Franz Josef

Despite feeling a little rough from our night before, the drive to Franz Josef was perfect. The weather was gorgeous and it was only a short drive to get there. We caught up on the embarrassing antics of what had happened the night before, and stopped off for a few well needed coffees.

Along the way we also stopped at one of the first mirror lakes we would see on our trip, and it had a little pontoon for us to go out and look from, and Mangee made us play the 'how many people on one bus can you get on the pontoon' game. The answer was the whole bus!

When we got to Franz Josef, Mangee took us on a tour of the town that took all of 5 minutes as it was so tiny! Apart from the local convenience store and a Kiwi sanctuary, there wasn't much else there apart from hostels for tourists.

The Hostel we stayed in was really lovely, and the owners and their fat cat made us all feel very welcome. They told us to make ourselves at home, and to be sure to have a dip in the hot tub they had!

We ended up sharing a room with Mark of course, and also Iqra, Amy and Archie. A winning combination for some late night giggles. As the drive to Franz Josef had been so short, we still had a lot of the day to play with. We decided to go on a group walk up in the mountains, as the weather was nice and it seemed silly to waste the day inside.

We found a little footpath that took us up on an hours walk through the mossy trees and past a river.

The walk was then supposed to take you to a long natural tunnel through some rocks, but as the weather had been so bad the water level inside the tunnel was up to our ankles, so we had to unfortunately turn back. We did all have a little explore though and it was a pretty magical looking tunnel!

That evening we sat in the lovely bar that the hostel had, with wood burning fires and comfy sofas. We were rounded up by Mangee and told that our costumes from the previous nights party were actually being judged and there were prizes to be won! Whoever the winner was would win a canyon swing in Queenstown! CHOICE! We were sure that Dan would win, as he was still scraping of blue from his skin, however the owners of the pub handed in their votes and to our surprise absolutely loved our crayola costumes. WE WON!!! (we had acquired a weird streak of luck) perhaps we should have tried the NZ lotto. The swing was for 2 people though and as there was 6 of us we weren't sure on how to split it. There was a younger girl on our bus who wanted to do the swing so we offered to sell it to her at a cheaper price, and then we could all split the money and avoid living off super noodles for longer.

That evening we also caught up with our friends from the bus in front of us. They explained how they had spent the day doing the Franz Josef glacier tour, and how great it had been! They managed to sway a few of our friends, including Mark in to doing the trip, but unfortunately we just couldn't afford to do it at $300 each and a trip to Australia to think about ahead of us. It was nice to see them all again, but they were leaving the following day so we had to say goodbye again.

The next day, everyone was buzzing for their Glacier trip, complete with an amazing helicopter view of the glacier! And we were buzzing for them!

Us, along with Izzy and Wise John however spoke to Mangee, who although it was his day off, would happily accompany us on a 5 hour trek to Robert's Point, to get a view of the glacier. He said it was a walk he loved and one he did every time he stopped at Franz Josef.  Once again, it was a beautiful day, so it was looking promising to see the dazzling white glacier.

We started our walk to the glacier base, which took about 45 minutes along the road side, but still with an amazing view of the river and mountainous landscape.

When we reached the base, we saw the first proper glimpse of the glacier valley, and it was reflected in a small pond giving us the stunning picture that lives at the top of this blog! There was also an old image of the glacier from many years ago which showed how the glacier used to actually reach up to where we were standing and indeed cover that whole section of water in front of us. Over the years it had retreated to right around the corner of the valley where it still exists and is still slowly melting. This was due to a few factors, but primarily climate change.

Mangee eagerly, along with Izzy and a couple of other girls on our bus got a bit of a stomp on, leaving us and wise John to take the walk at a more appreciative pace, taking in the breathtaking scenery. The tone of the hike was set when shortly into it we literally had to scramble over some large rocks to cross a cascading river. This was pretty fun but important to avoid getting drenched at the first hurdle and having to endure a soggy journey.

After that, it was a fairly tough hike, mostly up hill but also with slippery mossy covered rocks. 

We scrambled and rambled our way along and there were also quirky little touches to the walk, such as little carved steps along cliff faces, and wire bridges that let you cross the freezing waters below.

It was a tough walk so we were hot, but it was still very cold weather. There were also many reminders to concentrate and stay safe along the hike and some slightly shocking signs explaining how a few people had met their demise in recent years along the track from not sticking to the trail and not commencing fully prepared with appropriate hiking gear, clothing and supplies. We were all kitted out from the Inca trail a month prior so felt quietly confident as well as wise John who had already done a lot of hiking on his world trip including Mt Everest! Plus... He's just bloody wise. We agreed between the three of us to strictly stick to the trail and avoid, where possible, any unnecessary river crossings.

