West Coast (Fox Glacier & my 21st Birthday!)

Woke up at 8 after very fragmented sleep. The extreme wind calmed down after 1am I’d say, but that brought these obnoxious sandflies to us. A few of us went jet boating on the Wilkin River [not me]. We hit the road by 10:45 and soon stopped at the Blue Pools, a few clear blue pools amidst the river. You could see all the stones at the bottom, so clear! I can’t get enough of all the clear, bright blue water here. We also stopped at Thunder Falls, a very tall, narrow waterfall in the woods, spilling into a clear blue river. Beautiful, of course.

 
We had lunch shortly after at a rest stop facing the southern alps. Fabulous view, obnoxious flies, very hot out! We crossed Haast Pass through the mountains and onto the West Coast. We actually arrived at our camp pretty early [4:00ish] despite all the long stops we made. I set up my tent and then went for a walk with Isabelle. We did a short walk through the estuary across the street [very marshy], then hiked through grass to the beach 25 minutes away. It was a beautiful beach, and completely isolated! Big waves and cold water too. There was lots of driftwood laying in the sand, and the beach was framed by mountains. Further down, there were rocks scattered around and even a small cave. Really awesome beach, except for the friggin sandflies and sharp rocks that killed my feet!

We got back just as dinner was ready – a really good chicken satay [stirfry with veggies and rice. Gary and Christine [American couple living in Japan, met in army] bought frozen cheesecake for us all, so good! Around 7:30 we all went down to the beach and had a bonfire. I had a good chat with Petra on the way there. The sunset was meh, and the flies were horrendous! They are immune to bugspray so I now have like 15 bites on each foot/ankle. So annoying!! We had a photoshoot on the beach and a few people wrestled in the sand which was quite entertaining. I went back to the site with Yannic [15, Germany] – he’s such a ham I showered, and went to bed at 10:30… and woke up later due to sandfly bite-itching.

 

The next day I woke up to a bunch of tourmates wishing me a happy birthday. Then during the course of the day, I was sung happy birthday to in 4 different languages. I don’t like so much attention, but it was really nice of them. En route to the glacier, we stopped by the beach to do 2 short walks: one through a rainforest and beach, another through forest and a swamp. The rainforests here are so nice and green, and are always full of the sound of insects chirping. It was cloudy out, but the beach was still pretty [sand dunes!].

We arrived in town around 11am and some of us sat inside the cafe until our 12:00 hikes on the glacier. I tried a mocha and it was actually good. I am expanding my coffee drink pallette! Soon enough we were putting on leather boots and packing our cramp-ons to tackle Fox Glacier! It was just 6 of us, while others did the helihike for an extra $200NZ. We hiked uphill through the rainforest to get to the glacier, which was NOT fun. Of course I was covered in sweat afterwards, gross. Then we descended to the glacier, a blue-white ice formation with lots of gray/black from rocks and dirt. Flowing out from it was a light gray river through the mountains that once was home to the glacier and now show lines and markings from the glacial movement. Looking up the glacier there are more ice formations, which is where the helicopter takes people on the tour.

We tackled the glacier single file behind our guide, who kept digging on the ice to make a stable pathway. It was easy to keep balance with the spikes under our shoes. The glacier air was much colder but felt great after the uphill hike. Some parts of the ice were separated by narrow crevices or even streams of water. We stopped at a little formation and all posed for pictures. I wish I had taken my camera in with me, but alas. Still really neat to see. We hiked up to an ice hill and stood looking at the upper glacier and mountains. Great view! The helihike people got to see more blue ice and ice formations further up, but I’m not sure I would have paid $200 more for that. Still, not many people can say they walked through rainforest, beach, and a glacier on their 21st birthday!

 
 
 

 
We returned to town around 4:15 and met the helihike people at a cafe outside… we had 3 hours before the 2nd helihike got back. I ordered a latter this time… wasn’t too great. Then Gary and Christine had me try their wine, a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, with a ‘flower’ scent. It smelled more like pineapple to me though. I had about 3 sips but it wasn’t that great. Note that this was 5pm [11pm the day before my bday in the US]… I’d wanted to wait til 6 so it’d be my bday at home, but oh well. It had started raining when we were leaving the glacier, then again when we were at the cafe. We moved to another cafe at 6 for happy hour, and they had me try a local beer, Speights – YUCK. Haha, definitely an acquired taste for people I’m sure. So my first 2 alcoholic drinks were NZ brands, all 4 sips of them.

Then… after finding out I had never had alcohol before today, Coral [our assistant guide, 21, a kiwi, and in American terms 'mad cool'] bought me a malibu and coke, which she claimed would taste like coconut. Good stuff! I had about 1/2 of the small glass before Isabelle bought me a chocolate coffee with Bailey’s… had about 1/2 of that too. Again, very good. Overall it was just a really good time with everyone there laughing, drinking, and chatting. I only drank about a wine glass worth in total which was enough for me. I am really not a drinking person no matter what the drink! I don’t feel like I was pressured into it at all. I drank what I felt like drinking at my own pace. I turned down shots of course, but everyone else took them and got a bit crazy. It’s all good though. Good times.

We left town just after 7pm for our camp, and at this point people just lost it. Isabelle was dancing and falling all over the place, including my lap. We played dance music and the bus turned into a club. Insanity! Yannic also danced a bit and sat on me and Isabelle. Isabelle made her way to the back of the bus and was dancing with the other drunks. It was all very entertaining, but at this point I was feeling so tired and out of it, kind of like how I feel after a bout of motion sickness. Ick.

We set up camp on the beach and my cookgroup refused to let me make dinner, so I walked on the beach [dark gray sand] before it started to rain again. Dinner was ready super fast [nachos] but I was too tired. Just as I was dozing off in the lodge, I was woken up with 3 birthday cheesecakes and singing. I felt bad for not being more into it, I had to muster up energy just to sit up and blow out the candles. After that I dragged myself to bed and slept well.