Feb 2007

We woke up Monday morning and headed straight away to Milford sound. The drive is about 4 hours but there are some beautiful sights along the way.
Our first stop was to the mirror lakes. The lakes are just small little ponds really that run parallel with the road. You walk down on a wooden walkway along the water. It doesn't really look like any big deal and then you look down. When you look down at the water you have to give it a second glance because you are not quite sure if it's really water or another set of mountains on the ground. The lakes are a a spitting image of the mountains, clouds, and trees that lay behind it. We took a lot of pictures, and the only reason you can tell it is water and not just an upside down pictures is because of the slight movement of the water. The pictures is crystal clear. it's beautiful. The water is also clear straight down to the bottom. you can see fish, rocks, and everything else that was in that water. It is also home to eels, but because they are nocturnal, we didn't get a chance t see any.
While we are at the mirror lakes a bus load of people arrived as well. Well the roads are very windy and slow so we did not want to get stuck behind a bus. So we took off for the car and headed on our way.
There were a few more sights along the way but we were running late so we decided to skip a few. The whole drive up is breathtaking. We drive through a whole string of mountains. Many of them still had snow on the tops of them.
As you drive up you have to go through a tunnel that is ridiculously long. It is a one way tunnel and it is called the Homer tunnel. The tunnel is 1270 meters long! So at both ends there is a stop light. When the light is green you can go. When it is red the people from the other side are going. The light takes about 5 minutes to change. Just outside the tunnel there are tons of small waterfalls flowing off the mountains and a few medium size ones. The mountains are towering, so the waterfalls are very long. There is ice at the top of the mountains and it falls to the ground. There was a very large cave of ice below the mountain that had recently broken off. Just underneath the cave was a river. We didn't go down to it because again we were short on time and really ice was noting exciting anymore after 6 hours of tramping around on a glacier.
It was finally our turn to go through the tunnel. There are no lights in the tunnel and it sure is creepy! Water drips down into it and it is just straight through a mountain. We were literally driving through the mountain. The tunnel was built on a slope because otherwise you would drive straight into another mountain or something like that.
The tunnel was built in 1935 to give work to the locals during the depression. It was stopped a few time for harsh weather conditions and the world war 2 and finally finished in 1954. The scary thing is the lights only run in the summer because it is too dangerous to stop and wait for the light outside of the tunnel due to avalanches. I haven't quite figured out how you know a car is coming from the other side?? Pretty scary if you ask me.
So we made our way through the seemingly neverending tunnel (I wonder how many people try and hold their breath through that tunnel) and another 15 minutes to Milford sound. I think we probably got behind three of the worst drivers I've ever seen in my life on the way to Milford. the drivers rode their brakes the whole way! It's a wonder any of them have brake pads left.
We arrived and parked in the car park, then walked about 400 meters to the wharf. We got our tickets to the boat and waited for it to board.
Just a little information about Milford sound. It is not actually a sound at all but a Fiord. A fiord is a valley caused by glaciers. When the glaciers recede these valleys are formed. Sounds are formed by flooding. It was created 6 million years ago. Milford sound is 16 Kilometers long and leads straight into the ocean. 16 kilometers is about 10 miles long. The average depth is 330 meters deep which is about 1082 feet. It rains 182 days out of the year and has an annual rainfall of 7 meters which is about 22 feet. It is the wettest place in New Zealand and one of the wettest places in the world. When it rains, the moutains are so straight up and down that the whole mountain just gets covered with water and it looks like one massive waterfall! They get some pretty crazy weather.
Our guide told us that they have about 5 earthquakes a day, but they don't have big ones very often and you can't feel the small ones. We also heard that the glacier is waiting for a large earthquake because it is right on the fault line and it's way over do. New Zealand soundsl ike its one big earthquake disaster waiting to happen.
The mountains along side of the water can be up to 1 mile high straight up. Trees can't grow in the moutains because they are solid rock, so they find cracks to bury their roots in. They get too heavy and fall off taking every tree below them with it. It's like a domino effect all the way down the mountain. Don't ask me how trees find cracks, not like they can walk around and say hey this is a good spot I'll plant here. He never quite explained that to me...
