Fox Glacier

Wow, what an amazing morning. We were so lucky today - we took our Heli-hike onto the glacier, but all of the tours after ours were cancelled due to the weather. We enjoyed our full 3 hours on the ice though, and it was fantastic. Wonderful scenery, a totally different world. A little taste of what it might be like to go to Antarctica, I guess. It was exhausting, and the weather started to close in after a few hours - the mountains disappeared and we flew home through the low clouds, but I am so thankful we got to have that experience - it was awe inspiring for sure. I'm also thankful it was kept down to the planned 3 hours - one group a few weeks ago had to stay on the ice overnight, as the chopper couldn't get back in due to a change in the weather!

I have access to USB ports for my portable hardrive today, so I've managed to upload a few photos - make sure you check the last few posts to see them.

Awe Inspiring...

...That's the only words I can use to describe the scenery we have seen in the last couple of days. I am getting frustrated though, that I can't post photos as I go to show you - but I will definitely add them later, either when I get USB access on a computer, or worse case scenario, when I get home. So, if you like the sound of the posts, check back in 2 weeks for the accompanying photos.

Yesterday we caught the Tranz Alpine train across from Christchurch to Greymouth. The scenery was fantastic - I can only imagine what it looks like in winter, covered in snow. Without the snow, the landscape is actually quite bleak and forbidding in parts, but still amazingly beautiful. And, it definitely felt like I was taking a train across Middle Earth (I don't understand why Frodo and Sam went to all the effort of walking when there was a perfectly good rail line available! :) ). Once we arrived, we collected out hire car and drove 100km North to see the Pancake Rocks, and a seal colony at Westport. The drive took a lot longer than the distance would suggest, as we had to stop around every bend to take photographs. It really is an amazing stretch of coastline. It was a great day, but quite exhausting. I hit the hay early, assuring DH the TV wouldn't bother me. Apparently within 30 sec of that statement, he had to turn up the TV due to my snoring. Oops. But anyone who knows me is aware how tired I must have been to fall asleep so fast. I drove back from the Seal Colony, and it was a difficult drive - windy coastal roads and the setting sun in my eyes.

This morning we headed South from Greymouth to Fox Glacier. On the way we stopped to see a Hot Glass workshop in Hokatika and we walked up to the face of the Glacier at Franz Joseph. Most of the walk is undertaken over the rocks and pebbles of the river bank, with several small river crossings. I was glad I had my smurf feet, oops, my crocs, on, as getting across with dry feet proved impossible. Wow, who'd have thunk glacial melt would be that cold... A minor miracle occurred and I managed the return trip without any major ankle damage, despite rolling it a couple of times, but the view was worth the walk. Tomorrow we are going on a Heli-hike up Fox Glacier, so we will get an even closer view.

What an amazing trip this is proving to be and we are only on day 5....

...

Geekmobile Rocks!

We went on the Segway tour with Graeme from Urban Wheels today, and it was fantastic. DH may have jokingly referred to it as the 'Geekmobile' when we first saw the brochure, but it is a very cool way to get around. Besides, I've never denied being a bit of a geek!

Graeme was friendly and helpful, and we got a chance to practice before heading off on the tour. Using the Segway is a great way to cover more ground in a tour, while still being out in the environment, and the it is basically just a lot of fun to ride. Of course, being out in the midst of things can have its negatives - like when the weather turns nasty. While it did rain a few times, it didn't dampen our enthusiasm at all, and we ducked under convenient cover, like the thick canopy of an amazing old tree, a couple of times to sit out the worst of it. We got back just in time though - by the time we had finished parking the machines and had a brief chat it was bucketing down and hailing outside. We got soaked just crossing the road, and ended up getting a taxi back to our motel and having Thai delivered for dinner.

Actually, in my enthusiasm I jumped ahead of myself - we actually spent the morning at a craft market at the Arts Centre, and exploring the centre itself, which is filled with small 'stores' for various arts and crafts - woodworking, leatherwork, textiles, beads etc. Most of the spaces had workshops space where artisans could be observed, but some, like the bead store, were purely commercial. The bead store was huge - larger than anything similar in Melbourne, but disappointing in that, although it had some finished jewellery on display, it all featured Venetian glass. While I'm sure the Jewellery makers were locals, it was a shame that more NZ lampwork artists weren't featured - I only saw beads by one NZ artists on display.

We also visited Canterbury Museum and in particular, the exhibition for the NZ Glass Invitational. The exhibition was really interesting. Only a few exhibits (15 artists, from memory?) but all very different and featuring some lovely pieces.

We have an early start tomorrow - our transfer to the train station is at 7am. Then we take the Tranz-Alpine train across the island to Greymouth on the west coast.

