A Jump Awaits
Another cloudy day here...and still…no short of beautiful. Temperature is crisp during the day in Franz Josef..it stayed in the mid-50’s all day..at night it hovers around low 40’s. I love it. A lot of the hikes I want to do are pointless if there is this much cloud coverage…a couple of them are dangerous when wet…I did check out a few lower altitude spots. I booked a few extra nights in the hostel I’m currently at…I originally booked 2 nights. It comes out to about $20 a night..and nice. These are like pod beds…so this room is two bunkbeds..a couple lockers to store in…I lucked out with a bottom bunk..there is only one other person in the room…he’s from Belgium. My bed is cozy..it has a drape you can slide over and it creates a dark little cubby. I woke up several times…forgetting I was in a hostel.
The town is a two Road Town…there are more helicopter tour companies than there are restaurants its seems. A little overkill. But apparently it is worth it…they land on the glaciers and you can do hiking or ice-climbing. I’m still debating if it is worth my money. Talking with locals.. the three main attractions here are Franz Josef, Fox Glacier, and Mt. Cook…Franz Josef apparently has more unique features to it..a little steeper…but it’s a little smaller…it’s also receding…very quickly. I got to see some before and after pictures from a few local’s cell phone photos…the melt is real on this one. Like…major melt in the past 6 months. The other…Fox…is a longer glacier…there is actually enough snow at the top above it that its pushing the glacier downhill…also quickly….word is…each of these glaciers won’t last too much longer. So I’m facing…experiencing some epic glaciers up close and personal….from a hiking viewpoint further away…or from an aerial point of view. I have saved so money specifically for this part of the trip. I have 5-6 days here. Mt. Cook won’t be summited! But I plan on getting some good views of it as close as I can!
I’m waiting on a clear day in the forecast. Tomorrow morning I’m trying to catch a sunrise somewhere nearby.
While doing a little “hiking”… by the way…a lot of the trails are very well maintained and pretty much…walkable for all types of people….that is one thing about New Zealand compared to the US hikes I’ve done. You don’t have to do strenuous trails in order to see the best views here…lots of the time..the carpark already starts you out with a great view….yes..it is nice…to work hard for that last viewpoint that is jaw-dropping…but there are plenty of hikes where all along the trail there are jaw dropping scenes…and they aren’t that difficult to get to. Quite nice! In general…I have never been to anywhere that has sweeping landscapes..everywhere you go…and it changes terrain quickly…you are always looking to see what is around the next corner. I will say that this was something I knew would be the case…a few years ago..I knew that this type of ever changing terrain in a short driving distance was what I was looking for. Surreal…that I’m experiencing it now. I thought the opportunity passed me by ;)
So here I am…fulfilling a dream…and still dreaming. In an out of staying present…it’s hard..this brain of mine…to stay present. I’m walking through this fauna…ferns..rainforest…it’s been raining..waterfalls are gushing! The river is flowing! Everything is GREEN! Green does something to me lol Its refreshing in this fernlike green…and then the darker green I grew up loving…makes me feel comfortable..it soothes me. The few trails I did were different than most of the nature I’ve experienced…probably the ferns made it different..never experienced them before….but the closest thing I could relate it to was the Pacific Northwest…It reminded me of parts of Oregon and south west Washington State. Cascades as well. But there was still something different about it…a lady I came across from Boulder said it reminded her of a mix of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska….…I’ve never been to Alaska..but that observation made sense to me. We got to talking as some college kids were on the bridge…purposely making this bridge swing side to side and up and down…she and I waited til they were out of sight. Swinging bridges are one of my favorites…you see them quite a bit in NZ…and yes..they do swing. My waitress yesterday told me she fell through one when she was a little girl and her dad saved her by her hair…I was like…what……that’s..like from a movie…I didn’t think that those things happened to real people. She said she’s been trying to overcome her fear of the bridges her entire life…she’s almost there she says…because she loves hiking..but in most cases around here…you’ve got to cross these bridges.
Lets jump to the next blog..I don’t like it when these get 2 long****