Okay so back to the trip. We loaded the boat and Meribeth and I sat in the very front so we could see everything. The guide came up to us and warned us that the anchor was on that side of the boat so it might cause a little spray and get us wet. We were like oh okay a little spray, no problem, we can handle it. Well as the boat took off we got a little spray in the face and it was so windy you could barely keep your eyes open, so we moved behind the inside cabiin so it would block the wind from us. Just as we got up this tsunami of a wave hit our seats and soaked the whole side of the boat we were sititng on. Talk about timing! The guide said aren't you glad you weren't sitting there now. I said well you said a little spray would hit us, you didn't say the whole ocean would try and jump in the boat. He apoligized and said he is used to living in water all year round so a little spray to him might be a little more water to other people. Ya, just a little... haha
So we made our way to some new seats that we were sure to stay dry because it was freezing. The view was just spectacular. I can honestly say the most beautiful and amazing thing I have ever seen. The pictures I have taken do it no justice. The water is a teal blue, huge waterfalls cascade down the sides of the mountains, and the moutnains are so talll you practically have to lay down on your back to see the tops. The shocking thing is your eyes can't even take it all in, the moutnains are higher than they even appear to your eyes. There was a water fall coming off the moutain that is three times the size of niagra falls and it wasn't even covering the whole mountain.
Clouds sat on the water and drifted in and out. At one point you couldn't see a thing because the clouds took over the sound. Once we came out of the cloud the water was once again visible and the giant mountains took over! The only place there was not a mountain was where the water led out into the ocean.
Sitting on some rocks was a group of seals sunbathing. There must have been about 15 of them laying on a rock so peacefully. Their coats must really keep them warm! As we were leaving the rock with all the seals on them, our captain called out that we had dolphins riding the bow line of our boat. Everyone in the boat (which there was about 15-20 of us) sprinted to the front of the boat to catch of a view of the bottlenose dolphin.
They were directly underneath the front of the boat. There were probably about 5 of them. they swim in the bow line of the boats because they don't have to do as much work. The water being pushed from the boat helps them swim. They never stop swimming from the day they are born to the day they die. They just shut off half their brain at a time or something like that. The dolphins weaved through the water so gracefully, every couple of seconds they made a jump out of the water. I blindly took pictures of the water hoping I would catch one jump out at just the right time. I did get a few. Over to the left of the boat the dolphins were swimming in sync with each other. There were about 2 of them, one was a baby, and they jumped in and out of the water staying in line with the boat. It was beautiful. the little baby not quite making it out as far as the mom. It just made my day! The guide said about 1 in every 4 groups gets to see dolphins. so it was our lucky day!!
The dolphins left us and it was very cold so I decided to go sit inside and watch the views from the window. There was a large building over on the side of the sound and I thought what the heck is out here?? I wonder what they use that for. As we got closer I realized, we had turned around, and that was the wharf we started out at. These boats are sneaky with their turns. I had no idea!
So we were back, we took a few more pictures and then headed off to the car. It was about a 2 hour drive back to the nearest town. we decided to check out the restaraunt to see if we wanted to eat there. It was pretty pricey so we decided on waiting until we got to town.
We got to Te Anau, which is known for the starting point for long hikes. The Milford track is one of the most famous. I'm not sure how long it is or where it goes, but I imagine it makes it's way to the Milford sound and it takes like a week or something like that.
Once we got there we checked into a hostel and found somewhere to eat. We chose and Italian place. Meribeth got some pasta and i got some apricot chicken thing. I thought I was getting pasta but it was a pizza. haha well at least I'm trying new things. It was wonderful too. It was chicken and some vegetables and it had an apricot type sauce on it. Mmmm it was good.
We were pretty tired so we went back to the hostel and checked out internet. Meribeth went down to the lake to write in her journal. I went to look for her and couldn't find her, so I went and looked for her in her room but no sign. I was walking out when I saw a newspaper. I decided to sit and read it for a little while.
