7:45am
Ah, the calming sound of rain that’s not going anywhere any time soon.
Looks like it’ll be a wet one all day, too.
I was planning on doing some walking today, but now I’m more keen on getting to Fox Glacier or Franz Josef.
And theeeeen?
I’ve stopped an hour out of Wanaka at a little petrol station cum cafe cum lodge cum info centre (‘best coffee in town!’) called the Wonderland Makarora Lodge.
Note to past self:
The ride was… look, it was absolutely unreal. Plenty of winding and twisting, mountainside roads to blast along (a little damp, but no less fun) and rain in varying intensities interspersed with rejuvenating bursts of sunshine.
Every time I turn my head to look out the window at this ‘lodgecafe’, the weather is entirely different from the last time. Sometimes it’s clear and I can make out the mountains in the background. Other times, it’s foggy and raining again.
Just a heads up
Heh. An elderly couple and an absolutely drenched motorcyclist informed me, about 30 minutes apart, that I’ll be passing through a waterfall on my way to Fox.
Through.
A waterfall.
… as in ‘under’, right?
🤨
Eventually
‘Pass under a waterfall’ my backside.
I mean, okay, there’s one section where the road is particularly wet because of a lot of water gushing down a rock face very close to the road… but that’s it!
I was bracing for Watermageddon™️.
8pm
The ride into Fox Glacier was utterly magical. I mean ‘unicorns and imaginary trucks‘ magical.
There was heavy rain. There were severe gusts of wind. There was fog so thick I could barely see 15 metres ahead. There was an inescapable chill. There was a beach with crashing waves, not two metres to the side of the road. There was water on the insides of my waterproof boots and gloves and nearing the end, there were imaginary trucks, blocks of ice in streams and busses full of tourists that was actually a 4WD towing a boat.
That hardly illustrates how difficult it all was. I was as highly strung as a penthouse clothesline. I was pushing the limits of the tyres on some hairpin turns in the wet. I was entrusting my wellbeing to a bike I’m only just getting used to and Ruby’s trusting me to not send both of us into a tree, down a ravine or into the rushing water below a rickety old single lane bridge.
I had a really great time!
The first thing I did after I checked in to the Bella Vista Motel in Fox Glacier, was record this:
The hot shower had me feeling so much better, but as you can see in this next clip, I’m a bit spaced out.
I had a great meal from a pub up the way. The whole town is about 500m long and after all my efforts, apparently you can’t see Fox Glacier from Fox Glacier 😂
Tomorrow, I’m going to venture to a nearby lookout where I’m told I’ll be able to look back towards the town and see the glacier beyond.
That is, if the weather is fine 😏
CURSE YOU SONY!
Frustratingly, I cannot seem to get Sony’s action cam app to make a highlights reel.
Actually, I can hardly get it to do anything. Versus what I see from GoPro and what I’ve experienced with DJI’s app, this is very disappointing indeed 😑