We took a few water breaks and stopped off at one point for a sandwich snack....

 Eventually after a long afternoon hike, we got to Robert's Point, the end of the walk that gave us the perfect view of Franz Josef. The walk was actually a bit more challenging than expected but nice to get some fresh mountain air in our lungs and the view of the glacier was definitely worth it at the end. There was a raised wooden platform with a couple of benches to sit on which gave us the below view.

We chilled here for about 40 minutes to 1 hour, having a chat and of course taking lots of pictures. We then decided that it was probably time to be heading back as it was treacherous enough in daylight uphill so retracing our steps downhill in the dark wasn't something any of us fancied. With tired muscles its safe to say all three of us had a slip or two on the mossy rocks but luckily nothing serious and just enough to give us a giggle and slight morale boost. We made the journey and luckily got the worst parts over and done with before sun set. We still had about an  hour to go when the sun was going down but by that time we were back on asphalt and had to simply follow the river back to our abode. 

On our way back, Tom noticed a tiny bird in the grass verge with a damaged wing and who was hopping around. Tom managed to scoop him up with his hands and put him in his wooly hat to keep him warm. We panicked slightly as there was nothing in Franz Josef, but we wanted to save him! The kiwi sanctuary wasn't open that late plus we didn't think they would want to take in an injured bird that wasn't a kiwi. We started walking home with it nestled in the hat whilst we debated what to do with it. Wise John from the outset had said leave it to nature to decide but Tom was seriously contemplating the logistics of taking him on the kiwi bus with us and nursing him back to health.

After 20 minutes walking, and weighing up practicalities we decided it may fare a better chance back in the wild after all and leave it to fate. We made it a safe nest out of twigs and foliage hidden in some grass, hoping to give him the best chance in life. With an emotional goodbye Tom reluctantly and carefully transferred him into the nest. Half way through our last goodbyes the bird simply jumped up into the air and flew perfectly in to the nearest tree... We are still absolutely bemused as to why he let us catch him in the first place but he could win a little bird Oscar. To say the least it caused much laughter and confusion between the three of us and it appears Wise John proved his title once again.

When we got back, we met up with the others to laugh about our failed bird rescue attempt and to hear all about their helicopter ride and tour of the actual glacier, and it sounded like they had a blast!

We were sad we couldn't have joined them, however there are plenty of lovely free walks at Franz Josef, so if you were to spend a few days there and were on a budget, you wouldn't run out of things to do!

We wound down for the evening and had the inevitable funny bedtime with Archie doing yoga and meditation, feeling relaxed just in time to get up bright and early for our next stop... LAKE WANAKA!

Lake Mahinapua

After a very chilled out evening in Westport, Mangee told us that today would be action packed, and would finish off in a full fiesta! The next location was Lake Mahinapua. Mangee told us that there was small pub in the middle of nowhere that was family owned. Many years ago, the man that owned the pub saw the Kiwi Experiences buses going through, and made it his mission to make his pub a stop on their journey. After a while of trying, he finally succeeded, and it is now a stay over stop en route. Although you have to spend more to stay here (about $50 compared to $30 stops) your food is supplied and you are guaranteed a good time. Unfortunately the guy who made it all possible passed away a few years ago, but his family still live on the tradition of hosting parties at the pub EVERY night for kiwi experiences.

At each party, there is a dress up requirement, and Mangee told us that ours would be 'ABC'- Anything But Clothes. 

The group before us who had been the night before had the theme 'National Treasures', and they followed up with a hilarious picture of them dressed up as American Cow Boys, Vikings and the Spice Girls (complete with Sam black-facing as a VERY Scary Spice).

We knew we had to pull something good out of the bag now!

But before all of this, we had a busy day of stops ahead, the first one being a Cape Foulwind (lol) for a very blustery walk along the coast. We were feeling really sniffly from our jump at Nelson's Lake, but Mangee forced us off the bus, and told us it would be well worth it for the seal colony at the end! With this promise, we all got off and started the hour long walk. It was really windy, and very cold, but we all chatted and walked along.

Lo and behold at the end we were met with a large seal colony, and we stood and watched the pups fighting, the adults go diving into the sea, and some mothers trying to move away from their needy pups.

Once we had finished spying on the seals, we walked round the corner to find Mangee there waiting with the bus, along with a woman selling hot chocolates. After the walk, it was just what we needed!

We got on the bus, and the next stop was the Pancake rocks!

After another drive, we arrived at the pancake rocks and blow holes, where we saw how the sea had carved out some really interesting shapes into the landscape.

Pancake rocks

As you can guess, the pancake rocks are called this as the geology resemble huge stacks of Pancakes, which we had all suddenly got a real craving for. There were also natural blow holes that would spurt out water when the large waves came in, which was pretty frequent as it was quite rough that day!

