Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

Our journey up the west coast with Phil and Tanya culminated in an epic day at the pinnacle of the south island: the Franz Josef Glacier.  The glacier’s blue crystal ice accumulated between two towering cliffs as it slowly progressed out towards the Tasman Sea. 

While the majority of tourists could only gaze upon the frozen mass from afar, and a few lucky ones had the opportunity to hike to the edge, the slim minority had the fortunate chance to HELICOPTER onto the peak and CLIMB through it’s ice formations.  That’s right, with the generous sponsorship from Margie and Mryon, we couldn’t turn down the phenomenal opportunity.  Forgetting the irksome sandflies, we screamed with glee as the chopper transported us for major aerial sightseeing followed by a snow landing atop the awe-inspiring glacier.  

Our experienced guide, TJ, then led us through blue ice caves, moulins (active rivers flowing deep into the glacier), and remarkable surface formations caused by rain and wind.  With crampons securing our feet to the ice steps (hand-made by TJ’s pick ax), we marveled at the glacier for three hours.  Our obsessive picture taking and claustrophobia-inducing climbing were brought to an end as we flew off the glacier in pure happiness.

Here are the highlights from our superb glacial adventure.  For more pics, check out the New Zealand (South Island) folder on the Galleries tab

Wanaka, New Zealand

The two and a half hour drive from Te Anau to the Milford Sound matched our expectations from fellow travellers: overwhelmingly high reviews.  The ever winding road led us between walls of steep rock cliffs (watch out for tree avalanches), up and over rolling rivers, past tranquil “mirror” lakes, alongside rushing waterfalls, and through a mountain tunnel where we reached the famous waterway.  

We leisurely cruised around the sound for an hour - and especially enjoyed sidling up to a waterfall (free shower!) and surreptitiously gawking at the Gucci-clad Japanese entourage that spent the entire cruise taking self portraits.  However, we had to concede that the spectacular car journey to the sound overshadowed the actual destination.

The next day a tour agent sweet talked us into a second cruise, this time an overnight on the Doubtful Sound (ten times larger than Milford with significantly fewer tourists).  With high hopes, we embarked upon a one hour jaunt over Lake Manapouri to the hydro power plant (or in the words of Ken, “that’s the end of the dam(n) tour”).  We then boarded a 45 minute bus ride over a desolate mountain pass to the sea channel.  The sandfly infestation (those blood-sucking pests) would have gotten the best of us had it not been for our high priced, non-toxic spray and the ever fashionable “pants-rolled-into-our-socks” look.

About 50 guests then clamored onto the larger cruise ship, which ferried us out to the Tasman Sea.  We weren’t sure how Phil maneuvered it (charming lawyerly persuasion?), but the staff upgraded us from a four-person, lower deck room to two double rooms overlooking the sea.  Ken and I twirled around our spacious 160 square feet of freedom, basking in our good fortune (not that we didn’t want to bunk with our loving family members, but after living in Big Green... our own room was pure extravagance).

Phil, Tanya, and Ken delighted in kayaking along the calm water’s edge and watching fur seals, “whilst” I played paparazzi (just had to throw that term in somewhere).  Our relaxed evening proceedings included penguin sightings, substantial overeating (it was a cruise after all), and a rousing game of Uno con White Wine.  The following morning we returned safely to civilization (Queenstown) where we polished off gluttonous Fergburgers before journeying north.

Lessons learned in Fiordland:

1. Tanya can pop a squat anywhere
2. Hillary’s driving is just bad enough to make Tanya nauseous but not enough to vomit
3. Duck is to water as Phil is to kayak
4. Ken is the Captain of his own ship
5. Big Green maxes out at 30 km/hour when transporting four Altmann’s up the mountain
6. And for those trivia junkies: there are 60 million sheep, 20 million possum, and four million people in New Zealand!  Sweet as!

Te Anau, New Zealand

They made it!  Phil (Ken’s brother) and Tanya (sister-in-law) joined us for ten days of excitement, which kicked off in Queenstown - the adventure capital of New Zealand.  We began by hiking to a peak overlooking the town (we gave each other accolades for taking the “difficult route” as 99% of the tourists rode the gondola to the summit).  The weather cooperated so we caught a panoramic view overlooking Lake Wakatipu and city below (pop: 11,000).