At that time a couple of guys walked in, a few minutes later they started talking to me. They were a little bit older and they were getting ready for a 4 day long fishing trip up in the moutains. There plan was to have a helicopter drop them in to a certain part of the river and then they would fish for 4 days and come back out. The funny part to me was they don't even keep the fish. They fish and then throw them back. They were going to fish for trout which I guess gets huge here.
Meribeth came back and sat down with us. We ended up talking for about 4 hours. It was 1:30 when I finally went back to my room. Meribeth and I had to have seperate rooms because she didn't have any available together. There were 3 guys in my room, but they were all gone by the time I woke up in the morning. My guess is they were there for the hikes.
The next morning we woke up, took showers, and got ready to head to the next town. I was walking out to the car when I saw the guys from lsat night. It was about 10 in the morning so I figured that something was wrong if they haven't left yet. I know fishers like to get started early. Apparently, the helicopter service isn't allowed to take fisherman up the moutains. For some reason it's okay to take hunters, but not fisherman. So that was kind of weird. They found a guy that would take them in a boat, but they weren't sure how long it took or any of the details so they had to work it all out. They were determined to make it work. It would have cost them about $1300 to take a helicopter, so maybe the boat was better for them anyways.
We decided to leave Te Anau and head straight to Dunedin. There was nt much to do in Te Anau except for the long hikes, and we were still sad from leaving Queenstown so we weren't in the mood to go search for something to do.

Saturday night was a long night, but we woke up bright and early getting ready to jump off a bridge. We got dressed and headed into town where the bus was going to pick us up.
There were about 18 people at the office all ready to go bungy jumping. The guy picked us up in the bus and we headed about 25 minutes out of town to the bungy jumping bridge.
The bridge is very old and only used for bungy jumping. It was the very first spot for bungy jumping in the world. It is 43 meters high which is about 140 feet high or something like that. I am so nervous at this point. My hands were shaking and I just had a huge pit in my stomach.
We got to the site and they take your weight and you have to sign a waiver saying it's not their fault if you die. you're the stupid idiot jumping off a bridge. lol. Actually a few people in Queensland said it was one of the safest things you can do out of all the activities.
So after that we headed to the bridge. We all lined up ready to go and watched the people in front of us go. Meribeth got to the front. they suited her up and she just jumped.
It was my turn next. You go down to a small platform and two guys help suit you up. They give you a harness around your waist, and then they lay a towel out to put around your feet. You think oh my god would if my feet slip out of this towel. Outside of the towel they put some bungy cord type things around your feet. One of them connects to the harness around your waist. I told the guy I was really scared and he said okay well my job is to get you off the bridge. So I stood up and he helped me to the edge. It was so scary thinking I actually have to jump off the bridge with a river flowing beneath me.
so I walked to the very edge with my toes slightly hanging off. Then he says look at the camera and wave to the spectators. by the time I had tears in my eyes because i was so scared. The guys says to me of course you're scared. It's not natural to jump off a bridge. he says he's going backwarsd from 5 and then I jump. Okay 5-4-3-2-1...No jump. The guy looks down and says where have you gone? haha It was really cute in his new zealand accent. I started to laugh so it made me alittle less nervous. I get ready again and this time I stared out across the river instead of down. He counts again and I just jumped! It was the craziest feeling I've ever experienced. You just free fall down in the air. Just as I was about to touch the water the bungy pulled me back up and I bounced a few times. It was an amazing feeling. After that you feel so stupid for taking so long to do it. I loved it! After you stop bouncing they lower you down and two guys in a boat drift over to you and disconnect you. You then walk up a large walkway to the top where a veiwing area is. The funny thing is that they have t.v.s so everyone can hear what the guy at the top is telling people before they jump. so Meribeth got to hear it all and she said she was a little nervous I wasn't going to do it. A guy a few people back from me backed out, so that was sad because you don't get a refund.
