Half day hiking at Franz Josef Glacier

The highlight for today was "Half-day hiking glacier experience". I didn't have to get up early, thanks God! It was the first day I didn't get up early since I started this trip. (Anyway, I got up around 7.30am) I got ready and went to the glacier experience office! There were lots of people gathering already. People who would do the full day hiking were ready to go when I got there! Finally, it was our turn (half day hiking group). It took us sometimes to get ready. They provided us boots, ice talonz (special shoes for hiking the ice), rain coats, gloves and hat. You can bring your own stuffs as well if you want!


There were around 49 people in my group. That's lots, isn't it? Once, we reached there, we had to walk around 3 kms from the car park to the glacier. It took us around 45 mins on foot! ( the guide, chris, said)

Then, we got at the glacier. We were seperated into a group of ten. We put the ice talonz on and were ready to walk up the glacier! It was getting colder and colder when we walked close to the glacier.

It's time!!! at the very beginning of the hiking, it was hard and steep. I thought to myself that I was lucky doing only a half day one. However, it wasn't that hard! It was easier and getting more and more beautiful. The ice was bluer when we got higher. Chris (the guide) told us that it was because of the reflection of the light, the ice doesn't observe the blue colour. That's why we saw it's blue! Also, it does something with oxygen in the air. (I'm not quite sure, it sounded too academic to me) Anyway, I'm very sure that it is beautiful. It was very cold up there. My hands were freezing!

I was happy I have done it. It was a good experience. Overall it wasn't that hard, only some parts were a bit slipery and steep. Anyway, it was really ok, not that dangerous at all. We went down around 1 pm. I didn't think we were in the ice that long. I mean we were supposed to be there longer and go higher.

I got back to the backpackers around 2 pm. I was starving. After feeding myself, I went for a walk and had a cup of coffee with a friend I met here. That's another day!












There were all together only 3 of us in the room. So good, not too crowded! (Tanya, german girl, Judith, Holland girl and myself) They were nice and friendly. Last night there was a japanese girl with us (Sayaka). She should be in Queenstown now. It's good seeing and talking to people from various countries. They also made my day! I've really enjoyed my trip so far!!!

Franz Josef!!!

Thanks God, the journey was short today!!! We left Greymouth 8am (Honestly, I wanted to stay longer). Anyway, the show must go on!!! eiei!!! We had stopped a few places like we did yesterday. We visited "Hokitika" which is a well-known place for greenstone, and Ross (the place for fortune hunters as people came here to look for gold!). If you wanna have gold here at Ross, you can pay $6 and you will be guaranteed to get one!

Then, we had another quick stop at Bushman's cafe where you can try possom's pie! (For people who don't know what possums are, they are a pest. They're dangerous to other animals, and little trees. They were introduced to Nz by Aussies. Kiwi themselves don't want them, so they'd like to eliminate them by making possum's pie! (Ha ha, I'm just kidding).

The driver said their meat is like cats' meat :(!!! sounds cruel!!! She has never tried it herself, she's just heard from others! Some of us tried it too, they said it was ok, but no one wants another one! eiei! )

Finally, we got Franz Josef around 12.30pm. As soon as I saw Franz Josef, I had no wonder why Greymouth is the biggest city on west coast. If you walk as normal no hurry at all, you can see all the city within 10 mins or less. Ho ho! There are only few cafes, bars and one big convenient store. There is an information centre too, unfortunately they can do only a few things for you (I didn't know what things they could do), but I knew that they couldn't help me book the accommodation in advance. :(

One funny thing, if you wanna get a photo from your digital camera, they need to take your camera to other cities (Wanaka or Greymouth). It will take you a few days to do so. Gosh! I'm sure you now can imagine how small it is. I wouldn't say it is a city.

I met one japanese girl at the backpacker(Glow worm backpacker), we went for coffee. She had worked at the backpacker for a week. Then, we had another walk around the block(the city). It's like a main road and there were shops beside the road. That's it, really!!!

I've talked to one English gentleman and it made me want to stay a night at Wanaka. There was one of famous lakes (Wanaka lake). He said it was stunning!

This was another day of my journey!!!

Greymouth (city of love)

Moving down to Greymouth today!!! Along the way to Greymouth, we had stopped at a few places to see seal colonies (somewhere around westport) and pancake rocks at Punakaiki. I've heard that if the tide is high, we can see the water hit the pancake rock!!! Unfortunately, the sea was quite calm!!! So, nothing special only rocks!!!! Anyway, it is amazing how the nature created those layer rocks!

We left Nelson around 8 am and arrived at Greymouth at 4.30pm. It was a lovely day, the weather was nice, a bit hot actually. I stayyed at the backpackers called "Global village". Gosh, It was extremely good!!!!! I felt impressed since my first step there!!! I'm not trying to be over on the top here, I'm just very honest!!!! I took lots of photos of it. This place wasn't on the list of Magic bus, so I had to go there myself. The driver (Flash) droped me at the backpackers they stayyed. I got only a little map with me. Not surprisingly, I couldn't find the place as the map didn't provide much in detail. I stopped and asked the lady walking along the street. From her uniform, she should work for a bank. Her name is Sue. She was very kind to me! She offered me a lift because she was about going that way. How nice!!!! I was very appreciated!!! I gave her a small souvenir I had for her kindness.

Once I got to the backpacker, the first thing I did was taking a photo. :P Then, I met the owners (they're couple, obviously the wife is from Japan). Both of them were nice and friendly. He showed me facilities and recommended places to go in Greymouth.

