New Zealand or Bust

[Two on Tour]

Re. Penguins. I have been in NZ 26 years and have never seen a penguin (outside of the Oamaru colony) and I’m currently camping beside a beach in Golden Bay where the locals have installed dozens of nesting boxes for them and there are big signs on the road warning of penguins crossing, but not seen a penguin in all the years I’ve been coming here.
Whale strandings are more common, unfortunately.

We saw a few Blue penguins just along from the pay to view colony at Oamaru as I posted earlier in this thread, but we got talking to a couple from the UK at Curio Bay who were touring in a motorhome that were staying a few nights at the campsite at Curio Bay and they had seen a good number of both Blue and Yellow Eyed penguins coming up the beach to their nestsite the evening before.
We would have liked to have stayed to see them that evening, but unfortunately we had to move on.

 

[funflair]

Sending positive vibes for all your helicopter rides tomorrow

We were meant to be going one afternoon when the weather was similar but the next morning:
View attachment 1018422
It can clear quickly

If the brown shack are the public loos outside the helicopter offices - they decorate them for Christmas...
View attachment 1018420

Thanks Stephen, we were meant to be 9:30 but that wasn’t happening, we got a window at 12:00 and thankfully the pilot had his iPad so knew where he was going,

Got the landing on Fox so we had to pay when we got back

Bright as you like on the glacier,

But still too much cloud hanging over Franz Joseph, all in all a great experience and nice to meet up with Paul and Yvette and hopefully they enjoyed their trip, I think we were both lucky to get the flights in when we did as the clouds soon came back and I think they stopped flying again pretty soon after we got back.

Now just need to sort through “far too many photos,” Jen got a front seat so mine might get dumped

 

[Two on Tour]

A few photos from our abandoned part way through glacier helicopter flight on Monday.

As our Monday flight was cut short, we opted for a rescheduled flight for Wednesday morning at 9am.
Check-in for the flight was 8.30am, which meant an early start as our digs were an hour and a half away.
The clouds and mist did not look promising on the drive in and at check-in we were moved to a 1pm flight ..... maybe.
Knowing that Jen and Martin where due to fly at 9.30, we waited for them to see if they faired any better, but as Martin has said they too were rescheduled.
It was nice to meet up with Jen and Martin and chat over a coffee, but this was curtailed when Yvette's phone rang and we were placed on the next flight. Today's flight was brilliant and we finally got our snow landing that we missed on Monday.

The Tasman glacier is the longest in New Zealand at 14.6 miles long at present (unfortunately it's shrinking due to global warming) and it has small glaciers that feed into it along it's length, like the Kaufmann glacier that can be seen in the photo joining the Tasman glacier on the right.

 

[PaddyM]

There’s a long-standing problem with so-called self-contained campervans and people buying the self-containment stickers online or getting vans/cars certified by unscrupulous companies.
New laws were brought in last year but they’ve already got around these.
The problem is not helped by local councils not policing the freedom (wild) camping sites and so not fining them for flouting the law and s****ing in the bushes. Even if they do issue them with a fine, the scumbags don’t pay.
I once reported an old Toyota Hiace to my council. It was camping in a senior’s club car park for weeks at a time, had piles of rubbish around it, no toilet, no holding tanks, no tax rego, etc. The council told me they couldn’t do anything about it because the owner was “homeless”.
I am appalled by some of the experiences you guys are recounting on here.
PaddyM $400 per night is not a budget motel. I hope you will complain and leave an honest review of your experience.
Re. Penguins. I have been in NZ 26 years and have never seen a penguin (outside of the Oamaru colony) and I’m currently camping beside a beach in Golden Bay where the locals have installed dozens of nesting boxes for them and there are big signs on the road warning of penguins crossing, but not seen a penguin in all the years I’ve been coming here.
Whale strandings are more common, unfortunately.

Re the $400NZ per night was me being sarcastic , it was that price and my comment was my way of expressing my disappointment and yes I’m gonna review and have already complained .

 

[funflair]

And by the time we landed the souvenir photo had been downloaded printed and was offered in a little folder at NZ$ 25, we don't usually fall for that but it was actually a good photo and I liked the colour of our helicopter better than Paul and Yvette's

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[Two on Tour]

You were talking about New Zealand car number plates earlier Martin, we went to the pub for a bite to eat this evening and saw these two.

 

[Two on Tour]

And by the time we landed the souvenir photo had been downloaded printed and was offered in a little folder at NZ$ 25, we don't usually fall for that but it was actually a good photo and I liked the colour of our helicopter better than Paul and Yvette's

We were handed our folder with the photo before we got back into the helicopter while still on the snowfield, so it must have been printed in the helicopter , by the way, you were shafted ...... ours was only NZ$ 20

 

[funflair]

We were handed our folder with the photo before we got back into the helicopter while still on the snowfield, so it must have been printed in the helicopter , by the way, you were shafted ...... ours was only NZ$ 20

And you got a bloody 10% discount on your flight

 

[Two on Tour]

I liked the colour of our helicopter better than Paul and Yvette's

Bet our pilot was prettier than yours though.

 

[PaddyM]

Our lass rubbing a four year olds face in the dirt as she marmalises him on the Queenstown luge , go girlpower

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[PaddyM]

FLT

 

[Two on Tour]

From the ground, the Fox glacier can only be viewed from a distance as the is no road near it that has a clear view, unless you hike in on foot, and as the weather was not ideal, this the best photo I could get of it.

 

[Mikey RV]

I did an all day hike on the franz Josef glacier, it was really weird when you went through an ice tunnel and heard it creaking. The guide said no two days are the same because it’s constantly moving.

 

[Mousy]

We flew over in a small plane, it was awesome.