We ended up getting a free dvd because we went for the 9:00 a.m. tour. Apparently, nobody books the morning times so they needed an incentive. I think everyone is usually too hung over to go that early. they also give you a free t shirt and you see at least two people a day wearing these shirts.
So it was over pretty quick and we were back on the bus at 11 a.m. So we went back to the hostel and took another nap. When we woke up we decided we wanted to do a little hike. Two of the American guys we had been hanging out with decided to go with us. so we went out to a small town called Glenorchy. It had about 4 buildings total in the whole town and I think about 40 people live there. On our way out we decided to stop at a viewpoint of the lake. It was absolutely beautiful! Unbelievable really.
We got back in teh car and I realized I had left my camera case on the top of the roof. Goodbye camera case! I was pretty sad but I let it go. So we get to Glenorchy and we realize wow we really really need gas. It was on empty and the light was already on. Apparently, those 40 people that live in the town don't need gas after 6 because the gas station was closed. We decided to go down to the lake and skip some rocks and then we went for alittle hike.
We went back into town and had some food and beer at a local bar/cafe. It was pretty good. It was so quiet and peaceful and the townspeople were really nice.
After that it was time to make the drive back into Queenstown. It was about a 35 minute drive so we were really pushing it with the gas. On our way back I told everyone to keep an eye out for my camera case just in case. They all laughed at me and made fun of me for thinking we would find it.
The guy in the back seat and I were looking out the window when this little black square thing was on the side of the road. I screamed for Meribeth to pull over and I ran out. Sure enough it was my camera case. It was in great shape, not ran over or anything. I was so happy!
So we got back into town on fumes and pulled up to the closest gas station (petrol station they call them here). We decided to get some wine and go sit in the hot tub at the hostel for a while.
We got the wine got our swim suits and went and hung out in the spa. The stars are absolutely amazing here and you can see the milky way and just about every star ever created in the sky. I really wish I can explain the beauty of new zealand but there really are no words for it.
So we talked about America and New Zealand and everything in between.
After we got out we talked for a while more and then headed to bed. The next day we were leaving Queenstown and heading to Milford sound. We were really sad to leave Queenstown. We had made some great friends, did so many great things, and absolutely loved the scenery. I fell in love with Queenstown!

Today we woke up at about 7 a.m. because we had to go into town and check in for our river surfing group. We checked in and a bus came and picked us up. We drove out of town for about 40 minutes. It was a very scenic route with the river flowing almost the whole way and all the mountains cascading along the road. We passed the bridge that we were bungee jumping off. It was pretty high so that got us a little nervous.
We finally ended up at a little mock gold mining city, where they run tours at. The river surfing group stores their gear there. So we walked back to the very back and got suited up with wet suits, boots, flippers, helmets, and boogie boards.
My boogie board was a blue piece of styrofome! It was not the most comforting thing, to jump in a river that is about 15 degrees celcius and the only thing I have to hold on to is a boogie board. So I'm really nervous by this time. We headed up to the bus and went up the river about 7 kilometers. We all unloaded and the first thing we had to do was jump in the water to get our bodies used to it. This river is the water that comes from the mountains when the snow melts. So even with wet suits on it still feels like you're sitting in a bucket of ice. Sure enough you do get used to it and we were ready to move on to the lesson.
For about 20 minutes they show you how to turn and what parts of the river to stay on. The guide in the front has hand motions and he tells you which way to go and we all have to stay behind him so he can tell us what to do. Easy enough...
So we try a few moves in the water (very slow moving water) so we can get a feel for how it works. You have to point the board in certain directions and kick like there is no tomorrow. It was actually pretty physical stuff.
So everyone did fine in the practice so we were ready to go down the river. There were 3 guides, one to take pictures, one to lead the group, and the other to stay behind and help the stragglers. I was determined not to be a straggler. The guide in the front said anyone that is nervous come to the front. I'm not sure if I've ever moved that fast in the water before to get in the front. Maybe when I saw the jelly fish but it's a close race.