We purchased three rides on the hilltop “luge” - essentially a three wheel go-cart type track near the top of the gondola.  The “advanced” track was far superior because we could gain speed on our mini carts as we sped around the banked corners.  To reward our efforts we opted for the easy route down the hill - the gondola.

The drive through the local wineries in Gibbston Valley gave us views of the autumn-colored foliage (remember it’s fall here in the southern hemisphere). We sampled a range of excellent wines (the region is known for pinot noirs but we actually preferred the whites).  Our favorite was a sauvignon blanc flavored with feijoa, a local green fruit similar to a guava with a tart apple flavor.

We enjoyed a luxurious lunch on the winery’s sun-filled patio, but the eatery winner was the perennial favorite “Fergburger,” where we gorged on ginormous “best burgers in town.”  What a great first day!  

The following morning began with a thrilling ride on the “shotover jet,” a hover-craft-type speedboat ride along the shallow and rocky Shotover Canyon.  The wet and wild ride included 360 degree spins and near cliff swerves.  The guys definitely rated this as a highlight as we all screamed and threw our hands in the air (the blistery wind nearly froze our faces but we didn’t care).

After driving an hour along the lake towards Glenorchy we found a recommended  nature hike.  Tanya and I power walked while the guys took a slower “photographers pace” (we later learned their slow pace was because they got lost).

We drove south to Te Anau and walked a brief hike along the Kepler Track - or as we called it: Moss Mania.  Moss blanketed the trees and ground like a soft layer of green foam and wild mushrooms grew abundantly.  Later that evening Tanya and Phil visited the glow worm caves, but Ken and I declined as we had our worm experience earlier in the trip.  And now... we’re off to the raw wilderness of the Milford Sound!


Special thanks to Mom for sending us her camera to get these shots!

Lake Hawea, New Zealand

Nelson Lakes National Park

Our national park field trip carried on as we progressed south through:

Nelson Lakes National Park: appreciated a serene winding jog around the lake;

Poparoa National Park: watched gleaming sunsets over the ocean (very PCH); also saw unique pancake-looking rocks but missed the spurting blowhole due to the timing of low tide and... out the corner of our eye we caught the quickest glimpse of a kiwi bird (score!); and 

Westland National Park: climbed to a lookout above the Okarito Lagoon, gazed upon a cloud covered Mt. Cook, and yes, observed the stately Fox glacier.  (Sidenote: we hope to return to the Franz Josef glacier in a few weeks with Ken’s brother and sister-in-law, so more pictures to come).

The drive along the west coast of the south island - rated as one of the top ten in the world - was unforgettable.  After racking our brains through various drives we had taken, we had to agree with it’s ranking.  The weather turned chillier and rainier as we traversed south, not surprising as we were appropriately cautioned by the locals - the west coast of the south island is infamously waterlogged.  The last few mornings we awoke to windows of condensation, shivery extremities, and the classic “look, you can see my breath it’s so cold” routine.  

On another note, a pop quiz.  This picture taken in Ross, NZ is:


a)  a microwave
b)  a mailbox
c)  awesome
d)  all of the above

Lake Hawea, New Zealand

Nelson Lakes National Park

Our national park field trip carried on as we progressed south through:

Nelson Lakes National Park: appreciated a serene winding jog around the lake;

Poparoa National Park: watched gleaming sunsets over the ocean (very PCH); also saw unique pancake-looking rocks but missed the spurting blowhole due to the timing of low tide and... out the corner of our eye we caught the quickest glimpse of a kiwi bird (score!); and 

Westland National Park: climbed to a lookout above the Okarito Lagoon, gazed upon a cloud covered Mt. Cook, and yes, observed the stately Fox glacier.  (Sidenote: we hope to return to the Franz Josef glacier in a few weeks with Ken’s brother and sister-in-law, so more pictures to come).

The drive along the west coast of the south island - rated as one of the top ten in the world - was unforgettable.  After racking our brains through various drives we had taken, we had to agree with it’s ranking.  The weather turned chillier and rainier as we traversed south, not surprising as we were appropriately cautioned by the locals - the west coast of the south island is infamously waterlogged.  The last few mornings we awoke to windows of condensation, shivery extremities, and the classic “look, you can see my breath it’s so cold” routine.  

On another note, a pop quiz.  This picture taken in Ross, NZ is:


a)  a microwave
b)  a mailbox
c)  awesome
d)  all of the above