Wandering Sadhu

We stop in a town called Wanaka, still on the outskirts of Aspiring national park whose main features are two enormous fresh water lakes and stunning views of the surrounding mountain ranges.

We plan to stay here for a few days exploring the area – it is the perfect town for us with lots of hiking and swimming and we need to stay in one place for longer than usual as we are getting a little road weary.

Friday, Jan 14
took a short morning constitutional up a steep use trail in a narrow river canyon.  The rainforest was cool and moist but most importantly free of those nasty little black flies. Coral moss hung from the branches of beech trees like thickly layered tinsel on a christmas tree. The sound of a waterfall crashes below us. The trail was narrow and had one deadly steep drop off that got really spooky when I looked down.  I had been fully enjoying my walk until I looked down on my right side and felt a flush of fear course through my body.  For a moment I froze then got my wits about me
and walked steadily forward until the path widened.  Just like in life, if you can put one foot in front of the other during hard or scary times, you get back on solid ground pretty quickly.

Thursday, January 13
When you travel, you never form a habit. Leaving our campsite and heading forward into a new day, new scenery, new friends,
especially on a clear sunny day, is delightfully uplifting.  Driving
along highway 6 between Haast, where we camped last night, and
Queenstown, is like being on safari; you see very few people and
very little in the way of man-made structures.  The area is part of a
2.6 million hectare reserve called the Te Wahi Pounamu world
heritage area; the wildest and remotest area in New Zealand.  That
means no wifi, no cell phone service, totally off the grid.
The mountains are steep and thickly forested, the river beds are
wide and wild and there are few vehicles on the road.  Periodically
we see man made beehives  on the side of the road, usually about
15 boxes per site but that is the only trace if human commerce
anywhere.
The rivers in this area are the most beautiful blue green I have ever
seen.  It is tempting to stop the car and jump in but they are hard
to access either with wire fences blocking the way or the natural
landscape making them inaccessible. And the fact that the water
temperature is ice cold coming off the snow fields of the surrounding
mountains.
We stopped to walk out to the Roaring Billy Falls on the Haast river which is at the gateway ofMount Aspiring national park.  You walk out into this 300 yard wide river bed filled with small stones that look like someone sprayed silver powder on them and across the field is a roaring waterfall coming off the side of the mountain and the most beautiful river snaking through the valley floor. Tall mountains ring the valley and all you hear is the wind, bird song, cicadas, and the roar of the water falls.
Being in a place where nature is dominant is good for the soul.  All
your cares float away with the flow of the river and the wind soothes
the mind into silence.  What’s left is a feast for the senses: the dark
green foliage covering the steep cone shaped mountains, the clear
blue sky, the shimmering aqua-marine water, and the most delicious
clean air you have ever tasted nourish the body as sure as the
healthy meals my brother Jim cooks.
Before settling in for the night we walked to the Blue Pools which
are named that way, the information board tells you because the
pools are blue.  The kiwis are nothing if not plain spoken. They generally advertise things is the most basic way possible, ie, “really
good restaurant”.  Well the blue pools were simply gorgeous deep
turquoise blue pools carved out of the sedimentary stone by the
flowing blue river. We dove into the ice cold pools and had others
follow our lead. Before we knew it people with no bathing suits
were stripping down naked because they could not resist the lure of
the enchanting pools.
Thursday night we decide to stay at Cameron Flats, a DOC (dept of
conservation) campground where we were eaten alive by black flies also known as sand fleas in these parts. I now look like I have the
chicken pox I have so many red spots.  THe DOC campgrounds are
very simple and I really hope not to have to camp in one again since
getting used to the luxury of the Top 10 holiday campgrounds.

Good Morning! It is 8:31am on Wednesday January 12, 18 hours ahead of the east coast of the US
Sitting in a Holiday Campground Group kitchen having tea while reading emails and waiting for my laundry to dry. It rained all night here in Franz Josef after a steady downpour yesterday during our 5 hour hike up into the valley of the FJ glacier. Lots of our clothes and equipment needs drying.
The kitchen/ dining room is filled with people cooking their breakfast and quietly chatting in different languages about their day. It is such a nice feeling to be in this community setting. The kitchen is
well equipped with pots, pans, dishes, and refrigeration for the
campers and in general everyone is really good abut cleaning up
after themselves.
Most of the meals are holiday meals; pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, cuppa (tea) and oatmeal. Hikes are busy making sandwiches for the day’s hike up the glacier.

We had a late dinner so breakfast for D and Me today is tea and fruit
Have to run for now!

We are now in Franz Josef, NZ hiking around the enormous (12 km long) glacier, which is the source of fame and tourist dollars for the
small town. The Maori called the glacier Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere,
and in the mid 1800’s it was renamed after Franz Joseph I, the last
Austrian Emporer of the Austro-Hungarian empire.
The trail to the head of the glacier is like going to Mecca. Hundreds
and hundreds of men, women, and children from all over the world
(up to 2700 a day) walk in a line on a narrow trail within a flat
stony area about 1/2mile wide and 3 miles long which leads to the
foot of the glacier.
What makes this glacier so special is its proximity to the ocean and
the beautiful temperate rainforest that leads up to the glacial valley.
When we arrive at this very impressive mass of blue white ice and
look up into the deep U-shaped glacial valley that it inhabits, it is
surprisingly moving to be in its presence. Glaciers are a significant source of the worlds fresh water and to think that they are
disappearing gives one pause. It is estimated that the Franz Josef glacier will disappear within 100 years due to global warming.

At the bottom of the glacier wall (the terminus) there is a large cave like opening where a roaring milky grey river known as the Waiho rushes through the valley floor as if possessed by demons.

During to the walk to and from the charismatic glacier, you hear the constant whupping sound of helicopters flying over head bearing sightseers who were willing to pay between 2-300. NZ dollars for the experience.