NZ: Greenstone and Ice

Tuesday 17.4: In the morning we went shopping for jade (greenstone) at a store next to our hostel. Indigenous New Zealanders have traditionally traded if for food and clothes, and you aren´t supposed to buy it for yourself but give it as present. I bought a necklace to my Anna-sister. The greenstones are shaped differently and each shape has its own meaning. I chose Anna´s necklace from a group that´s supposed to bring streght, peace and good luck when traveling overseas. From the store we walked to this beach to look for greenstone in nature. It was almost raining and we couldn´t find any good pieces - they were all too grey. Then we discovered the wonders of souvenier shops - and from that on Carla and Denise wanted to go to so many of them :) They were all selling pretty much the same stuff: all kinds of general souvenirs, warm clothing made of New Zealand whool, kiwi lotion and honey. I bought a red New Zealand beanie and red whool mittens that I actually needed in the cold weather. At around noon we left for Franz Josef where we checked out a few hostels. I wanted to go to a hostel that advertised having a sauna, but when I asked about it later in the evening I was told it was broken :( We had a relazed day: Denise and Carla played board games, I did laundry, Carla and I cooked pasta for dinner and we looked at brochures for activities.

Wednesday 18.4: We woke up rather early in the morning to take part in a guided glacier walk at the Franz Josef Glacier. When we got to the tour office we were given our equipment: boots, spikes, pants, a raincoat, beanie and mittens. Some of them were a bit big for us. After a 10min-long bus ride we arrived at the glacier and walked for some 40min before reaching the ice. We attached the spikes to our boots and were given some instructions about walking on the ice. Two groups were formed: We joined the one of 9 people moving a bit faster than the other group having more people. The walk began with climbing up ice steps, which was pretty easy. Then we got to this "ice field" and crossed it. It didn´t take long getting to the harder parts of the walk: We went through narrow ice corridors, holes and an ice slide. It was essential paying attention and taking right steps. We were given ice axes that were supposed to help us balancing but I thought they were just cool looking :) The higher we got the more impressive the glacier was! The ice was so clean and blue (the blue color is caused by its high density).

A warning sign of all the dangers at the glacier

Franz Josef Glacier

Ice climbers

The glacier keeps changing all the time (this glacier is growing, unlike most of the other glaciers in the world), which makes every tour different. Some old paths can be used, but most of the time our guide walked ahead of us making the path. Every now and then he dissapeared for some time to check for good routes. We got stucked to a rather narrow corridor for a while and ended up having our lunch break down there while our guide prepared our way out. It was so cold there with wet mittens and not moving! It was our highest point, which I think was around 450m above sea level. The distance we walked on the 150m-thick ice was just 2,8km, even though it felt longer. Coming down the glacier was easier and quicker. We found two ice caves on our way back.

An ice corridor

In an ice cave

After our glacier tour we started our journey to Wanaka, which ended up being rather exciting. We decided gas was too expensive in Franz Josef, so since we saw a sign saying "120km to next gas station" we decided to wait and drive there. But after driving that 120km we saw no gas stations, and ended up driving another 60km the gas tank signal showing empty. It was dark and pretty late, and mostly nothing but the road surrounded by fields. We were getting quite nervous about running out of gas and being left there in the middle of nowhere. Denise was driving and tried to save gas by switching it to no gear whenever we went downhill. We were so happy finally finding a small gas station attached to a restaurant! So everything turned out just well, and we drove to Wanaka.