The Drive to
Fox Glacier...
Fox Glacier...
| Hi lamby. |
January 19, 2006
After parting ways with Queenstown, my Nissan Pulsar and I headed out for our road-trip to the Fox Glacier. This ride would
consist of many little stops as it was a little bit further than I perceived it to be. Oops.
I have to take this opportunity to say how dangerous it is letting me out on the roads...by myself…with so much beautiful scenery.
It was next to impossible to not drop my mouth at the sheer beauty of everything I was seeing. In addition to dropping my
mouth, I also ended up snapping my camera a lot of the way, as well. I kept my camera handy on my lap the whole way for when
I need to make the (incredibly frequent) impromptu stop. Definitely not winning any ‘Driver of the Year’ awards out here (in
addition to the fact that I have to listen to my ipod via my earphones due to my little Nissan not picking up any radio frequency).
The first major stop that I had was in Wanaka – a great town on a lake surrounded my mountains that reminds many of a smaller
Queenstown. I wouldn’t necessarily forgo Queenstown to come here but it was a great place to stop in (for even a longer period of
time if I had such a thing).
Then came stumbling upon more lakes and mountains while I made my way out to the West Coast. I continue to be blown away
by the scenic gift that New Zealand was granted when Mother Nature handed out such a thing.
And let’s also talk about the array of sheep. So many different kinds though I couldn’t tell you the name of any of them. But I can
tell that they look quite different. I can also tell you this – they are not big fans of when you stop your car on the highway and to
get out and take pictures of them. I have many o’ pictures of sheep butts while they ran away from me. How can I send the
message out that I’m not looking to make mutton or lamb chops for dinner tonight??? I just want to be their friend and see their
cute little lamby faces and see their nappy sheep wool up close. Those poor, misunderstood animals.
Once I hit the West Coast, I also hit quite a bit of fog and the rain that resulted from it. Not more rain! Anyway, I would drive
through the rainforest in these conditions. Even with the weather, it was hard to not appreciate the change in scenery that just
took place. Especially when viewing the waterfalls along the way out of the corner of my eye.
Before long, the scenery had all but disappeared behind the fog and rain. Luckily, it wasn’t too long before I headed into the Fox
Glacier township. I checked into the office where I had booked my heli-hike. They told me I was to come back in the morning ten
minutes before my trip was to start to see the status (as that is when they give the official weather call). In the meantime, I found
a cozy restaurant where I feasted on smoked salmon, kamura chips (aka sweet potato fries) with a honey mustard dipping sauce
and some pinot noir before calling it a night.
Now I am just crossing my fingers that I wake up to promising weather…
After parting ways with Queenstown, my Nissan Pulsar and I headed out for our road-trip to the Fox Glacier. This ride would
consist of many little stops as it was a little bit further than I perceived it to be. Oops.
I have to take this opportunity to say how dangerous it is letting me out on the roads...by myself…with so much beautiful scenery.
It was next to impossible to not drop my mouth at the sheer beauty of everything I was seeing. In addition to dropping my
mouth, I also ended up snapping my camera a lot of the way, as well. I kept my camera handy on my lap the whole way for when
I need to make the (incredibly frequent) impromptu stop. Definitely not winning any ‘Driver of the Year’ awards out here (in
addition to the fact that I have to listen to my ipod via my earphones due to my little Nissan not picking up any radio frequency).
The first major stop that I had was in Wanaka – a great town on a lake surrounded my mountains that reminds many of a smaller
Queenstown. I wouldn’t necessarily forgo Queenstown to come here but it was a great place to stop in (for even a longer period of
time if I had such a thing).
Then came stumbling upon more lakes and mountains while I made my way out to the West Coast. I continue to be blown away
by the scenic gift that New Zealand was granted when Mother Nature handed out such a thing.
And let’s also talk about the array of sheep. So many different kinds though I couldn’t tell you the name of any of them. But I can
tell that they look quite different. I can also tell you this – they are not big fans of when you stop your car on the highway and to
get out and take pictures of them. I have many o’ pictures of sheep butts while they ran away from me. How can I send the
message out that I’m not looking to make mutton or lamb chops for dinner tonight??? I just want to be their friend and see their
cute little lamby faces and see their nappy sheep wool up close. Those poor, misunderstood animals.
Once I hit the West Coast, I also hit quite a bit of fog and the rain that resulted from it. Not more rain! Anyway, I would drive
through the rainforest in these conditions. Even with the weather, it was hard to not appreciate the change in scenery that just
took place. Especially when viewing the waterfalls along the way out of the corner of my eye.
Before long, the scenery had all but disappeared behind the fog and rain. Luckily, it wasn’t too long before I headed into the Fox
Glacier township. I checked into the office where I had booked my heli-hike. They told me I was to come back in the morning ten
minutes before my trip was to start to see the status (as that is when they give the official weather call). In the meantime, I found
a cozy restaurant where I feasted on smoked salmon, kamura chips (aka sweet potato fries) with a honey mustard dipping sauce
and some pinot noir before calling it a night.
Now I am just crossing my fingers that I wake up to promising weather…
Brief stop in Wanaka.
| Taken literally while I was driving. |
