Day 14

Another long day, spent mainly in the bus with the exception of a few stops to stretch the legs, take a few pictures, and then lunch, before making the final trek to the Glacier.

Today was the 25th anniversary of the commercializatIon of Bungy Jumping in New Zealand, started by a man named AJ Hackett. We passed over the bridge next to where it all started and where later in the day a big celebration was planned. Paper said that they have even got their first customer, an American coming for the festivities.

Our first stop was a fruit stand in Cromwell, know all over NZ for growing fruits, from Apples and Pears, to Kiwis and Pears and a few others as well. Mary and I eyed the grapes and after a taste elected to buy a bag to eat on the bus. It wasn’t until we got back in the bus that we saw stamped on the bag, Product of USA, California! Oh well, they were good.

We continued on our journey making a couple of quick stops for pictures then a lunch break. After lunch it was off to Franz Josef still over 50 mies away on a two lane road with dozens of one way bridges. We got delayed slightly when we came upon an area of the road where there had been a landslide a few weeks earlier and they were working on cleaning it up so traffic down to one lane. Not very comforting driving along narrow two lane roads with mountains on one side with a habit of rock slides, and a 1000 foot drop on the other side. Bus driver said that last 3 tours he drove had to be diverted to another road which meant hours of additional driving, we were lucky.

Again, the views out the windows continue to be incredible with the snow capped mountains in the distance and the lush green vegetation up the mountain to the snow line. The streams and rivers are spectacular and once again waterfalls everywhere.

Upon arriving at the Glacier, we had a few choices, Mary had planned on taking a helicopter up to the Glacier, and I opted to walk the 2 1/2 miles up to the edge of the Glacier. Turns out I made the right choice, as the clouds came in reducing visibility and the copters were grounded. The closest we could get to the Glacier was about 1/2 mile, as there have been incidents of ice breaking off and traveling down the valley.

In this area, it is one of two places in the world where Glaciers actually touch a rainforest, here and in Chile, The rainforest averages about 200 inches of rain per year, while the mountains above average between 70 and 100 feet of snow!

We have been blessed with great weather so far, hearing on many occasions that this is not typical weather. We packed for all types of weather including cold and rain, but have so far been able to avoid all the nasty weather.