A good thing of travelling in Summer is that it won't get dark until nearly 9 pm. After putting my bags away, I went to the place which we could see Mt. cook. Instead of riding a bike, I decided to walk there. It took me around half an hour (one-way). A bit far, but a good walk!!! Unfortunately, the weather was not that good, the sky wasn't clear. I therefore couldn't see mt. cook. :(

I then rode a bike to the city, just wanted to see the city and remembered the way to be picked up. I rode only 10 minutes to get there. The city was very small, even though Greymouth is the biggest city on the west coast!!!

On the way back, I met one german guy who stayyed in the same backpacker. So, we rode back together. We found out that we stayyed at the same place in Nelson too, but he left the day before I got there. Anyway, we knew the same people there. That was funny, wasn't it? How small New Zealand is!!!!
I thought, he was a nice and romantic guy. He studied Industrial engineering. He loves nature very much, he enjoyed watching sunrise and sunset!!! He reminded me my german friend from EPP class. I thought they were similar. They were kind of people who were far away from the word "matirialism". I don't really know how to explain, to me, their feelings were real without any dressing up.

German girls are very nice too. I've met some myself. My roomate tonight was German, Nanni (Unfortunately, I couldn't remember the german guy's name. It sounded too German). Nanni and I went for Sauna together (one of the facilities here). That's why we had a lots of conversation. I enjoyed talking to her. She wanted to be an English teacher, she took the course back home (Frankfruit, Germany) before she came here for holiday. That's my day... I had a good day!!!

For more details, Greymouth is the city of love (I didn't know the reason for this, but that's what the driver told us). There were all together around 13,000 people. Ho Ho !!! Hope you can imagine how big it is!!! eiei

Abel Tasman National Park!

I woke up at 6.45am as the bus would come around 7.20am. The plan for today was tramping at Abel Tasman National Park which is famous in sea-kayaking, tramping and camping.


The bus drove us from Nelson to Kaiteriteri. It took less than 2 hours to get there. Then, we travelled by boat to Marahau.



First, we saw that little boat (on the left). We thought we had to travel with that boat. I started worrying about the safety! Fortunately, we didn't travel with it. We were transferred to the bigger one (below).



The weather was still cold in the morning, anyhow it was changed to be a nice day later. Perfect!

The ship dropped us at Torrent Bay, then it's gone away! One of the crews was kind enough to say something to us which was "there is no map provided, just walk along the track. You cannot get lost". Thanks, man! (Obviously, he's a cute guy with blue eyes and nice smiles... Ha Ha!!!)

It was exactly like what he said, there was the only way, it's nearly 0% of possibility to get lost! It took me around 4.5 hours to walk back from where we were dropped off to Marahua where we can get the coach back to Nelson.

This place remined me beaches in the south of thailand. Only we have white beaches, while here is golden!!! (White is better, eiei) The sea was so green and clear. It was very very peaceful. Not so many people at all! Only the nature surrounded you!!!!



Most of the time, we walked through the jungle which is up on the mountain. Sometimes I looked back, I realized that I had walk passed many mountains. It's like we walked from one mountain to another along the way. Honestly, it was such a long track, but not tough! The way was flat and easy to walk.

While walking along the track, there were some stops which we could stop for lunch, snack or whatever. There was no shops at all along the track, only toilets provied at some stops. We were told to prepare our own lunch! I couldn't help comparing to Thailand if there was a track like this, it would be full of shops and facilities provided along the way!

Many people were camping there, I did only a day trip. We arrived at Marahau around 4.20pm. We caught the bus, which was already waiting, back to Nelson. Not surprisingly, I had slept all the way back. I was so tired! We got Nelson 6.30pm. I had fish and chips for dinner!

I like Abel Tasman. It is worth to go, that's all I could say!!! If you don't mind walking, why not abel tasman??? :D

Nelson (little lovely city)

Finally it came true after I had been waiting for the trip for ages. :P I just finished the exam last Friday (4th of Nov). Break time now!!! Ya - HOOOO!!!!


I woke up at 6.45am because of the alarm clock. Surprisingly, I got up and straightly went to the bathroom. Then, I decided to roll back to bed because it was too early. I got up the second time around 7.15 am. eiei!!!





Anyway, I got to the pier on time. No delay at all! Unfortunately, the weather was terrible this morning. It was chilly. Worse, It was also raining! Gosh, it was the first day of my trip. Could it be any better?It took me around 3 hours from Wellington to Picton. I got Picton at 11.45am. I went to catch the bus called "Magic bus" (which is a bus I will travel with for the whole trip).


The scenery along the way were mountains, green trees and of course sheep!!! I thought it's because I took pills for seasickness, it caused me sleepy all the time. Finally, we arrived Nelson around 3pm. The bus driver dropped us off at the backpackers we would stay! There were lists of backpackers of each place where travellors can choose to stay and will be dropped off. You can choose somewhere else as well, but you will be dropped off at the nearest backpacker on their list or i-site(information-site) of each city. I stayed at Tasman Bay backpacker tonight!

It looks like a little home. It was not that crowed. It was relaxing, nice and clean. Oops, by the way, there was one of guys who was in the same bus from Picton to Nelson. He reminded me "Jude Law", believe it or not!!! Unfortunately, I had no evidence to show you guys here! He's not handsome, he's kind of sexy I would say. Eiei :D After I put my bags in the room, I went for a walk in the Nelson city. It was Sunday, the city was very very quiet.

Nelson is a small city which surrounded by mountains. There is a river pass through the city as well. To me, it is a lovely little city!I came back to the backpacker, took a shower and had a chat with other travellors. Most of them were from Europe, i.e. France, Germany, Switzerland, England, etc.It was ok for the first day. I've had a good time so far!

Just as I am

Today is Labour day, so we have a long holiday this weekend. It's good to have a long break and be with yourself sometimes. Anyway, today I have to do my reading. The exam is coming. Hurr! Hope I can follow my own plan well! :D