We also took a flight over Plymouth sound and that area, as I looked down at a cruise boat, there was a whale and its baby nearby but people hadn’t seen it because it wasn’t breaching just swimming past! Wonderful memories.

Thanks to all on this thread for posting and reviving ours.
New Zealand is my favourite country.

 

[nicholsong]

Matin and Jen, Paul and Yvette

You are brave souls. I would be reluctant to go up in a helicopter in Mountain regions, because of cloud descending and unpredictable wind changes. I would also want to know whether the pilot was instrument rated.

Glad you all enjoyed the trips - and landed safely.

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[jongood]

Bet our pilot was prettier than yours though.

View attachment 1018857
View attachment 1018858

Our pilot in 2017 was a very pretty blonde young lady. We were in an MD500 modified with an extra front seat

 

[Langtoftlad]

Matin and Jen, Paul and Yvette

You are brave souls. I would be reluctant to go up in a helicopter in Mountain regions, because of cloud descending and unpredictable wind changes. I would also want to know whether the pilot was instrument rated.

Glad you all enjoyed the trips - and landed safely.

I discovered on my Mount Cook fixed wing flight, all the pilots are constantly talking to each other about the weather etc

I was the only one with headphones, I learned they were constantly relaying weather

 

[funflair]

H

Matin and Jen, Paul and Yvette

You are brave souls. I would be reluctant to go up in a helicopter in Mountain regions, because of cloud descending and unpredictable wind changes. I would also want to know whether the pilot was instrument rated.

Glad you all enjoyed the trips - and landed safely.

He had Google maps on his iPad Geoff, what could possibly go wrong

 

[Holly's mum]

I discovered on my Mount Cook fixed wing flight, all the pilots are constantly talking to each other about the weather etc

View attachment 1019182
I was the only one with headphones, I learned they were constantly relaying weather

Ours were the same Stephen. There was constant communication between all the pilots and the ground crew, which we could hear. It's why they shortened our first flight on Monday and grounded all their flights for the rest of the day but we could hear other helicopters from other companies still taking off for quite a while afterwards. We felt very safe with our provider.

 

[funflair]

Finished off yesterday with a nice sunset,

Quite a long day on the road today, well it can take a good while to go not very far, we left Fox Glacier early (for us) and traveled down the coast to Haast and then inland following the Haast valley but stopping off for a couple of waterfalls,

This one is “roaring billy” you can see how wide the river will be with plenty of rain or snow melt, the mountains around are still holding snow on their South facing flanks and of course this is about the end of summer,

And “Thunder falls”

I’m no geologist but I found the rocks more interesting than the falls, they were like a sticks of rock with all the layers running through them.

Quite a few nice river crossings on single lane bridges,

And we are now at Wānaka which is very busy, it is famous for the “Wanaka tree”
Which I have a feeling is going to be a disappointment

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[funflair]

We flew over in a small plane, it was awesome.

We also took a flight over Plymouth sound and that area, as I looked down at a cruise boat, there was a whale and its baby nearby but people hadn’t seen it because it wasn’t breaching just swimming past! Wonderful memories.

Thanks to all on this thread for posting and reviving ours.
New Zealand is my favourite country.

That sounds like one of those “special moments” Dawn

 

[Holly's mum]

I’m no geologist but I found the rocks more interesting than the falls

The rocks are amazing aren't they?

 

[Langtoftlad]

Did you keep an eye out for Greenstone? The Maori jade - they allow you to collect it if you happen to find any.
I did the Haast jet boat which finished at the "Roaring Billy"...

Which I have a feeling is going to be a disappointment

I had similar emotions about individual 'feature' sights - but overall it was amazing.

 

[Riverbankannie]

I had similar emotions about individual 'feature' sights - but overall it was amazing.

That was exactly us. We are rather spoilt here in Europe with lakes and mountains and snow and Alps and beaches and fjords and so on, but as you say, overall a lovely place and this thread bringing back memories.

 

[PaddyM]

Our gaff and how the clouds r building

The Gibbston Valley. I’m in heaven. If anyone on here is contemplating coming to this country , just ………. DO IT !

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[funflair]

Did you keep an eye out for Greenstone? The Maori jade - they allow you to collect it if you happen to find any.
I did the Haast jet boat which finished at the "Roaring Billy"...


I had similar emotions about individual 'feature' sights - but overall it was amazing.

I do spend a lot of time looking at the ground but no Greenstone, saw a jet boat up at the falls

 

[funflair]

The Wanaka Tree? Supposed to be one of the most photographed trees in the world’s, its origins are not exactly known as there are a couple or three theories as to how it got there, No 1 is that somebody planted a stake of post in the water some 100 years ago or more and that stake sprouted and the willow grew and survived, other theories are that it is a self seeded sapling or even that it was planted,

So this is a popular internet image

And this is the reality now that the lake has dried out a bit as it’s the end of summer, all things considered not bad actually,

And a lovely backdrop, I bet it is stunning on a crystal clear winters day

 

[Langtoftlad]

Better than I thought,,, apart from the lack of water, seeing as it's been vandalised a few times and even felled in 1964.

Do they blame the receding lake on Climate Change?

 

[KiwiKampers]

View attachment 1019761View attachment 1019762View attachment 1019763View attachment 1019766View attachment 1019767

Our gaff and how the clouds r building

View attachment 1019765

The Gibbston Valley. I’m in heaven. If anyone on here is contemplating coming to this country , just ………. DO IT !

Are you staying at Sam Neil’s place? He’s got a vineyard in Gibston Valley.

 

[funflair]

Better than I thought,,, apart from the lack of water, seeing as it's been vandalised a few times and even felled in 1964.

Do they blame the receding lake on Climate Change?

I imagine it comes back up with rain and meltwater in the spring but you never know as everything else is the result of climate change

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