Welcome, weary traveler, to the next installment in Quickstride & Shambler’s adventure in New Zealand. This week, we take ourselves to the top of a famous glacier, then partake in a New Zealand staple. We appreciate you reading! If you would like to support Norseman Creative, the most direct way is through our Shop. I also would be forever in your debt if you “Liked” this article, shared it, or left a comment in the comment section. Enjoy the tale, and thanks for stopping by!
Jenny and I arrived at our campsite after dark, and woke up just as the sun was rising. After driving from Hokitika, we camped in a small campsite off of a dirt road and right next to an austere beach. At first light Jenny and I left the comfort of our van and were met with a Weka picking around the campground, doubtlessly looking for any food careless campers may have left out. We left the flightless bird behind, wandering down to the beach to stretch our legs before driving to our next adventure.
The beach was rugged, all driftwood and coarse, pebbly sand. We walked along the high-tide line while the sun rose, taking pictures of the gorgeous scenery all around us. Aside from the wind and the crashing surf, there wasn’t a sound in the air. It was quiet, and peaceful while the sky lit up in pinks and oranges. Jenny and I took enough pictures to satisfy our inner photographers, and returned to our campervan to start the next phase of our trip.
Our next stop was the Franz Josef Glacier, and our next ride was a bright blue Airbus H125. I parked our campervan in downtown Franz Josef, near one of the nicest public bathrooms I have ever seen or used, and walked to the Glacier Country Helicopter Tours office. A short wait later, and we shuttled to the helipad, where we met our pilot. She gave us a quick safety brief, then loaded us into the blue helicopter. With the thumping roar of rotor blades, off we went up the mountain.
The flight was short, and we transitioned from lush, green pastures to alpine forests to barren, rocky mountains in a matter of minutes. Our pilot/tour guide pointed out landmarks as we rose, communicating with us through headsets so we could hear over the engine noise and the helicopter blades above us beating gravity into submission.
As we rose further up the mountain on our way to the glacier, our pilot pointed out a series of mountain tops and asked if they looked familiar. It was a rhetorical question for two reasons: 1) Our headsets did not have microphones to reply into, and 2) obviously these mountains were in the Lord of the Rings movies, because you cannot throw a rock in New Zealand without hitting someone, something, or some place that was in the Lord of the Rings movies.
Specifically, this mountain range was featured in the scene where a series of signal beacons are lit to notify Rohan that their ancient brethren, the people of Gondor, are in trouble and call upon Rohan to fulfill their oath. Earlier in the film, the king of Rohan, King Theoden, told Aragorn that they would not come to Gondor’s aid because Gondor had not held up their end of the bargain (“Where was Gondor when the Westfold fell?”). When the signal beacons are lit, Aragorn rushes to the king and declares “The beacons are lit! Gondor calls for aid!” Caught up in the moment, Theoden King declares “And Rohan will answer!” Off they go to fight evil, and if you haven’t watched the movies lately just go do that. Go now, my article can wait.
Just a few minutes past these famous mountain peaks, our pilot brought our chariot in for a landing on the Franz Josef Glacier. The glacier itself extends from 700 feet above sea-level to more than 8,000 feet above sea-level, and is about 7.5 miles in length with a wide snowfield. We touched down on the alpine snowfield alongside two other helicopters, and had a few minutes to stomp around the glacier and take photos.
The view was breathtaking. Standing on the Franz Josef Glacier, we had a 360 degree view of the rugged mountains. Jenny and I could turn from looking at the mountain tops to peer down the glacier almost all the way to the Tasman Sea.
Our pilot called us back after a few minutes, and she loaded us in the Airbus Helicopter to transport us back to sea level. On the way down, our pilot took us on a different route than our ascent, so we got to see just a little bit more different scenery.
Barren glacier turned to alpine lakes, which then turned to mountain forests. Just a few minutes later, those mountain forests turned to lush sheep pastures. We buzzed low over a herd of unbothered sheep, the helicopter flared and the engine roared over our headsets, and terra firma greeted us with a slight bump.
As the helicopter spooled down, we thanked our pilot and made our way back to the pick up area to be shuttled back to the Glacier Country Tours office. We piled into the company van alongside a half dozen other tourists, all speaking different languages, but all saying the same thing: That was awesome.
After a long morning of flying around the Franz Josef Glacier, Jenny and I made a very important stop in a local cafe to get a late breakfast/early lunch. We ordered our coffees and a staple Kiwi grub: Meat Pies. Meat pies are basically like one of those oven-ready pot pies you can get in the frozen food section on the cheap. Except these Kiwi delicacies are freshly made, buttery, flakey, hearty goodness, not frozen, mass-produced slop that makes RFK Jr sad.
Jenny and I took our time enjoying our lunch, then saddled up the campervan. It wasn’t even noon yet, we still had a full day of adventure in front of us. Following Jenny’s itinerary, we still had to hike to a beach, then hike to some blue pools, then see some famous tree, and finally rest at a pre-chosen campsite.
I fired up the diesel, eased into traffic, and pointed our campervan to Monro Beach.
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