Up, up & away

Franz Joseph town, chopper over the glaciers, drove to Lake Paringa, drove to Haast

Half awake all night wondering what the day will conjure up, bit like Xmas wondering what Santa will bring. Woke to cold but fine morning, tho the sun doesn't get up till late in these parts (7.45am). Hoping for the best we (the ladies) only had time to "chat" to a couple of French & German young backpackers, no travelling hints from these two.
Quick exit from the van park to take advantage of the clear morning, we scooted down town and engaged the services of a reputable looking mob to take us over the glaciers.
So very soon, after parting with a considerable amount of hard earned $, we were signed up, weighed and safety briefed and escorted to the lift off site, about 300m from their office. Brett, our helicopter pilot was there waiting for us and before we knew it, we were strapped in, headphones on, cameras ready and we were off into the mountains. I was lucky to get front seat and what a thrill that was, arising through the valley floor up into the mountains, skimming a couple of mountain edges and admiring the view. Apparently all the rain the last couple of days has resulted in a nice dusting of snow on all the upper peaks, giving us a nice white vista.
Firstly we flew up onto Fox Glacier which is the longest glacier and then at the top Brett tells us he is landing on a flat bit at the top, looks like it is the size of a footy field but in fact could fit 100 fields on it.
There was very little wind so we had a perfect touchdown before Brett let us out to play in the snow and take some happy snaps. The snow was probably about 20-30cm deep with solid ice below. After about 5 minutes we were strapped in again, this time Simon got front seat, and we were off again, the chopper rising steeply, crossing over the mountains to reach Franz Joseph Glacier which is a bit shorter but steeper.
Absolutely stunning scenery and it was hard to remember to take photos with so much to see, the glacier, the crevasses, the snow capped mountains, the waterfalls, the snow hikers huts, the valleys and the torrents of water from melted ice.
Next thing we know we are hovering near the landing pad and Brett is thanking us for travelling with them, etc.
Still grinning, we are escorted from the landing back to their office for a final debrief, then we are off to have a coffee and chat about what a great thrill we have just had.
Doing more earthly projects, we drive south, taking about 1/2 hour to drive to the town of Fox Glacier which took about 6 minutes in the chopper. After hearing about the great stoney beach at Bruce Bay, we push on for a late lunch, driving through some winding roads, flanked on the east by the snow topped mountains, and criss-crossed by numerous creeks & rivers and the familiar 1 lane bridges.
We stopped at Bruce Bay, which was a rocky beach, no sand but covered with driftwood. Having been told that the beach was famous for decorative stones, we went prospecting, did get some nice rocks and plenty of coloured stones and swarms of sand flies. Not sure if we picked any of the valuable ones but got some nice ones anyway. The best thing at this beach was there was a huge pile of white beach rocks and a blue texta. Travellers had written their names or messages on their own rock & left it as part of the pile. We added to the pile!
Getting way past lunch we continued on, seeking a suitable lunch spot, we eventually came upon Lake Paringa, a large natural lake, a glorious spot to stop. Established ourselves out of the icy wind, we enjoyed a relaxing lunch on the foreshore.
Still heading south we came upon a spot along the coast road called "Ship Creek", recommended to us a couple of days ago by Dave, the tour guide. Ships Creek was a very well constructed public walkway - 2 walks, 1 along the sand dunes and 1 along the creek. We took the creek walk, about 20mins along a well gravelled walkway through rainforest, swamps and coastal scrub. Was only 6ç so was pretty chilly but well worth the walk, lovely forest.
We were aiming to go another 150km but after 20km we reached the town of Haast and while small, it offered a couple of van parks and some shops. So after talking to a shop owner, we decided it was not wise to keep driving so we checked into the Top 10 van park on the outskirts of town. Bit nervous as we were the only visitors but the couple running it seemed nice and the ammenities were very good. Apparently this park used to be a hunting lodge so has a huge games room & lounge and the kitchen is an old plane hanger that has been converted. Is well appointed but is open along 1 side, that was a condition that had to be met.
Anyway the wind was howling off the snow so we took advantage of the free courtesy bus to a nearby hotel, the Frontier Inn, which was a very pleasant surprise, had a large open fireplace in the centre of the large open dining room. So we got the best seats - the lounges in front of the fire and stayed there for the evening. Had a delicious dinner before returning to our vans, blowing even stronger & colder. There are no large trees on this site and the vans were swaying all night from the wind.
Funny sight, at the hotel there were 1 or 2 bus loads of Chinese? who came in for a buffet dinner & on the table behind us was a lady, still dressed in her snow gear, eating a bread roll, on her fork, like it was a potato or something, not so familiar with the local customs!

Weather has been spot on today, mostly sunny, only some showers when we were driving, then cold and cloudy in the afternoon.

Highlights
*All Day!
* Van park in the rainforest,
* Helicopter ride,
* the glaciers,
* playing in the snow up the top of the glacier
* great scenic drive along the coastline,
* lunch site at Lake Paringa
* river walk at Ships Creek
* unique van park
* dinner at Frontier hotelRead more