The Old Man is Snoring...

Hi Gang, I'm in Franz Josef - on the west coast of the South Island of NZ, and it's hissing down with rain. This is the base for glacier exploration, but it's really not the weather for it, so I compromised this morning and walked to the nearest access point to the 'terminal' (I know the jargon!) of the glacier. It obligingly stopped raining while a friendly passer-by from Holmfirth (!) took my picture. I'd been trying to pluck up the courage, (still scared of being on slippery ice, although I know it's safe with guides and crampons), especially with Andrew's comments to spur me on, to do the full-day glacier hike, but the weather has let me off. Apparently it's here to stay for a few days, so I shall move on, with the proviso that I may come back if time and funds permit. Phew, close call!
The first picture obviously shows me on the Trans Alpine railway journey - too grand to be called just a train trip! It really was 'awesome' - journeying through the Canterbury Plains - vast river valleys - through to snow-capped mountains. I spent most of the four hour journey on the observation deck - sounds as though it should be on top of the train, somehow, but of course isn't (makes me think of that ludicrous scene in the Channel Tunnel with Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 1).
I'd like to show you that I AM acquiring a tan - despite plastering on the factor 30 most days - but whenever I am in t-shirt and shorts I'm busy walking to remote spots where no one else seems to go. I've tried taking my own picture, but I've always suffered from short arms, and only get my ugly mug and no scenery...
I had a great 4 days in Greymouth, having planned to stay only 2. It's not a 'wow' place - not much there at all, just a town by the sea on the way to somewhere else. But I found a really nice hostel - small, friendly, clean, light, bottom bunk (I seem to fall off the ladder every morning when I'm in a top one - my legs seize up overnight and have to loosen up gradually. Anno Domini?) Also free use of bikes. So I used one (I'm getting quite good at it, and my bum's getting toughened up to it. Is that a good thing? Answers on a postcard...) and cycled 8km one day to the start of a coastal walk; walked another 8 kms via a wooded path interspersed with views over rocky outcrops where seals bask in the sun (really, I'm not making this up, it's magic!), and stopped in a deserted bay with one hotel near the beach. This had one other customer, and a barlady who looked like she was a left-over from the 1860s gold rush. I half expected her to chew baccy and spit... but she was friendly and poured me my diet coke, noticed it was flat and gave it to me for free (do I look so impoverished?). They only get customers at night usually, she told me. I guess she stands at the bar all day because there's nothing else to do? It's such a far cry from Stockport - the difference in our lifestyles is immense! (Oh, then I walked and cycled back - wouldn't like you not to realise how far I went!) I also realised that I don't mind at all returning the same way - it always looks different on the way back, from another perspective, and I always spot things I missed on the way out.
The next day I cycled even further (I know it's peanuts to you hardened cyclists back there, but it's a big distance to me...) to an old gold mining town. This was much more interesting than I expected, enlivened by chats from local enthusiasts - one insisted on explaining to me every nut and bolt of the cart he was restoring, but he was so enthusiastic I got carried along with him. I also had some personal attention from a guy who insisted on showing me how to adjust my bike to the correct height - it was ten times easier after that. His kids kept shouting 'C'mon Dad, we'll miss the steam train!' but he insisted on staying until he was sure my bike was safe and efficient, and that my helmet was fitted properly. What a nice man - typical of the New Zealanders I've met so far. They seem to 'go the extra mile' if you'll pardon the expression. If I ask where I can book something, they immediately grab the phone and do it for me. They are so helpful and friendly, and proud of their country.

Now, vegetarians look away for a paragraph...
I tried a new delicacy yesterday - possum pie. It was delicious - a cross between chicken, turkey and rabbit - most like brown turkey meat really. I was the only one on the bus to try it - the others were too squeamish. They seem ok eating chicken, though, and little lambs...???

I'm typing this on a red bus full of pcs, looking out of the window at the rain. On to Wanaka tomorrow - not sure what awaits me - how exciting! - it's a town not much smaller than Queenstown, I'm told, which is just up the road; but less frantic. Queenstown is the adrenaline capital, party, party. That'll be my next stop!
I'm beginning to feel the urge to get a single room for a night or two. A bit fed up with creeping around so as not to wake people, then being woken myself at odd hours of the night or morning. Just like an endless Rochester morris weekend really, without the evil varieties of whisky, calvados, port, brandy and stilton on offer... But as a dorm bed is $20-25 a night, and a single room in a B&B in the region of $120 I'll have to be desperate...

Hope you're all ok, working hard, and coming up with ideas as to how I can earn a living when I get home - I'll have to start thinking about that sometime, but if you do it for me I can just relax. Oh, that's what I AM doing, sorry! Cheers for now!

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