After the rocks, we found a little shop selling New Zealand's famous Manuka honey. They were giving out free taster samples so we took the opportunity to try some so we could shake the colds in time for tonight's party!

After the coast, we started heading to a town for lunch. Mangee allowed for a costume stop, or more like a DIY stop so we could gather materials to make costumes. Amy, Iqra, Izzy, along with us and Mark found some different coloured party hats and decided to go as crayons. The others decided to go as unicorns but we were in competition amongst us to have better costumes, so we kept our ideas all top secret.

The next stop was to be an exciting one. On our way to Lake Mahinapua we passed the Monteiths beer and cider brewery, so we were able to stop and have a tour of the brewery. The tour cost $20, and at the end you were able to try three of their beers of your choice, as well as getting two beer vouchers that could be used at the hotel we were staying at that evening.

The actual tour was pretty rubbish as the brewery was very small, and the tour guide seemed to point out the obvious a lot of the time, however the beer testing at the end was great fun!
We tried the raspberry beer, which was a bit different, the cider which is a favourite of ours to this day, and also the radler beer which is delicious! A nice final touch from the brewery was that we got given the pale ale in a special Kiwi experience bottle, and it also had a lovely little sentiment and Mangee's name on the back so we could remember he was the one who took us there.

After a few beers at the brewery, we were finally feeling in a bit more of a party mood. We were finally on our way to the Lake Mahinapua.
As we pulled up to the pub, Mangee said that we should go down and actually have a look at the lake before it got dark. He also said he had a confession. He said he had withheld some vital information from us that he was about to reveal. We held our breaths as he he told us that the pub's pet pig had recently given birth to some tiny piglets, and they had just bought a new puppy, and kitten!
 The whole bus erupted with excitement, and Steph looked like she was going to cry after her heartbreak at not being able to cuddle the kittens at River Valley.

It's safe to say no one went to go and see the lake.

You have never seen so many adults/teenagers push past each other and fight over animals. Pretty much everyone made a bee line for the puppy, whilst Steph darted for that kitten.

Happiest girl. Ever.

We had a quick welcome talk from the owners who told us to make ourselves at home, find our little cabins in the garden, and to go and have a try at cutting the precious stone Jet in the workshop they had out back.

It was like watching children in a toy shop. There was too much to do. Archie had a go at cutting the Jade, and everyone else swapped pets. Tom and Steph made sure they went out and had a little laugh at the piglets too!

Puppy got too excited!

After the initial excitement wore off, and the animals became sleepy, we all sat and had a few drinks before our dinner.

Iqra and Mangee, our awesome driver!

Steph sat and drank her beers with the kitten firmly asleep in her coat for a good hour.

Next came the next perk to the pub stop. The full roast pork dinner, with all the trimmings, (there could have been more piglets the week before!!!) . After having to survive on cheap pasta and noodles, this was the perfect meal, and especially great for us feeling a bit under the weather. We were absolutely stuffed afterwards, which they probably do on purpose so no one gets too drunk later on in the evening!

Next we had to separate to prepare our costumes: Unicorns into one room, and crayons into the other. We also had Dan come to prepare in our room who covered himself completely in blue acrylic paint! He whacked on a red hat, and crafted a loin cloth out of a scarf to become papa smurf, and went on his merry way to the party.

Our costumes were going to take time though as we had to staple and tape ourselves into bin bags covered with our allocated colour. 

By the time we finished, the party was well underway, but we made our entrance, and we all agreed we looked pretty good altogether.

We met up with Archie, Annie, Charlotte and John to see their unicorn costumes.

We had knights in shining (foil) armour, bin bag penguins and Mangee came in a Winnie the Pooh onesie! We had a group picture before we partied which they put on the Facebook page which you should go and check out to see all the other great costumes they have had over the times!

We used our remaining drinks vouchers from the Monteith's brewery tour to get drinks, and then we danced the night away whilst trying to keep our costumes all in one piece! (toilet stops were fatal) The evening was another fairly messy one, but we all had a really good time.

You can see people took the "Anything but clothes" quite literally!

The next morning, we all felt a bit ropey. Our costumes were pretty much gone, and there were a few pieces of coloured paper all over the bathrooms. The only costume that was still very much in tact was Dan's, who, despite his best efforts, still had patches of blue skin on his back.

Once again the Hotel cooked up a storm and gave us an amazing pancake breakfast (perfect as the pancake craving from pancake rocks was still on our minds). We said our last goodbyes to the puppy and the kitten, and Steph's bag was searched again before we left to make sure the kitten was still very much at Mahinapua. We said our goodbyes to the lovely staff who made our stay so enjoyable, and got on the road again to Franz Josef.

And no, we never did see the actual lake.