Chopper On Tour

Goodbye Wanaka....

Hey there, s'been a while. I am finally leaving Wanaka (Glendhu Bay) after 3 weeks of total happiness. This Friday I will be heading back to Christchurch to catch the TransAlpine train to Greymouth, supposedly one of the great rail journeys of the world. You pass across the Canterbury Plains and farmland, followed by the gorges and river valleys of the Waimakariri River. The train then climbs into the Southern Alps before descending through lush beech rain forest to the West Coast town of Greymouth. The journey is 223.8 kilometres long and takes four and a half hours. There are 16 tunnels, and 5 viaducts, the highest being the Staircase standing at 73 metres. So that's Friday covered!
Since I last wrote I have learning to snowboard, injuring myself regularly, recovering and then trying to learn to snowboard again. Si, P and I have made a trip to Queenstown to ride the Gondola and the luge. Visited the nearby gorge set in the farmland of one Shania Twain, and on Monday we made it to Mount Aspiring National Park to walk the Rob Roy Valley Track.. a 3-4 hour return hike. This was absolutely stunning as we saw The Rob Roy Glacier, sheer rock cliffs, waterfalls and crossed a great swing bridge across the Matukituki River. All this was just 40 min drive from The Du along a mainly unsealed road.

After crossing the above mentioned bridge, the track climbed through a small gorge into beech forest then into alpine vegetation at the head of the valley where the Rob Roy Glacier could be seen. The weather was great and although some of the track had broken away from the side of the forest it was pretty unchallenging but totally beautiful, well worth it.
Tuesday we decided that it might be worth visiting Cardrona ski field, which we soon realised was a waste of time as it failed to rival Treble Cone on every count, nevertheless hilarity prevailed and a good day was had by all with some apres ski beer and pool in town at 'Shooters'.. not 'Hooters', sadly.

So as the 'Glendhu Bay' chapter closes the Greymouth, Nelson, Picton, chapter opens, the road trip must go on... I can only hope that I meet as many great people on the rest of my travels as I have had the pleasure of meeting here in Wanaka. What I have to say about this place, as I am sure Si and P will explain when you see them next, is that everyone seems to get on - a community of like-minded people. I have met people like Lisa, Jay and Lance from the US, Carlo from Cremonese, Josh and Bronye from Newcastle, Australia, Kiwis.. Brits from Hull dare I add and countless others that have made my three weeks here both memorable and enjoyable. Peace out...

posted by Ed Beesley @ 2:22 AM