Westport is a small little surf town on the west side of the
south island. We got there late that day, just in time for a few people to go
out surfing. I opted to save my money for other things. That night our bus
driver took the majority of the bus over to the beach for a bonfire at sunset.
Men will be men…..all they could do is talk about making the fire bigger. We
sat around drinking and enjoying the bonfire on the beach. We were warned by
friends on an earlier bus that quiet little Westport ends up being a crazy wild
night. After the bonfire we went out to a bar and had a few drinks. From the
stories in the morning it does sound like it was a crazy epic night for
several, however I was exhausted and ended up home relatively early that night.
The next day we set off for Franz Josef, where the main
attraction is walking across a glacier. The first night in Franz Josef we
partook in all you can eat pizza, and caught up with all our friends that were
on the bus ahead of us at the bar that night. The next morning, bright and
early we got up to walk across a glacier. We got to the shop and find out due
to weather they have postponed the walk for an hour. I had flashbacks to Taupo
and missing out on the volcano walk. Luckily, an hour later the weather was
decent enough to go up. They gave us hats, gloves, water proof outfits, boots
and crampons for our boots. The crampons are these spikes you strap on your
boots that help you dig into the ice so you don’t slip and slide around. The
only way up to the glacier is by helicopter. It was my first time it a
helicopter, and it was a frightening and exciting experience. When we got up to
the glacier our guide started hacking away at the ice to create footpaths for
us to walk on. Stairs made out of ice so we could walk up and down the glacier,
and see the caves, crevasses, waves, slopes, and all the other cool features of
the glacier. It was a much different experience than what I thought it would
be, and the glacier is dirtier than I thought it would be; but it was a lot of
fun and I’m glad I was able to see a glacier up close. At the end of the 4 hour tour we went to have
a well-deserved cheeseburger and then headed to the glacier hot water pools to
warm up. It was a fantastic but tiring day, with a night in watching movies in
our “flashpacker dorm room” (it had a tv and kettle in it).
Wanaka was a sleepy little town, it reminded me of a ski resort town. It was raining that day, so any activities were cancelled, so we all decided to go to the cinema instead. It was a unique experience, because the owners have made it a comfy cinema, with sofas, blankets, and you can take meals or drinks into the theater with you. They also have intermission where you can purchase freshly baked cookies.We all decided on an early night since we knew it would be a bit epic in Queenstown.
Next stop Queenstown!
Next stop Queenstown!
Bye for now <3
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