Well, our last days in New Zealand were filled with packing, selling, and trying to enjoy everything New Zealand one last time. We finished up work and enjoyed a farewell party or two thrown by our colleagues. They all chipped in to get us some momentos of NZ, including University of Otago T-shirts, a coffee table photo book, and a really cool giant chalkboard in the shape of New Zealand. Our farewell party started with drinks at the school, then moved on to The Bog for more drinks, which lasted until about 1am. It was fun to party with all of our favorite Kiwis one last time, but very sad to say goodbye to them.
The Bog Farewell
Farewell Party PicsThe next day, Craig, Lexie, and I took off to Wanaka to kick off our West Coast road trip. Wanaka is a beautiful town so we spent the night, wandered around with some yummy mocha in the morning, enjoying the scenery at the lake, and then hitting the road. We had a heli-hike on Fox Glacier scheduled for the following day so we started the drive there, stopping along the way at waterfalls and some short scenic hikes.
Wanaka!
Another NZ Waterfall
We arrived in Fox Glacier that afternoon, checked out town, walked up to the terminal face of the glacier, relaxed for a bit, then met up with a glacier guide friend of Lexie's for dinner. Then is was back to the lodge to get psyched and rested for the next morning's big adventure!
Terminal Face of Fox Glacier
Katie and Lexie Eating Icebergs!
Unfortunately, the adventure started a bit earlier for me when I was woken around midnight to do some more battle with my resident kidney stone. I attempted to suck it up and get through it like I had the others but this time the boulder won. When I couldn't stand it any longer, Craig called the town's rural nurse (the only medical personnel in the area) who said she was about 45 minutes away but would be there as soon as possible. She and the ambulance arrived at about the same time and promised some quick relief. The first happy gas tank was empty though, so by the time the paramedic found a full one, I was very ready for it! In the meantime, the nurse had given me IV morphine which wasn't yet working so she kept giving me more until the gas kicked in. Then I was all good. When asked if the pain was gone, I said "No, it still hurts but I just don't care anymore." That was some good gas! While I was getting high, the nurse called in the night-vision helicopter as the nearest hospital was a 5 hour drive away. By the time I was loaded in, the pain and nausea were back in full force. Craig got to ride with me and saw the sunrise from the heli while I passed out and pretty much only woke up when we landed. So, long story short, I spent the day in the hospital (missing our glacier hike) where I was told the urologists would not take the stone out even though this was my 3rd attack. The reason's were 50% they believed I could possible still pass it on my own, and 50% it was 4 days before Christmas and they didn't really want to work. So, I was sent on my merry way with a huge stash of pain meds and emergency medication in case I had an attach on my upcoming 13 hour plane ride back to the States.
Because we had been flown to the hospital in Greymouth and our car was back in Fox Glacier with Lexie, Craig and I had to take a bus back. Lex had already left to go back to Dunedin by the time we arrived so we didn't get to say good bye to her :(
We decided to try and get on a heli-hike the following morning so we spent the evening driving out to the beach for some beautiful views of the mountains. We walked along the beach, admiring its well-known collection of driftwood and then headed back into town.
Driftwood Beach
More bad luck on the way back when we swerved to avoid a crazy driver, hit a rock, and got a flat tire. Of course we had no jack but luckily a nice man came along and put our spare donut on for us. Fortunately, there is one garage in town and they had a tire that fit our car so the next morning, we dropped off the car for the fix and walked next door to the glacier guides where we were able to get on the heli-hike! Yay!
Our group was bussed over to a small hut where we were debriefed about the day's adventure and geared up with boots. We then got in the helicopter (tiny thing, only fit 4 people) and we were off! The heli ride was amazing! It lifted straight up from the ground, turned almost on its side and zoomed up the valley toward the glacier. Our pilot gave us a great ride, banking some sharp turns and flying us past some huge waterfalls and up high on the glacier for a bird's eye view. Then he dropped down (very quickly I might add) for a quick landing where we were ushered out onto the ice. We had to squat down on the glacier and hold onto our hats for the heli's takeoff because the winds from the propeller were so strong.
View from the Heli
Fox Glacier
On the ice, we put on our crampons and began the hike up the glacier. We walked over small crevasses, little streams, and undulating hills. Not long into the walk we came to a bright blue ice tunnel in which we took turns climbing to the top and sliding down.
Craig Masters his First Crevasse
Slippy Slide!
Next, we walked to a huge ice cave, deemed unsafe by our guide. He really wanted to go in though, so he spent about 30 minutes hacking away at the entrance arch until it finally fell, making the rest of the cave safe to enter. The cave was gigantic, bright blue with a pond of melted ice water at the bottom, and little icebergs floating in it. It easily fit the 8 of us and we spent awhile in there exploring and taking pictures. Our guide told us it was the biggest ice cave he had been in.
In the Ice Cave
After that, we continued our walk, through another long tunnel, tried to go through a crevasse but it was just a bit too narrow. We spent a couple of hours on the ice before it was time to heli back down. Just as well too since the rain was rolling in. We even saw a deer running across the glacier! It was a great day and we were really happy not to have missed it!
After we got off the glacier, we picked up Shaggy with his pretty new tire and headed north, this time by road instead of air. We drove up the coast, stopped at a holiday park in Greymouth for the night, and then continued north the next day, Christmas Eve. We made stops for some hikes and then came across our friend's new home and decided to stop. Our friend Jessica had recently moved to the west coast to run the cafe at her boyfriend's family's place called Gentle Annie. We just stopped by for a quick hello but were easily talked into staying the night when we explored a bit. The place was settled on acres of beautiful property on the ocean. There was a hike up the cliff for great views over the coast, complete with a maze on the way! He hiked around for awhile, pitched our tent, and cooked some spaghetti for dinner. Then we walked to some glow-worm caves nearby to check out the little guys. We spent the rest of the evening on the beach watching the sunset. What a great place!
Sunset on Christmas Eve at Gentle Annie
Christmas Eve
The next morning, Christmas, Jessica prepared some coffee and homemade bagels for breakfast which we scarfed up quickly and then packed up and drove on. It was really nice to spend Christmas with friends!
That day, we made it up the the Heaphy Track which we walked part of and decided we would have liked to walk the whole thing. However, it takes about 5 days so this was not an option.
Christmas Rata Trees at the Heaphy Track
We drove on over the next couple of days, stopping in various places for hikes, including Picton where we spent the day in town and then drove down to Christchurch for our last night.
View near Picton
We stopped in Kaikoura for a dinner of its famous crawfish, caught fresh. We got these at a tiny shack on the ocean and ate them watching the seals play in the surf, the best type of place to get good seafood. As a bonus, the girl working at the shack gave us a bunch of green lipped mussels, another NZ specialty.
One of Our Stops
Cave
We made it down to Christchurch that night, spent a little time the next morning in the city, and then headed back to Dunners, stopping for one last time in Moeraki, to see the seals and penguins. As this was my favorite place, it was a very sad end to our road trip. We said goodbye to the little guys, promised to come visit someday, and drove home with heavy hearts to begin our packing extravaganza.
More Glacier/West Coast Pics
Posts