So I was right behind the guide and we were ready to go. It was smooth sailing for about 2 seconds and then bang! The water comes over the top of you and pushed you every which way. You're supposed to turn and go with the water, but it's pretty scary when you have really no control of where you're going or what you're doing. They forgot to mention to that you can't see the arm motions the guide is doing, when your face is underwater. haha so it was an interesting start.
I was no longer in the front but drifting toward the center of the group. There were about 10 of us and since we had no control of where we went, we were all crashing into each other. I pretty much piggy backed my way down half the river. Lets just say we all became very special friends in the river that day. haha.
So anyways, we pass the first set of rapids and I think hmm this is pretty fun, I'm doing okay. Kicking is getting pretty tiring because I just tried to kick my way out of everything instead of turning and flowing with the water, but it was good stuff. Then he says okay everyone line up we're going through maneater.
This rapid was incredible. It was a small drop and then we were all just lost from there. All I could do was hold on to my board for dear life. I hit the rapid and my board flew up in the air, and I was right on top of it because I was not about to let go. It flipped me backwards so I was under the board. Then it drags you under water, spins, you around, and all of the sudden you are out of the rapid.
That was pretty intense, it was hard to come out of that and go right back to trying to turn and stay on your board. So yep I became a straggler. The guide in the back had to pull me out of a whirl pool because I started to spin towards the middle of it. Then he went down a little ways with me. There was an area where there were huge rocks sticking out of the water. This is phenomenal to me because the river was about 8 meters deep so about 25 feet deep. So we get going and I'm kicking like a mad woman and just not going anywhere, so the guide pushed me away from the rocks.
It went okay. I made it. We went through a few more rapids and then the water was calm. So we floated on our boards for about 20 minutes. It was beautiful and relaxing. You didn't have to do any work because the river just carried you. We just rested on our boards. It was great because I was getting a massive cramp in my calf from kicking and the water being so cold.
One of the guides went and got a jet ski, and one by one he towed us around the river on a large styrofome looking thing. It was really fun. He gave everyone about a 10 minute turn. The river is fun because there's waves and bumps and twists. It was great.
After everyone got a turn we came to a point where we could go rock jumping. We had life jackets on and helmets so it was pretty safe. The rocks were 5 meters up, 12 meters up, 17 meters, and 23 meters up. There are about 2.3 feet in a meter I think? Something like that. So we all did the 12 meter rock jump. Meribeth went first. I was supposed to go next but I wanted to see a few more people do it. It was my turn and I got to the rock and said okay someone else go then I'll go. So another guy went then I got back out to the ledge.
It is a crazy feeling thinking you are going to jump off a rock. It was about 40 feet up. So I got to the ledge, and I think my stomach left way before the rest of my body. I figured if I can't do 12 meters there is no way I can do 43 meters bungee jumping. So I sucked it up and jumped. Wow what an incredible feeling! there was about a 2 second hang time in the air which really feels about 2 minutes. It is so amazing. I must not have kept my feet all the way straight though because the back of one of my legs and my butt felt like I just got whipped with a belt. It stung pretty bad, but a minor consequence from teh amazing feeling it was to jump off the rock. I went back up and did the 5 meter one but that just wasn't the same.
so next we moved on to the water slide. They have a large water slide that you get on your board and slide down into the water and skid across. I demonstrated how to go backwards so I laid down on my boogie board backwards. It was pretty fun. then the guide with the jet ski comes and drags you into shore where there is a ladder waiting for you.
Next we moved on to the rope swing. This is about 30-40 feet about the water and you jump on this little buoy and swing across the river. I didn't really get the whole swing across the river memo because I got on and jumped off the platform with the swing and as soon as the swing got close to the water I fell in. haha. The guide at the top said what was that?! So I had to have another turn. this time I swung all the way across and let go when I was pretty high in the air. hitting the water felt like someone just punched me in the ribs. I had to gasp for air a few times and it took a minute or so to catch my breath. I didn't really like the swing after that...
After that we unloaded all the gear and headed back for home. We got a cd with all the pictures that were taken.
