In Search of Hobbits

22 years after The Lord of The Rings, we finally made it to New Zealand! We had discussed visiting the land of the hobbits multiple times, but nothing ever panned out. The one time we actually planned the trip and made all the bookings, the Christchurch earthquake happened so we were glad that we finally made it.

The trip didn't get off to a good start as I was horribly sick for over a week and was still feeling under the weather when we boarded the plane, though I was on the road to recovery by then. We had to cancel our heli-hike which was scheduled on the 3rd day after our arrival. On hindsight that was a good decision as the glacier is under a lot of environmental stress and we did not want to stress it further. 

After resting in Christchurch for a night, we took the Tranz Alphine train to Greymouth, where we picked up our car to drive to Franz Joseph. A friend had raved about the train ride, but I guess we were not really train people. While the ride was pleasant, I did not feel the scenery was mind-blowing, or perhaps my expectations were too high. If you do take the train, please ensure that you have cash with you, as card payment did not work on certain parts of the route as there was no signal. Luckily another friend had passed me her leftover cash so we still managed to buy some snacks. Once we reached Greymouth, we stocked up on some food and snacks and made our way to Franz Joseph. 

cute little cafe where we stopped for some food before heading off to Franz Joseph

Franz Joseph was a tiny tiny little town, which seems to exist purely for tourists. Most tourists go there for the heli-hike and we were no exception. We had to cancel it though as I was still feeling under the weather and didn't think it would be a good idea to hike for 4 hours. We drove around wondering what we could do and ended up booking a scenic helicopter ride which also had a snow landing. It was our first time in a helicopter and while it was quite exciting, we both felt queasy after a while. Our pilot did his best to share about the landscape and scenery but to be honest, we could hardly hear him over the noise of the helicopter's rotors. The views of the glaciers was breathtaking though and helped take our minds off the noise and queasiness. 

view while waiting for our helicopter ride

the blue ice from the glacier

The next day, we headed to Lake Matheson for a walk, which was very picturesque and a relatively easy walk. The really great thing about New Zealand is that all the walks are clearly marked, and the estimation of how long it takes to complete the walk is fairly accurate for a person with average fitness. We were lucky that the weather was good and there weren't too many people, thus we could enjoy the scenery and just soak in the atmosphere. 

lovely view of Lake Matheson

 After lunch, we headed off to Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere (Franz Josef), which to be honest was very disappointing. The glacier had melted and retreated quite far back due to global warming, thus from the viewpoint, there wasn't much to see. Luckily, it was a very short walk, thus it wasn't as if we hiked for hours just to see that. There were also other shorter walks around the area, which we did, however the views were not really anything to shout about. The only plus point is that the walks here are all paved and very easy, thus if you are not very mobile, this would be a good compromise, however if you are short of time and relatively fit, I would suggest that you skip this and just go to Fox Glacier instead. 

After being disappointed at Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere, we thought that we would give Fox Glacier a try before heading off to Wanaka, which turned out to be a great decision. The walk was much more scenic than Franz Josef and the glacier was more intact. While the hike was longer, it was manageable for anyone with average fitness. You can't get too close to the glacier for safety reasons but the view was worth the hike. It was also less crowded than Franz Josef, which meant we didn't need to jostle for space at the viewpoint. One thing to note though is that insect repellent is a must if you are going for any walks. I got bitten very badly after just 2 days in New Zealand so make sure you bring that along and spray liberally and reapply it constantly! 

view of Fox Glacier, this is the closest you can get to it

And with one last look at the glacier, we headed off to Wanaka.