Nelson - A little like Bozeman

Hey there all! It's been a little while since the last post. I've been burning the candle on both ends lately, and trying to find Internet is not as easy on the South Island as it was on the north. However things are still grand down here. So, last I left you, we were leaving Wanaka. From Wanaka, we drove to the Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers. We didn't really get to see a great look at the Fox Glacier, however we walked onto the Franz Joseph Glacier. And on the way to the glacier they had signs like these! What a riot! "Beware the falling ice/flash flood/tsunami wave etc etc. . ." But the glaciers are incredible! More or less, they move up to 8 meters a day! Walking up to them you could almost hear them moving forward! Ice was constantly falling however, and you did have to watch yourself. Also, they had carved some steps into the glacier, so if one had crampons, one could walk onto the glacier. Luckily there was a bucket of loaner crampons that I was able to roughly fit to my boot so that I could play on the Glacier Briefly. We didn't have a lot of time there however, so I'm looking forward to going back someday and spending a full day playing on this glacier with the appropriate equipment. Ropes, Harnesses, Helmets, etc.

From the Glacier we drove North to a very fun Hostel Called the Old Slaughterhouse. This place required a ten minute bush walk to get to it. But it's the best place I've stayed in yet. They had two dogs, a wonderful view of the Tasman Sea, and the owner even made us some Tea as we showed up! So for anyone travelling in NZ, I HIGHLY suggest the Old Slaughterhouse. And I almost forgot, on the way up to the Old Slaugterhouse, we were able to stop at the Pancake rocks. These are a major tourist attraction, however I don't necessarily see why. They are cool, but it seems that you get the same type of Rock formation at places in Red Rocks in Las Vegas. (given, that is a tourist destination too. . .) The formation of the rocks is a layering that is about the thickness of a pancake. And you just get stacks and stacks of these rocks. Then, the coolest part, if the tide is high and the winds are right, the waves come in from the ocean and hit airpockets inside the pancake rocks. This causes a little "spurt" of water to shoot way up in a geyser type fashion. Apparently though, when we were there the wind was going the wrong direction, so we didn't get huge geyser's. But we did get to see a few small splashes. Nothing nearly as cool as the geysers in Yellowstone. Of course, we all knew that nothing can ever be as cool as Yellowstone. :)

In fact, an even better part about the Pancake rocks was the cave we found 200 meters down the road from it. No tourists were in here due to the requirement of a headlamp. But since I had pulled mine out, I was able to explore this cave completely on my own a little. The cave went a good 200 meters deep, and coming out I got to see where a scene from Indiana Jones was filmed. (Or could've been at least. . .) The light was streaming through the mouth of the cave in the coolest way, so needless to say, a picture HAD to be taken. And that's the one on the left.

Then, the main reason why it's been a while since my last post, is I've been stuck in the "wilderness" over the past 3 days. We decided to to the Abel Tasman coastal walk which is one of NZ's Great Walks. A synonem for great walk is a crowded walk. Just like the tongariro crossing, this walk had no shortage of people. We even saw one guy coming the other way with a baby stroller! The path was that well graded and taken care of. Just a little worse than fully paved. :) But sure enough, the views were gorgeous, and since the walking wasn't all that intense, we were able to get some good quality beach time. But due to the crowds, and as a veteran NZ traveller now, I would suggest to anyone wanting to do a coastel walk to do the one at Cape Reinga instead of this one. You may even get a feeling of being in the true wilderness at Cape Reinga! (For those of you just catching up with the blog, read about Cape Reinga near the beginining of the blog. . .) But then again, if you don't mind people, and you want the white sandy beaches, warm weather all the time, and turquoise water, then Abel Tasman is the place to be. But remember, the whole place is serviced by something called a water taxi. They constantly are shuttling people to and fro into these beaches, so you don't even have to walk to get to them. Hence the crowds.

From The Abel Tasman walk we have headed a short drive over to Nelson. As I write this I have not met up with my friends Kris and Bruce yet, but that comes after I get off of the Internet. With that said, Nelson is a wonderful town, big enough where you can actually find things to do, however still has that small NZ town feeling to it.

I guess that about wraps it up for today. I'm leaving to Africa in three days, and so things are starting to get really hectic about that. I've just found out that the guy that is supposed to buy my ticket hasn't actually sent it to me yet, and it may not be an e-ticket. So who knows. . .I might not be flying on the 19th after all! But I promise, I'll keep you all updated on that as the time approaches. Miss you all! Till Next time!