about it anymore when it reaches zero : you just step off, and see what happens. And in fact nothing really bad. You have 2 seconds to realise you are flying, and 5 more to enjoy it !

Finally it was a good experience, in a very scenic area - as you could judge on the pictures below, but I am not too sure I would do it again : it is a lot of fear for so little a pleasure. Meanwhile that was cool. Afterwards...

Later in the day, we finished preparing the next step of the trip : the Routeburn Track, one of the best in New Zealand, a 3 days trekking in pure wilderness...

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