When we got back to the hostel it was time for a nap. We slept for an hour or so and then decided to go for a drive. We drove to a little town called arrowtown but it was pretty much all closed up.
We went to a bottle shop and bought a bottle of wine becaus New Zealand is supposed to have great wine. then we got some cheese and crackers and headed towards the middle of Queenstown. We drank wine and ate cheese and crackers on the lawn overlooking a lake surrounded my mountains. It was absolutely beautiful.
We headed back to the hostel met up with some people we met and went out on the town. We went to a few bars and mostly hung out with other Americans. We tried a few New Zealand beers and hung out at a few different bars.
It was a great time. Meribeth and I fell in love with Queenstown. The next day it was time to jump off a bridge!

We woke up bright and early and ready to hit the road. We checked out of the hostel and started towards Queenstown. It was about a 5 hour drive. We stopped a few times for gas and toilets. Gas is ridiculous expensive here. To fill up a tank of a station wagon it costs about $70. It is just crazy.
The ride was beautiful. There were neverending lakes and moutains for miles. Some of the mountains still had snow on them. A lot of the mountains on the way down were a lot drier down this way. WE think it is because it gets so much snow but we're not sure. Still beautiful nonetheless.
Once we got to Queenstown we checked into our hostel and right away we booked river surfing, bungee jumping, and a cruise through milford sounds. Queenstown is right on a lake with mountains surrounding it from every direction. Some mountains are green, some are dry, and some have snow on it, depending on which direction you look. It is absolutely amazing. Kind of reminds me of Lake Tahoe. The water of the lake is crystal clear blue. I've never seen anything like it.
We took a walk around town and made our way up to the gondola. The gondola is super high. I can't even tell you how high it goes up, I will have to find out and write it later. Once you're up there you can see for miles and miles, well until you can't see passed the mountains. It is so beautiful. you can see the lake with boats zipping around, and a small area of houses, and more mountains of course. It's too beautiful to explain. I will have to post pictures when I get to my computer.
There was a wedding reception going on at the time. I couldn't imagine getting married up there. MAn those people must be rich!
At the very top of the gondola there is a paved luge that you can ride down. So you take another chair lift up another 800 meters, and you ride these little 3 wheeler cars down to the gondola. It was great fun! Took a minute to get used to but you can go as fast or as slow as you want and the course weaves around the mountain so it takes a little while to go down. The view was spectacular as you are going down as well. We learned later that more people get hurt doing this little luge, than they do river surfing, sky diving, bungee jumping, and everything else this little town has to offer. We had to laugh about that one because it's like go carts. some people do stupid things I guess.
So after that we walked around for literally 45 minutes, trying to find a restaraunt we were happy eating at. We just couldn't decided. WE decided on a pizza place and at some amzing pizza. We also tried a NEw Zealand beer called Tui which was not too exciting.
We came back to the hostel got dressed to go out and made our way down to the buffalo bar where we could get free beer with our hostel key card. We went with a bunch of people from the hostel and it was a lot of fun. After about 2 beers we were ready to go though because we had to be up super early. We headed back to the hostel and met two Australians that are from about 20 minutes south of Brisbane. So we ended up talking with them for about 1 hour and a half. They were great fun but we were ready for bed. So we headed back. We had to get ready for river surfing so we ended up going to bed about 2:30. REady to get up about 7 am. Fun times!

Well I figured I better keep up with this before I forget everything. I've been doing so much!

Thursday we went up the San Josef Glacier. We got up early headed down to the shop and waited for the group to get ready.
Just a little background information. The Glacier is a huge block of ice that is 11 kilometers long, which I guess is about 8 miles long. 4 kilometers is visible from the bottom and the rest is spread amongst the back behind the mountains. Some guy with the last name Haast named the glacier Franz Josef because it reminded him of Franz Josef (sorry I forget waht country he was from) and his long white beard. The glacier moves about 3 to 4 meters a day, so one track that someone used earlier in the day might not be the same when the next group goes through.
