23 January 2011
2 Hours of Hiking
2 Hours of Biking
A wee songbird pooped in our van. For those familiar with our Kauai bird story, this one isn’t nearly as dramatic – no endangered species involved nor any R-rated language. This was simply a case of an opportunistic swallow finding an open door, looking for campervan crumbs, and, after not finding any (traveling with Gina is a very tidy affair), left a gift of appreciation.
We are at Franz Josef Glacier, 25 km north of where we spent our past few days at Fox Glacier. Crazy enough, we had another incredibly sunny and warm day – this on the side of the South Island that is famous for its monumental rain showers. The Holiday Park here – a Top 10 – is absolutely fantastic. We are camped in a park setting, the grassy ground so soft that banging around with the tent stake mallet was nothing more than an afterthought. I have become quite the expert at assembling our nightly house. We are like turtles without having to carry the extra weight on our backs. Tonight’s tent construction is special, in that it has a couple of extra lines and stakes attached like finely tuned piano wires, the wind being a bit of a menance when the early stages of construction were underway. But we have learned how to cope with such minor inconveniences and are pleased that no permits are required for such near-daily renovations.
The other really killer feature of this campsite – the showers. It’s interesting how underequipped some campground showers are – no bench, not enough hooks, and/or a coin box requiring us to pay an additional $2 for 8 minutes – this after we’ve paid between $30 and $40 just to pitch our tent. But here at the Franz Josef Top 10 the showers are top notch (!). Almost as good as being at home. I was exclaiming all this out loud when we went to shower tonight until I heard a tiny knock-knock on my shower door. “Hello?” I said, to find Gina standing there with her most serious of whispers “There’s someone in here.” Well, I guess that stranger now knows my opinion on the Franz Josef showerhouse. And at least if was G-rated, unlike her Hawaiian bird tirade.
Franz Josef is a glacier unlike Fox, in that you can currently hike nearly up to its face, Mother Nature not having recently destroyed its trail to the ice like over Fox’s way. It felt akin to hiking the lava field on Hawaii’s Big Island, only different in the most obvious way (fire vs. ice). Very lovely.
