Posted 6:10 PM by MelanieandSteve
On Fox Glacier with Tia Mel

Click the above link to see a picture of Us and Tia Mel on Fox Glacier


Still in NZ, full of Adventures, they never seem to end.
Sister Melanie is still with us and we're living it up with her awesome company.

AUKLAND: - Picked up steve's sister Mel (herafter, Tia Mel), spent some time catching up and making big plans. Mel PH explored Albert Park and it's botanical flowers. Then we headed south from the city, looking forward to NZ's natural side.

THE ADVENTURES BEGIN:
WAITOMO CAVES ABSEILING: We signed up for a"Blackwater rafting" trip in Tumu Tumu Tubes in Waitomo caves. This innertube ride takes you through dark caves lined with spectacular glow worms along cave walls. But due to high water levels, the company cancelled our trip and upgraded us to an even better adventure: Abseiling at the Heydon's Honking Holes. Abseiling is a term around here for caving with ropes and belays into the depths of the earth for adventure and fun among waterfalls and pools. In thick wet suits, we spilunked to our hearts delight, climbed, rapelled, and admired the constellations of little glow worms on the dark cave ceilings.

ROTORUA SLEDGING AND SOAKING: We checked into the Funky Green Voyager Hostel complete with communal living, shoes off, recycling, and free range eggs and headed off to the next adventure: Sledging. Yet another new adventure term for us in New Zealand. Sledging is whitewater rafting on a one-person sled-like boogie board with handles. It's a bumpy, bruisy experience, but the thick wet suits pad our bodies and the face cage protects our teeth. The class four rapids look bigger head first from inches above the water. MelPH just about froze, but they warmed her up afterwards with hot tea and fish and chips. And we warmed ourselves up that evening by soaking in the much needed Polynesian Baths (hot springs pools.) Sulfery smelling but soothing to our crampy bruised muscles.

TAUPO: drove south and showed Tia Mel some of our favorite sites from the last Taupo visit.

PARAPARAUMU FOR CHRISTMAS EVE: Got ourselves a room in a darling beachfront hostel on the Kapiti Island Coast on the South Western Part of NZ's North island. We cooked our own Christmas Eve Feast among fellow friendly backpackers and walked along the stormy windy beach. On the way there, we drove through OTAKI, where the woods and trails of Hobitan were filmed. We also saw the Mountain that plays the infamous roll of Mordor Volcano.

CHRISTMAS MORNING ON COOK STRAIGHT: Mel PH jogged along the beach on Christmas morning in Paraparaumu leaning into the wind both ways, and we headed to the ferry to South Island. We hopped on the Ferry ship south and celebrated christmas at a window seat table on the ship. Tia Mel played Santa and delivered some great gifts from family back home including gifts of Sydney tours from Sara and Walter, and helicopter glacier flight from Mom and Dad H, a cruise through the Milford Fjords from Mom and Dad P, and a stay at an awesome lake view house compliments of Tia Mel, herself. We were feeling pretty loved and lucky before the morning was through. We also got a mini travel Boggle game and played it that night. Mel PH was in euphoria over gifts of her favorite American sold IceBreaker mints. Mom H sent a homemade photo album of loved ones at home and the memories made us smile.

KAIKOURA: Picked up fresh cooked crayfish from a lobster shack and stopped by our favorite cafe for their awesome chowder. Fortunately they were open for Christmas, Unfortunately they weren't serving chowder. But with a little Christmas spirit, they made an exception and fixed up a batch for just us.

CHRISTMAS NIGHT IN HAMNER: Hamner was a darling mountain town, perfect to celebrate a non-white but still crisp and snuggly christmas. In the morning, Melph went jogging in the forest and followed some incomplete direction signs and got totally lost. Her 1/2 hour jog turned into an hour and a half of finding her way out of the woods (not another soul seen). Ugh. Next time she'll bring bread crumbs. Instead of bread crumbs, though, she was blessed with interesting and many rainbows rising up out of the surrounding mountains before her run. These blessed color splashes caused Mel to notice landmarks around her that she might have missed, so when she was in the woods she always knew which direction she was going (if only the trails would have gone the way she wanted them to.).

FOX GLACIER: HELI-HIKING, RAINFOREST RUNS, AND GROUND HIKES:
--The Heli-hike: One of our greatest Highlights: Seeing the glaciers was high on our priority list for NZ. We wanted to do it right. Thanks to a gift from Mom and Dad H, we did. We caught a helicopter to the glacier. Our Guide "Shells" took us around exploring and finding blue ice caves and explaining some of the geology of the ice. Where we were, the ice moves about a meter a day. It was a gorgeous day, waterfalls roared, ice cracked, and we had the greatest time all adorned in boots and crampons before catching another copter back down. We all got a shot at the helicopter's front seat and big views. This was Melph's first time in a helicopter and it was better than she had imagined.
--Rainforests: That afternoon MelPH took a jog through a rainforest at the base of the Mountain. It was bizaar to see the climate of rainforests with streams and moss similar to the tropics right at the base of an active glacier's climate.
--Ground Hike to the Terminal Moraine: Couldn't get enough of Fox. All three of us took yet another hike that day, this time from the ground up to the very tailings of the glacier, the terminal moraine. There, the river rushed out from under the ice, ice cracked and churned, rocks fell, and sun glowed blue through the jutts of ice. Awesome.

QUEENSTOWN:THE INCREDIBLE HOUSE, SHOTOVER JET, KAWARAU BUNGI BRIDGE:
--The Unbelieveable House: Home is where you feel like home instantly: Tia Mel's awesome Christmas gift to us included a stay at a house overlooking a lake and snow capped mountains. The house is so amazing we hate to ever leave it. Every room is all window and the changing scenery with moving clouds, sunrises and sunsets, changing weather are a constant sourse of our attention. Sunset is still captivating at 10pm.
--Shotover Jet: We took a ride jet boating through the narrow canyons where the daredevil driver spins 360's and shoots us perilously close to the rocky cliffs. Not sure whether the vast beauty of the canyon or the thrills and speed were what made this adventure better.
--Bunji Bridge: We spent a few hours watching the bungi jumpers off the first Bunji Bridge in New Zealand, the Kawarau Bridge, made famous by AJ Hacket, who started bungi jumping altogether. Considering doing it ourselves.

MILFORD SOUND/FJORDS: THE CRUISE, THE HIKES, KAYAKS, UNDERWATER OBSERVATORY ...:
---The Cruise: Thanks to Mom and Dad P, we spent our New Years Eve on an overnight cruise through Milford Sound. The fjordlands here are barely describeable with their raw magnificent beauty. During the cruise, the ship set anchor and we set out exploring on Kayaks. We counted down the new year on deck under the Southern Cross and other southern constellations and sung Old Lange Seine with fellow travellers.
--the Underwater Observatory: The fjords afford some special environmental conditions found nowhere else in the world allowing us to see certain chorals and fish that are never so shallow anywhere else. Notable was black choral which actually appears white.
--Hiking: After the cruise, we headed inland and enjoyed a fjordlands hike to an alpine lake along waterfalls and over a swing bridge.

BACK IN QUEENSTOWN: We're back at the home of many windows: never want to leave it. Tia Mel is only here a couple more days and time is flying too fast. It's all good.