“The mountain and water will eventually meet.” Chinese proverb

We leave the town of Ross and his mythical pub late morning Wednesday 13 February to go refresh ourselves at the foot of Franz Josef Glacier. The clouds are low but we have a glimpse of eternal ice ... or not.

Il and 18 000 year old, Franz Josef Glacier / Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere extended to the sea while today it is nineteen kilometers from the shore, a decline due to global warming. He even shrunk considerably since the first visit of Europeans, in 1865 he filled the valley to about where the low clouds stops on the photo (right) at the left of hill. Rising global temperatures will likely continue to cause the melting of glaciers in New Zealand.

Franz Josef Glacier

Franz Josef Glacier Valley

Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere means in Te Reo Māori "Tears of the daughter of the avalanche". Hine Hukatere - the daughter of the avalanche - was a woman who loved Māori adventurous mountaineering above all. Her lover, Tawe, disliked climbing as his beloved, Hine but the persuasive power was strong and Tawe often climbed with her mountains. During one of these adventures, Tawe slipped earlier this valley and plunged to his death. Tears of Hine were so numerous that they have flooded the valley and were frozen by the gods in memory of his pain.
Une histoire triste mais plus jolie que le nom utilisé aujourd’hui qui a été donné par l’explorateur européen Julius von Haast en 1865, d’après le nom de l’empereur d’Autriche-Hongrie de l’époque. 🙂

Nous passons la nuit sur la route entre les deux glaciers, trouvant un petit recoin en pleine nature où nous serons rejoints par une jeune allemande et par des moustiques d’une taille telle qu’ils doivent provenir directement de la période du Jurassique, peut-être étaient-ils congelés dans le glacier !

Glacier Fox

Fox Glacier end

Le lendemain matin nous faisons une balade sur les berges du lac Matheson, connu pour refléter de façon presque parfaite les Mont Cook et Tasman… Seulement il faut avoir la chance d’avoir un ciel assez dégagé et pas de vent. Pour nous, il n’y a rien à voir, la surface du lac étant loin d’être lisse, mais sur le chemin nous avons de chouettes vues sur le glacier Fox / Te Moeka o Tuawe. Une heure et demi de marche aller retour nous amène à 450 mètres de sa fin, confirmant l’idée de Monsieur qu’un glacier c’est tout de même plus joli vu de loin ou éventuellement de haut, parce que de près c’est un tas de glace boueux. 😀 La marche est par contre fort sympathique, avec des cascades un peu tout autour de nous.

A 450 meters from the Fox Glacier

Valley Fox Glacier

La pluie, we almost avoided since we started the adventure, we joined slyly on the road to torrential way. In very little time, the rocks of wide rivers dry until disappear under water, streams become rivers fields if these are lakes and unnamed waterfalls begin to slide down the hills. Au village de Haast, we take refuge in a small supermarket that makes coffee also hoping to see the sky again become warmer. There are lulls but rain remains and we hit the road for a trip to Jackson Bay where the German traveler yesterday said she had had the chance to see and swim with wild dolphins. We will watch in vain and will eventually abandon the place where we're devoured by clouds of sandflies !

Roaring Billy Falls

Life on the road in NZ

The next day, On the morning of Friday 15 February, the sun is back and yesterday's rain has prepared a superb road, Magnifying official waterfalls such as Roaring Billy Falls and adding other anonymous ago. We leave the coast to drive us to the interior of the island, in the region of Otago, the heart of a beautiful valley. The damp flora reflects miles ways the sun, dressing landscapes invigorating colors. The snowy peaks that appear here and there in a bend the finishing touches.

Otago Region

Valley Otago

Blue Pools

Arrive on Lake Wanaka

We go walking to the famous Blue Pools corner, we find green and responsible tourists. We run on asphalt that leads us on the shores of Lake Wanaka and those of its very close neighbor Lake Hawea Wea ... ! This is roughly the sound we make, the views are simply stunning, leaving our big mouths and eyes open admiration. The pictures give a small glimpse of the grandeur of the landscape.

Installations Lake Wanaka

Waters of Lake Wanaka

Arrive on Lake Hawea

Lac Hawea

In the town of Wanaka, where we planned to make a stop, we finally do some quick shopping for our lunch, stuffy quickly before the masses of tourists and buildings of the place seems to have been only built for them. We continue towards the town of Queenstown, Kawarau Gorge pushing us in the bottom of which flows the beautiful eponymous river. We walk on the suspension bridge built in 1880, where other bungee jumping. And as you have escaped a reference to Lord of the Rings in theprevious article, you will of course be happy to learn that it is here that was filmed the transition fromArgonath, the great stone kings.

Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge

Kawarau river

We end the day in Queenstown, where we expected to see one of our knowledge for the weekend. Although city, it is less artificial than Wanaka is housed on Lake Wakatipu, on whose shores we spend the night in Bay Meiklejohns, enjoy the beautiful light, the night, falls from the clouds.

Arrive on Lake Wakatipu

Meiklejohns Bay

The next day just a few meters, we find the area of ​​Twenty Five Mile Stream, much larger with a 360 ° view of the mountains, a portion under the snow.

Twenty Five Mile Stream

Swimming in Lake Wakatipu

The area becomes our base for the weekend. The Saturday late afternoon we return to Queenstown for a ride and see there our knowledge of Australia, qui nous emmène manger en ville et nous fait visiter les jardins. Le dimanche il nous emmène sur la route du Crown Range puis dans les villages de Cardrona et d’Arrowtown.

Crown Range

Cardrona

Malheureusement à toute pile il y a une face cachée ; plus les paysages sont paradisiaques, plus ces phlébo… damnés parasites qui piquent sont nombreux, et sur la côte ouest ce n’est plus un nombre, c’est la pénombre 🙂 c’est la séquence de pi, après la virgule, multipliée par mille.

 

A moins d’être un moine tibétain super entraîné à la méditation et insensible même à un tigre qui lui mordillerait l’oreille, il est impossible de répéter des chansons sur une guitare et encore moins faire des exercices de chant allongé parmi ces envahisseurs (comment ça ils étaient là avant ?)

 

Jackson Bay était le summum, le point d’orgue du séjour.

 

Au moins, dans l’eau gelée du lac, il n’y en avait point, mais qui a envie de rester toute une journée dans une eau que j’estimerais à 8° ou moins ?

 

Attention, le soleil Néo-Zélandais brûle ! Il n’en donne vraiment pas l’impression avec les vents d’Antarctique, mais on peut s’en choper un bon coup.

Un badigeonnage d’huile de coco s’impose 🙂