The sun and a big ice cube

Franz Josef

Free wi-fi in the airport. Woot! Rare in this country. Which allows me to post an update.

I made my way, earlier this week, between Queenstown and Franz Josef and had to go through the eight hours bus trip between them. The bus company stops in every little village on the way. And it pauses for 30 minutes in the middle of nowhere so we have to buy food sold at very high prices. We abandonned or bus in one of those nowhere city for a restaurant made of wood logs. The noodles and vegetables soup was recommanded. Only 9 $ for a bowl. And you couldn't eat the bowl, I should say. (Not a bowl made of bread for Jeannot... and no grapes either.)

When I got in Franz Josef, I was hoping to book a hike on the Franz Josef glacier for the next day. Since once again, me getting somwhere enabled the city to get rid of the rain they had for two days, everybody had already booked that expedition. No choice : have to stay one more day at the bottom of the mountains.

The choice was interesting, allowing me to relax and explore the trails in the nearby forest. The next day, a very bright sun was shining on the glacier. Doesn't happen too often I was told. That's why they give us a raincoat. But we didn't use it. We had short sleeves on the glacier. That's special. Between that and a museum, I would choose the glacier all the way.

That adventure was followed by another day of traveling, first on a bus to Greymouth, going throught a weird wild food festival in Hokitika, and on a train, to cross from the west coast to the east coast, across the New Zealand Alps.

Finally, I spent a day in the mostly destroyed center of Christchurch, where the earthquake pictures are breathtaking.

One lesson : always make sure the bus stop isn't hidden somewhere close when you get out of the train station. That can prevent you from paying too much for a taxi ride.

I need to go now. My plane for Melbourne is calling.

To conclude, I'd like to say to my colleague Serge that my striped t-shirt, which he thinks is ugly, is very popular everywhere I go. When you're the only one not thinking like the others... (I hope you miss me on Sundays Serge...)