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Last Days in New Zealand
Aug. 22nd, 2018 03:30 amLeaving Queenstown we stopped at the bridge over the Kawarau River where the very first commercial bungy jump is still in operation. We weren't there to jump this time, but to try to see where the Fellowship passed the statues of the kings at Argonauth. We're not sure we were looking at the exact spot, but got a picture that seems very plausible. According to our guide the day before, the faces of the statues were modeled on those of Viggo Mortenson's grandfather and great-grandfather. The third one, which only appears from the back in the film, supposedly had Peter Jackson's face.
Leaving there we headed up into the Crown Range and around Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea for more stunning scenery. We only made two stops, at Fantail Falls and at the Hard Antler Bar in Haast for lunch. It started raining as we came down into the West Coast and was pouring by the time we reached Glen Fern Villas outside the town of Franz Josef Glacier.
That was actually perfect weather for experiencing the town's other major attractions, Glacier Hot Pools. They're not natural hot springs, just large heated pools, but they are beautifully designed with three pools of varied temperatures (36C, 38C, and 40C) with benches and smooth rock piles creating little conversation pits amid lovely greenery, all shaded by large sails. I enjoyed sitting in spots where I could lean my head back into the cold rain while by body was steaming in the warm water.
After an hour there we showered if and went across the street to King Tiger, an Indian-tilting pan -Asian place that provided a perfectly nice dinner before we headed back to get Alice to bed. Jason and I stayed up and watched the finale of Season 3 if The Expanse, which was great.
In the morning we checked out by 7:30 and headed into town to get breakfast before reporting in for our helicopter flight. The morning had dawned clear and still--perfect flying weather. Our pilot, Mike, took us up the Franz Josef glacier, over the Fox glacier, around Mt Cook and Mt Tasman, and got us a view of the Tasman glacier and the lake it feeds. He set us down near the top of the Franz Josef and we got to make the first footprints in the snow that had fallen the night before. The sun was glittering on the snowbanks and there were glimpses of Alice blue to be had among the crevasses. Swooping around the mountains and down over the glaciers was glorious and we were so thankful the weather had cooperated for us to have that amazing experience.
Back on the ground we climbed into our SUV one more time and made the drive up the West Coast to Greymouth. We parked in the Avis spaces at the train station and went to get some lunch while the agent dealt with the return. Only when I went back to the counter she asked if she could see my paperwork, because she didn't have anything about the car in her system. Turns out it had been marked as retired from the fleet, rather than rented out. She said she would sort it out and email me a receipt, but I'm still waiting.
We boarded the Trans-Alpine Railway for the four-and-a-half hour trip over, around, and through the mountains. It included twenty minutes in the 4th longest tunnel in the world, at Arthur's Pass. It had clouded up again, so we had fewer spectacular views than we might have hoped, but it was still pretty epic.
We arrived in Christchurch right on time, got a cab to the Commodore Hotel near the airport, and had a nice dinner in their restaurant. Alice got to bed while Jason and I went down and took over the private room off the bar to catch up online.
This morning we slept in a bit, had breakfast, and then enjoyed a nice long swim in the indoor pool before packing up and heading to the airport for our flight to Brisbane. I napped and watched Justice League, which I didn't find as awful as people had said.
We landed, picked up our last rental car, and made our way to our last accommodations, on the penthouse floor of a tower in the CBD, right under the roof pool which were hope to have time to try tomorrow. Spice Den, the restaurant on the ground floor of the building, provided dinner and then Alice took herself off to bed while Jason and I found the nearest grocery and stocked up for breakfast tomorrow.
Leaving there we headed up into the Crown Range and around Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea for more stunning scenery. We only made two stops, at Fantail Falls and at the Hard Antler Bar in Haast for lunch. It started raining as we came down into the West Coast and was pouring by the time we reached Glen Fern Villas outside the town of Franz Josef Glacier.
That was actually perfect weather for experiencing the town's other major attractions, Glacier Hot Pools. They're not natural hot springs, just large heated pools, but they are beautifully designed with three pools of varied temperatures (36C, 38C, and 40C) with benches and smooth rock piles creating little conversation pits amid lovely greenery, all shaded by large sails. I enjoyed sitting in spots where I could lean my head back into the cold rain while by body was steaming in the warm water.
After an hour there we showered if and went across the street to King Tiger, an Indian-tilting pan -Asian place that provided a perfectly nice dinner before we headed back to get Alice to bed. Jason and I stayed up and watched the finale of Season 3 if The Expanse, which was great.
In the morning we checked out by 7:30 and headed into town to get breakfast before reporting in for our helicopter flight. The morning had dawned clear and still--perfect flying weather. Our pilot, Mike, took us up the Franz Josef glacier, over the Fox glacier, around Mt Cook and Mt Tasman, and got us a view of the Tasman glacier and the lake it feeds. He set us down near the top of the Franz Josef and we got to make the first footprints in the snow that had fallen the night before. The sun was glittering on the snowbanks and there were glimpses of Alice blue to be had among the crevasses. Swooping around the mountains and down over the glaciers was glorious and we were so thankful the weather had cooperated for us to have that amazing experience.
Back on the ground we climbed into our SUV one more time and made the drive up the West Coast to Greymouth. We parked in the Avis spaces at the train station and went to get some lunch while the agent dealt with the return. Only when I went back to the counter she asked if she could see my paperwork, because she didn't have anything about the car in her system. Turns out it had been marked as retired from the fleet, rather than rented out. She said she would sort it out and email me a receipt, but I'm still waiting.
We boarded the Trans-Alpine Railway for the four-and-a-half hour trip over, around, and through the mountains. It included twenty minutes in the 4th longest tunnel in the world, at Arthur's Pass. It had clouded up again, so we had fewer spectacular views than we might have hoped, but it was still pretty epic.
We arrived in Christchurch right on time, got a cab to the Commodore Hotel near the airport, and had a nice dinner in their restaurant. Alice got to bed while Jason and I went down and took over the private room off the bar to catch up online.
This morning we slept in a bit, had breakfast, and then enjoyed a nice long swim in the indoor pool before packing up and heading to the airport for our flight to Brisbane. I napped and watched Justice League, which I didn't find as awful as people had said.
We landed, picked up our last rental car, and made our way to our last accommodations, on the penthouse floor of a tower in the CBD, right under the roof pool which were hope to have time to try tomorrow. Spice Den, the restaurant on the ground floor of the building, provided dinner and then Alice took herself off to bed while Jason and I found the nearest grocery and stocked up for breakfast tomorrow.
