'Ashes and dust Maximus'

Day 117 - Friday 9 May 2008

There are some days in life when you get that reminder when we have our very small time on earth and we are but a small significance in a bigger game - today was one of those for me - and seeing your first glacier will do that to you!

Just check it out ...

This is the Franz Josef glacier and I'll give it the Austrian spelling after the King at the time (it was discovered by a fellow countryman) - it's power, size and majesty are like nothing I've ever quite seen before - I found myself repeatedly looking skyward for signs of the multitude of heli-rides that are offered to view it only to remember that what I could hear was the rumbling of water, ice and rock in the River Waihao

The way this big old brute works is that air from the Tasman Sea is forced quickly upwards by the Southern Alps causing it to drop loads of rain on these West/Wetlands that falls as snow in the Alps - repeated falls of snow freeze on top of one another and this ice falls downwards off the steep slopes - this ice rides on a river of melting ice and this force drags rocks off the surrounding Alp faces - if the ice melts quicker than it being replaced by snow the glacier retreats - if the snow falls quicker than it melts the glacier advances

It may surprise you to know that the glacier is currently advancing (affected by snow that fell 5 years ago 'cos that's how long it takes to have an effect!) - but today has also been another epiphany for me about global warming - sold - no real need for me to consider that one anymore - where I'm standing to take the opening photes of this blog was covered in ice just 150 years ago - it takes about 30 minutes to walk from that spot to the front (terminal) of the glacier that you see in the valley opening - and that ice is about 75m high! - I make that about 1.25 million square metres of ice - in 150 years - that's crazy, mind blowing and I hope you get a feel for it without being there

I switched into Del mode today and took another raft of photos - well - the first time you see a glacier's a momentous day - the ubiquitous photo seems to be the 'reflected off a pool of water' shot - so here's my attempt of which I'm very proud - the Autumnal orangey glow of the undergrowth is cool - and thankfully the sun came out this afternoon to get shots like this - I have another set from this morning of 'glacier in rain' - including a cracking one of me, soaking and totally out of focus with the underside of the lady's brolly who took it for me lining the top of it - were it vaguely in focus it would be on here!

I hiked up to the glacier from the quaint town of Franz Josef that has to have the most pictureskew backdrop of any little town anywhere - as well as saving money it actually added to the whole adventure - I was passed by many doing the shuttle bus and I have walked about 12km today - but it made the day and enabled me to jump down to the river bed and get shots upstream (although I did sink far too fast for comfort and literally leaped onto rocks before my socks reached the sand/crushed stone at one point!) - scrambling over rocks strewn aside by the forces of nature also reminded me of being a kid again (this journey keeps doing that and 'cos I had the best kidhood ever that can only be a brilliant thing)

I've finally worked out how to bring mountain tops into distant shots - lower the brightness setting manually and they no longer disappear in to the sky - I should have asked you about that before Dad! - and I adore this next one I grabbed about 1600 hours - for those in the LoTR know (I'm not typing The Lord of the Rings anymore from now!) these mountain peaks in the Southern Alps include Mount Gunn (though I'm not sure which of the two it is!) and were used to portray the Lighting of the Beacons when Gondor signalled to Rohan to come and fight Sauron's forces in the most amazing battle ever to hit a move screen!

And so I'm right down the west side of the South Island now and here's a shot from a place called Punakaiki - we stopped there for a quick lunch stop and I pretty much ran out in a rainstorm to get a view of New Zealand's version of the Big Sur - crashing waves and driving rain have found their way onto my lens and I'm hoping my latest 'dark spot' dries out!

And I got here by the Inter Islander Ferry that swings round Wellington Bay and leaves you in the incredible micro-climate of Picton where I negotiated my first sound and struggled to work out that while everywhere else in New Zealand is cold and wet why is it warm and sunny here?! - just check out that turquoise sea - it's to die for! - well - at least suffer a nasty rash for!

The northern end of the South Island is home to Abel Tasman National Park which I have already noted on my list of 'must sees' for when I return here - it's accessed by yet another fantastic little cafe town called Nelson that's home to New Zealand's best arts and crafts community - I couldn't help but drop into the ring makers who produced the designs and then actual rings for the LoTR - the were done by Jens Hansen who's now passed on and left the business in the hands of his sons - I promised to give them a plug ('cos I clearly wasn't buying!) - so - http://www.jenshansen.co.nz/

In the past I might have observed from a distance but the Jez of today barrelled right on in and was welcomed wonderfully by the top Barbara - far from being fed up of Lonely Planet reading fans she happily gave up her time to show me the rings (the One, Sauron's, Elrond's and Arwen's) - and most notably the huge ring actually used in the close up shot when it's picked up by Boromir in The Fellowship of the Ring - he shoots, he scores! - I love this shot - it's not as in focus as I thought from seeing it on my camera but the huge smile rubber stamps my geeky streak!