Big packing and Ear popping

It has been a while since my last entry, because I have not been able to log on the Internet. Today how ever, its the third day of being on the road and we have reached Fox glacier. A lot has happened, and to keep myself and my possible few readers on track, I shall fill in a few details of the trip so far.

On the 14Th of February we took off on the ferry from Welly to Picton. It was quite an embarrassment, since we had pretty much packed the whole house, leaving only the kitchen sink behind. Trying to trolley all that stuff into the ferry and out of it, was not much fun. I don't think it was fun for dad either, who got two women constantly nagging about his packing methods. Note that I did personally find it funny to have packed the least from us three, being a teenage girl that is.

After getting past the ''small packing error'', we headed towards Nelson, where dads old school friend, from 35 years ago, lived with his family. The house had quite amazing views, and the food was great. So we got a good nights sleep, stomachs full and some nice company. I chatted with the boys, who were my age, so I wasn't completely alone with adults. Also surfing the Internet in Ollie's room until midnight, helped me get over my jet lag.

The next day we had our heads set for a long drive. Stopping in Nelson wasn't the original plan, so we had to catch up if we wanted to save time for later adventures. Leaving around 10am, we drove through the wine country, into the hills and onto the beautiful west coast. Stops along the way made sure we got enough food, rest and pictures. The sun was shining and the heat was on, so it was altogether a very lovely drive. On the coast we stopped to see the bizarre pancake rocks, too weird to explain... And as the sun set, we were hastily driving towards the glaciers and looking for a place to stay before it all closed. There were many vacant campsites on the way, but we didn't really fancy staying in cities like Greymouth, so we drove on, relying on luck. And lucky we were: Just as we thought we were going to turn around and go back to some tent site, dad spotted a wooden sign, Bed and breakfast. So we drove to the house, hoping someone would be home, and that they would be normal people. I must say, it almost makes me believe in destiny, since after all that panicking, we found some very friendly people, in a very nice house, with a very lovely cat.

The night was good, and he breakfast even better, since a lot of it was homemade. We even got an early take-off, and started driving ahead to the glaciers. A few laughs in the gold mining town of Ross and a few more photo-opportunities by dad (every two meters while on the road...). So the driving wasn't too fast, but it got us fairly quickly to Franz Josef glacier, where we took a short stroll to the viewing platform. A further drive, and we reached Fox glacier. Now, we had already seen the Franz Josef up close, so we thought we would just eat a little, and then maybe take a hike in the nearby forests. Of course every family has a person with bright (and expensive) ideas, and today it was mom. After a meal, and an extra hour, we were in an helicopter, taking of to fly around the glacier and the mountains in the surrounding area.

Helicopter flying. Now there's something that I have never tried before, and I must say it was quite surreal. Although my ears still hurt from the pressure of descending, It still was one of the most eye opening, mouth dropping and well, ear popping experiences of my life. Somehow I felt like I was the filmer of Lord of the Rings, seeing the same landscapes by my own eyes. I couldn't believe it. Those glaciers were massive, and the drops in the ice overwhelming. You could see how the rock in the mountains was formed, cracked from the earth as tectonic plates rose and clashed. The huge glacial waterfalls descended into dark icy ravines. Like a dream -good, I must say. Or like flying over a miniature -good. Google earth can't even stand comparison -good!

Well, adrenaline slowed down and ears still locked, here I am: Sitting in the Internet lounge writing about my adventures. It might seem boring just reading what someone has been doing, so, HA HA, I'm here and you're not, so live with it!