Makarora - Fox
Todays plan was to cycle to Haast and get the coach to Fox Glacier. We were unsure the night before whether or not to get the coach all the way because some bad weather had come in. Mark got up at 6am and checked out the weather. It looked a bit miserable but decided it was ok to cycle, the wind at least was light. So, we managed to set off just after 6.30am, a bit early but we had to get to Haast by lunchtime for the coach.
The journey to Haast is one of my favourite so far. It was overcast and cool to begin with which was perfect for the early climb and it did look like it might clear. Having reached the top the scenery was amazing, lush green mountains and clear blue streams below. Because of the rain the night before we were treated to more waterfalls. The decent for me was scary, Mark loves the steep decents but I'm a bit of a wimp and am not so keen. The views were great though and when we'd reached the bottom of the really steep bit there was huge gushing stream/waterfall. The colours are so vibrant, the water tends to be bright blue/torquoise which will hopefully come out in the photos. The remainder of the ride was pretty easy, lots of ups and downs but predominantly down which was nice. There was very little traffic on this day and it was so peaceful. All you can hear is the flowing water, birds and really loud crickets.
We made it to Haast with plenty of time to spare so we grabbed a snack and waited for the coach to Fox. We arrived in Fox about 3.30pm and got settled into our room. The room itself was ok but it was smelly so I didn't rate it too highly. We had a beer and a rest and then decided to cycle to Lake Matheson (mirror lake reflecting Mt Cook). I had been there before and the view was cool so I thought it would be a nice thing to do as we had spare time. We had to walk about a mile to Reflection Point. When we got there, the lake was not reflective because of the wind and Mt Cook was completely covered in cloud... grrrr. Oh well, we needed the excercise after only 1/2 day cycling.
The journey to Haast is one of my favourite so far. It was overcast and cool to begin with which was perfect for the early climb and it did look like it might clear. Having reached the top the scenery was amazing, lush green mountains and clear blue streams below. Because of the rain the night before we were treated to more waterfalls. The decent for me was scary, Mark loves the steep decents but I'm a bit of a wimp and am not so keen. The views were great though and when we'd reached the bottom of the really steep bit there was huge gushing stream/waterfall. The colours are so vibrant, the water tends to be bright blue/torquoise which will hopefully come out in the photos. The remainder of the ride was pretty easy, lots of ups and downs but predominantly down which was nice. There was very little traffic on this day and it was so peaceful. All you can hear is the flowing water, birds and really loud crickets.
We made it to Haast with plenty of time to spare so we grabbed a snack and waited for the coach to Fox. We arrived in Fox about 3.30pm and got settled into our room. The room itself was ok but it was smelly so I didn't rate it too highly. We had a beer and a rest and then decided to cycle to Lake Matheson (mirror lake reflecting Mt Cook). I had been there before and the view was cool so I thought it would be a nice thing to do as we had spare time. We had to walk about a mile to Reflection Point. When we got there, the lake was not reflective because of the wind and Mt Cook was completely covered in cloud... grrrr. Oh well, we needed the excercise after only 1/2 day cycling.
posted by Mark Halliday at
10:11 PM
4 Comments:
howdo folks - sounds like you're enjoying the trip despite being exhausted all the time.
I have a great picture of Chris dressed in tennis whites with a blond wig and a white skirt....shame I canot post it.
just ask geoff about the dull book trip to fareham.
Dammit K-bo. What did I say about not letting Sharon know about me borrowing her wig!
Was this for charity or just a sick joke? And where did you get the tennis whites from ?
And please tell me what you have done to geoff.... book club?
It was neither for charity or a sick joke. I've made some changes and I like to be called Christine now.
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