Sunday, 3rd February
Kiora everybody.
Doreen had a lie in this morning, however Geoffrey was up at 5.30am to have breakfast and be picked up by minibus to be taken to the Helicopter, which was based in a field just behind the hotel. At 7.00am the helicopter took off with four other passengers for a 30 minute journey of a lifetime up the Fox Glacier and down the Franz Joseph Glacier. It is impossible for me to describe in words the magnificent views and the sheer size of the glaciers. The helicopter landed on top of the Fox Glacier and we walked around for 10 minutes absorbing the wonderful early morning views across the glacier and mountains. Took loads of photos but none seem to show the grandeur of the views. However, a short camera video I took does give you some idea of the experience I had. Only too soon we had to take off again and return via the Franz Joseph Glacier back to our hotel, where the other guests were just leaving the restaurant after breakfast. A tremendous start to the day.
At 8.15am we were in the coach again driving north to Punakaiki, located on the coast in a National Park where we viewed the famous Pancake Rocks and Blowholes, which regrettably didn’t blow for us (see picture). To get to the rocks we had to walk along a path surrounded by naturally growing Phormiums in mass (the New Zealand Flax), together with many other New Zealand plants (Raoulia, I think John, but I need to look this up), but the noise made by the Circadas (New Zealand Crickets) was absolutely deafening.
We then returned south and crossed the Southern Alps for the fifth and final time via Arthur’s Pass. At Arthur’s Pass we caught the Trans Alpine train (one of the top six train journeys in the world) and headed for Christchurch. Geoffrey spent the whole 3 hour journey standing on the open viewing carriage taking many more photos, whilst jostling with other photographers, including many Japanese. The journey went through many tunnels and over many viaducts with many spectacular views down gorges and river valleys. We finally arrived in Christchurch at 6.30pm for a end of tour dinner in the hotel, where we had to say goodbye to our new friends, especially our tour director, Nellie, and coach driver, John, who made the journey so enjoyable. They were appreciated by all.
Monday, 4th February
Hurray, a lie in, getting up at 8.00am. We had a quick walk around town and then repacked our cases for the fourteenth time and left the hotel at 1.00pm for the airport. Flight was a little delayed but eventually took off and we had a very comfortable flight across New Zealand and the Alps and then lovely blue skies across the Tasman Sea. However, as we approached Sydney the weather deteriorated and as we came in to land we only saw the ground when we were 100ft from landing, as we dropped out of the cloud. The pilot really did need a big congratulations. The weather was worse than at home with a really heavy downpour in progress (home from home!!!). Things looked up when we arrived at our hotel as we had been upgraded and had a room on the 33rd floor (there are only 34 floors in the hotel, so not quite the Penthouse), but we also have our own private breakfast room on the 31st floor (Alison do you recognise the view from our Restaurant).
Kiora everybody.
Doreen had a lie in this morning, however Geoffrey was up at 5.30am to have breakfast and be picked up by minibus to be taken to the Helicopter, which was based in a field just behind the hotel. At 7.00am the helicopter took off with four other passengers for a 30 minute journey of a lifetime up the Fox Glacier and down the Franz Joseph Glacier. It is impossible for me to describe in words the magnificent views and the sheer size of the glaciers. The helicopter landed on top of the Fox Glacier and we walked around for 10 minutes absorbing the wonderful early morning views across the glacier and mountains. Took loads of photos but none seem to show the grandeur of the views. However, a short camera video I took does give you some idea of the experience I had. Only too soon we had to take off again and return via the Franz Joseph Glacier back to our hotel, where the other guests were just leaving the restaurant after breakfast. A tremendous start to the day.
At 8.15am we were in the coach again driving north to Punakaiki, located on the coast in a National Park where we viewed the famous Pancake Rocks and Blowholes, which regrettably didn’t blow for us (see picture). To get to the rocks we had to walk along a path surrounded by naturally growing Phormiums in mass (the New Zealand Flax), together with many other New Zealand plants (Raoulia, I think John, but I need to look this up), but the noise made by the Circadas (New Zealand Crickets) was absolutely deafening.
We then returned south and crossed the Southern Alps for the fifth and final time via Arthur’s Pass. At Arthur’s Pass we caught the Trans Alpine train (one of the top six train journeys in the world) and headed for Christchurch. Geoffrey spent the whole 3 hour journey standing on the open viewing carriage taking many more photos, whilst jostling with other photographers, including many Japanese. The journey went through many tunnels and over many viaducts with many spectacular views down gorges and river valleys. We finally arrived in Christchurch at 6.30pm for a end of tour dinner in the hotel, where we had to say goodbye to our new friends, especially our tour director, Nellie, and coach driver, John, who made the journey so enjoyable. They were appreciated by all.
Monday, 4th February
Hurray, a lie in, getting up at 8.00am. We had a quick walk around town and then repacked our cases for the fourteenth time and left the hotel at 1.00pm for the airport. Flight was a little delayed but eventually took off and we had a very comfortable flight across New Zealand and the Alps and then lovely blue skies across the Tasman Sea. However, as we approached Sydney the weather deteriorated and as we came in to land we only saw the ground when we were 100ft from landing, as we dropped out of the cloud. The pilot really did need a big congratulations. The weather was worse than at home with a really heavy downpour in progress (home from home!!!). Things looked up when we arrived at our hotel as we had been upgraded and had a room on the 33rd floor (there are only 34 floors in the hotel, so not quite the Penthouse), but we also have our own private breakfast room on the 31st floor (Alison do you recognise the view from our Restaurant).
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