So back to my day... It was a nice sunny day so they let us have the choice whether or not we wanted to have over pants that were somewhat waterproof. Meribeth and I opted to have the pants because all I had on were running tights. We also geared up with boots, large rain jackets, gloves, beanies, and ice spikes to go on the bottom of our feet. Once we were all geared up we headed up to the glacier. It was about a 10 minute ride.
WE signed up for a full day which ended up being about 6 hours on the ice and we ended up walking around 16 kilomters which I think would be equivalent to about 9 or 10 miles. So it was a long tiring hike.
First we had to walk about 50 minutes through the valley to get up the glacier, then you stop and put on your ice spikes so you can walk on the ice and not slip all over the place.
We made our way up to the start of the glacier and started our climb. First there are large steps and hand ropes to make it up the first part because it is rather steep. Supposedly, it is the steepest glacier in the world that is used commericially. So we walked up the large stairs and took lots of pictures. The glacier looked like huge mounds of snow that ended in a point. I just wanted to run and jump on the mounds, but in acutality they were large pieces of white and sometimes black dirt. The rocks and debris fall down from the mountains surrounding it.
I forgot at the beginning of the glacier there is this large ice cave at the very bottom. Makes you think you are walking on a hollow glaicer that you can fall through any minute. We were reassured that rock sometimes goes higher so it's not all like that but there are parts where it's ice and then air at the bottom. Pretty scary to think about. The cave had mounds and mounds of ice that had broken off at the bottom of the cave. Our tour guide said they weren't there yesterday, so that's how fast the glacier ice falls off the bottom.
So anyways, we were up passed the stairs and we began our hike into the top where there are no stairs, and the tour guide had to take a huge ice pick and form small stairs for us. Most of the time only one foot fit on the stairs and we had to go up one foot at a time trying to step up. It was necessary to use your hands because you had to lift yourselves up sometimes.
I am so thankful that I got those pants over the top of my pants because I was freezing cold. AS we got to the top it got really really cold, as you can imagine sitting on miles of ice. AT one point the guide said the ice below us was about 400 meters deep.
On the glacier they get an annual rain drop of about 7 meters. That is 21 feet of rain in one year. Towards the back of the glaicer they get something like 80 meters of rain and snow a year. So it's pretty crazy, and that is how it stays a huge block of ice.
Up at the top we had to go through little tunnels and sometimes ditches that we could barely fit in. I'm not sure how people much bigger than me fit through because I felt like a size 10 foot fitting into a size 4 shoe. It was just crazy. Luckily you slide through ice so you can jiggle yourself through. We had to take our backpacks off and go one foot at a time through some of these ditches.
Some of the places we went were just inches away from huge holes that you couldn't even see where they went. The top layer of the ice was melting as well so there were small waterfalls everywhere.
We zig zagged back and forth back and forth. So it fet like we were lost and never going to come down.
I was more than ready to come down after a while because it is tiring and you are freezing cold. At one point I slipped and fell, and let me tell you...ice hurts! I have a huge bruise on my shin that matched the bruise I got from kakadu the week before.
It was cold, and the bad part of the trip is you had to stop sooooo many times so the guide could make out a new path for us to go through. There was one group ahead of us so we kind of used theres but we had to stop so much so she could make a path for us.
Otherwise it was amazing. Truly beautiful. some parts were sky blue, some parts were pure white, and others were dirty from all the debris falling from the mountains. Everyday is a life threatening situation around here let me tell you. One slip and you could fall to the ground, rocks could suddenly fall and collapse on you. It's just amazing that more accidents don't happen around here.
On our way off the glacier another large mass of ice fell from the cave and you could feel the rumble and shake as it fell off and hit the ground. It was so scary I almost made a new shade of yellow ice on the glacier. haha j/k but it was a pretty scary feeling.
We finally made our way down and we took of the ice spikes and headed back to the bus.
We turned all our gear in. Meribeth and I had to check into a new hostel and so we headed there showered, cooked some food in the kitchen at the hostel, used the internet and pretty much went to bed. It was exhausting! Next morning we headed to Queenstown.