19 December 2024 -New Zealand- South Island -Franz Joseph

We woke at a reasonable time and had breakfast. It was a beautiful sunny day and we went and had a proper coffee after breakfast at a café which made them properly. The helicopters had started on their trips to the glacier.

Jules went to get her nails done and I did some admin and emails. Stormbird was going in the water about 11.30am and I had a call from the Skipper that I had hired so that I could go through what he needed to turn on etc. They tested for leaks when she was launched and there were none which was reassuring and they did a sea trial and all was good including the steering and the autopilot. The only thing not working was the chart plotter at the helm. Odd as it was working before so that will need to be sorted.

The Skipper, once he was happy with his helpers took Stormbird to Orams Marine in the centre of Auckland which is where she was before when we were in Auckland and I will go to meet her there when I return on 31 December 2024.

Once Jules returned from her treatment we headed South on the road toward Fox Glacier, a town like Franz Joseph, which sits under a glacier. The Fox Glacier is 13km long and is about 2600meters high. The road to the town took about 30 minutes and was twisty and winding through the hills and mountains. Once we got to the town we car park near Lake Matheson where there were several walks. We did a 1 hour & 30-minute walk from there initially through the flatlands and then into the forest which was lovely with tall pines and ferns etc. It was very damp as there were lichens and moss everywhere. Eventually on the walk we came to the lake which looked inky black but which reflected a bit the clouds and mountain scenery beyond. The picture of the day is of us with the scenery behind. As there was a slight breeze with the ripples on the water we did not get the perfect reflection we could have done. This lake also has the Long Fin eel’s that we saw at the wildlife centre at Hokitika. It was a lovely walk and the forest protected us from the hot sun.

When we got back we had to drive some way down the valley to get a view of the Fox Glacier. It comes down more than the Franz Joseph Glacier. We could also see the peaks of Mount Tasmin and Mount Cook. We then drove back to FZ and had a cup of tea. We chilled and walked around and had an early evening beer in one of the bars. We then went to have supper in the hotel followed by another walk before bed.

We move on tomorrow to Lake Wanaka some 4 hours or more driving due South.

Stormbird

I heard from a few of the workmen about finishing the works and she was lifted in about 11.30am as set out above.

She is now in Orams Marina having had a lot of works undertaken to ready her for Year 2.

Opportunity Year Two

In year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com