Arriving in Christchurch

We arrived in Christchurch yesterday and walked into town to see the 'city', well, what there is of one. Christchurch is a picturesque town, but hardly a bustling metropolis. We were pretty tired after only a few hours sleep the night before, so we grabbed some dinner and had an early night. before we crashed, however, a few phone calls organised a fantastic day for today. We went by shuttle bus to a small coastal village about 80km's away called Akaroa. A lot of the cruise boats depart from there, and there is a lot of wildlife in the bay. The shuttle stopped several times to allow us to photograph the dramatic scenery - steep hills that were once the walls of the volcano that is now the bay at Akaroa. We had some lovely fish and chips for lunch, and then went on a 2 hour nature cruise with Akaroa Dolphins. The cruise was fantastic. While we were driving in, the sky was quite overcast, but it had burned off by 12:45, when we left. Blue sky, sparkling water... what more could you ask for? Well, dolphins please, if you don't mind... We were lucky enough to see several small pods of the tiny, rare Hector's Dolphin throughout the afternoon. They rode the bow wave of the boat, and even did a few leaps in front of us. I think I even managed to catch a photo of one mid leap, (it was quite hard to anticipate when they would come to the surface, never mind when they would choose to jump). I'm not able to connect my portable hard drive to this computer, so I will add photos later. We also saw fur seals, and one lonely little blue penguin, and the scenery alone was worth the trip. On the way back to the bus meeting point we stopped at Andrew Firth's glass studio - frustratingly billed a blown glass, when it was actually lampwork, but some lovely work. I bought a beautiful pendant - a version of a Maori symbol often seen carved in Jade and Bone. Tomorrow we are having a quieter day in Christchurch - a local tour on a Segway (yes, we are doing to tour just so we can ride one!) and some other local sites.

This time tomorrow...

...we will be in Christchurch! It's 15 years since we have been to New Zealand, and that was to North Island, so I'm really looking forward to the chance to explore the South Island this time. As I did for previous travels, I am intending to blog and post photos as we go.

The scenery is going to be magnificent, so I'm especially looking forward to the photography opportunities.

Have a Happy New Year everyone!!

Wrapping up Christmas

We had a lovely relaxed Christmas this year. More than usual, that's for sure, as we are generally hosting at least one meal for family. This year we were out visiting for lunch and dinner, so other than a day of baking on Christmas Eve, so I could take some mince pies and shortbread, there wasn't much to do. It was wonderful to spend Christmas morning with our nieces and see the oldest enjoying the whole process so much. I've never seen anyone get so excited (and so frustrated) having to wait to pull the cracker. It looks like we are in the final stages of organising to get a new Keeshond puppy. That was the easy part - the impossible job is going to be deciding on a second dog. We thought we might downsize for the second, rather than having 2 kees. But DH has his heart set on a Boston Terrier, while I'm open to other possibilities (and not all that keen on the whole 'they are so ugly they are cute' approach...). I'm leaning towards a Griffon Bruxellois but I'd need to learn a lot more about them. Actually, I know I really just want another Keeshond - the breeder has 2, do you think I can convince my other half to just take both? Either way, looks like we will have a little fluffball by the time I go back to work.

Tis the Season

Only 4 days till Christmas! I love this time of year, although it's feeling a little less festive as we don't have a tree up this year. Just us at home - we are going out for all the Christmas meals this year, and as we are going away shortly after Christmas, it didn't seem worth it. I'm missing it though - I'm tempted to cave and put it up, but seems a bit late now...

I got into the spirit this week though, making a mountain of chocolate fudge to give to colleagues at work as gifts. And I wrapped all out gifts today, so that put me in the Christmas spirit as well. Maybe I should have some spiced mead tonight - we always say it's like drinking a Christmas pudding.

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas - I'll be blogging all about my adventures in New Zealand after New Years.

New Beads

I had a great day today - a very girly day shopping, lunching and trying new make-up looks. Still coughing fit to burst with any exertion or laughter, but I'm feeling a lot better. I have only one more week of work and then I'm looking forward to a nice long break.

I've been putting some new beads up on Etsy this week, although I haven't made it to the torch yet. I'm not sure a coughing fit is a good idea while working with an open flame. Here is 'Passionate Pink' and 'Surfer Girl'.

What a month... or two

The last few months have gone by in a blur. I have done back to back shows, both of which went really well, been sick more than I care for and gone through the madcap period of report writing at school. I've been too busy or too exhausted to feel like blogging through that time though.

Calamity Jane with Babirra was a success, and lots of fun. It was nice to do a full musical for the first time since 2005. To keep me crazy busy, I was also in the PEP variety show I'm Perfect, I'll Change You, That's Love just a few weeks later. That was a much smaller cast, 11 of us providing duets, solos and ensemble numbers. The one weekend season was well attended and all the audiences seemed to enjoy themselves. Going back to large scale musicals was a great experience, but its great to have a more intimate cast, and be able to share the limelight between us a bit more in the smaller shows. I've done a lot of variety shows in the last few years, and I really enjoy that style of performing. And to my great surprise this week, I got a bit of kudos for one of those performances. The Lyrebird Award nominations came out this week, and I received a Judges Commendation for Best Female Performer in a Variety Show, for my work in Laugh Out Loud at the start of this year. Actually, all of the 4 shows I've been in this year have been nominated for something, which is exciting for all the companies.

I have spent the last week crashed out on the couch with what started as Bronchitis, but is threatening to become something worse. I cannot believe how much time I have spent doing nothing, because any effort caused me to cough so hard my ribs are sore.

I've barely torched, but the few sets I have made have been going up on Etsy this week. Online sales are pretty much non-existent at the moment, I'm not sure where I should go with my beads at the moment. I need to torch to keep expanding my skills, but making beads with no outlet for them is a problem. Something I'm really going to have to think about over the holidays. Here's a preview of one of my new sets - a lovely etched set of copper green and the dreaded EDP...

Animoto Video

It seems like a good time of the year to reflect on past work, so here is a full length animoto video of my beads from the last year or so. Ive been playing around with the site, trialling it for use with my students.