The west coast of New Zealand is a unique place in the world.
addition to mountains overlooking the Tasman Sea, has an easy access to two glaciers (the Fox Glacier and Franz Joseph Glacier), almost at sea level, surrounded by forests sub-tropical, lush define that is an understatement.
At this latitude, there is no other place in the world where glaciers are so close to the coast.
The size of the Fox and Franz Joseph is due to the huge amount of rain that hits the Westland region (it comes as something more than 7 meters of rain per year and, in fact, the region is known rightly wetland) and, in higher altitudes, snow (and here there is even talk of 35-45 feet of snow a year).
Glaciers, as it is obvious that both are also subject to gravity, and for this reason, that we drift downstream. But the peculiarity of the Fox and the Franz Joseph glacier is that their rate of descent is amazing: the Franz Joseph advancing at a rate of one meter per day but can reach up to 5 (a rate 10 times higher than European glaciers). Moreover, these are perhaps the only glaciers in the world that are in retreat, but rather are advancing.
This is the Fox Glacier (named in honor of William Fox, the prime minister has a certain local stardom as a self-titled the glacier) and also between the two, what I visited better (unfortunately due to time and health I did not export the half-day walk on ghicciaio and lack money, there are over flown by helicopter). The glacier is long
13 (I said THIRTEEN) kilometers, has a maximum depth of 350 meters and ends 250 meters above sea level. But best of all numbers is simply this photo
shows that compared the height of 2 humans (they are both blue and red dots in the bottom center-left) with the end of the glacier .
Impressive, no?
In the same area is the splendid lake Matheson, who claims to be the most photographed lake in New Zealand. The reason is easily explained: our friend Aoraki (exactly the opposite side to the one I have visited and posted above), in fact, is reflected literally in its waters, creating scenarios fairy
(Aoraki is on the right, Mount Tasman on the left hand).
I then went to Hokitika, famous for working jade. The city itself is rather plain, but housed in a beautiful campsite equipped wooden bungalows with lots of bathroom and kitchen and in front of me had a small farm animals: goats, pigs, chickens, ducks and alpacas funny
In addition, I finally saw (and too free, as are now tourist attraction = source of income), the famous glow-worms. You may wonder what the heck are they? Well mosquito larvae are fungi, which give off a dark, greenish-blue light (the ones I saw I was definitely more blue than green). The glow worms grow in damp and generally dark and create a foothold on the wall of rock or vegetation. Other insects, attracted to light, they head toward the glow worms, stuck in some strands to become, finally, the meal of the larva. I must say that 'sti glow worms are really bellini. In the darkness of a sudden you seem so blue style Christmas lights ... looks like a nativity scene (you know those cribs that, at some point, turns to night and see the stars), but we discussed with other people who may also be vaguely unsettling: Imagine, in fact, to remain in the dark of night in the woods and suddenly you all training center inter ste lights?? I think I'm in an episode of x-files.
from the West Coast, I again moved eastward, reaching the mountain resort spa Hamner Springs where there was a hot hallucinating.
You will not see pictures of Hamner, simply because I spent the whole day with my sweet ass dipped in hot springs at a temperature ranging between 36 and 41 degrees and even in sulphurous water that smelled of rotten eggs.
advised not to drive after a dive and now I understand why I was exhausted!
Despite this, the beautiful guesthouse where I stayed, I had my total available (in addition to a giant LCD) kitchen and I prepared myself, I miss Salvo Montalbano, pasta with sardines (ok lacked saffron and fennel, but it was very good) . Over, the pasta, hobbling toward the tv and I'm going to zap you find on Maori Television? The film based on the book of Castello's wife with Penelope Cruz (of which I can not remember the title), all in Italian with English subtitles. By now the film was almost finished, but in the scene where the undertakers claim that what they write on the tombstone and Castles says, "Italy", very nearly moved me (thinking to the close of the current scene).
Then I thought about the song by Minor Threat, I finished the glass of Sauvignon Blanc ennnesimo and I went right away: P
ITALY ITALIAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, this song I sing to TEEEEEEEEEEEE
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