Reflecting Fox – 31 December 2007

Aw, the last day of the year. Wow what a year it has been. Quitting my job, moving out to Oklahoma, getting married, completely starting a new life it feels. This honeymoon has been a tremendous way to finish off a truly wonderful year.
Beginning the final day of the year, we arose at 530am, with the car packed and on the road by 615am. Ten minutes later we were parked at the Lake Matheson car park and by foot making our way to Reflection Island. Our arrival at the island was met with cloud covered peaks, which does not make for “The Shot” we went out to obtain. No worries were in our minds, as we had nearly an hour available to us to burn off the obstructions. We shared the island with two women that actually arrived at the island prior to us. We passed the time with a little bit of chit-chat and a few glimmers of hope in the clouds. Only minutes before our absolute cut-off time did the clouds part. After the peaks poked through and reflected into our optical image makers of choice Hayley and I trekked back to have breakfast at the Lake Matheson Café.
Following breakfast we returned to the hotel to check out then walked across the parking lot and checked-in for the Fox Glacier Heli-hike. At 9am, we boarded a bus to travel down the road to the helipad where we unloaded, got boots for the rest of the group, went over ground rules, broke into groups then boarded our choppers. After a few flybys of the glacier we touched down on Victoria’s Flat, obtained our walking sticks and donned our crampons. We hiked around the glacier, into caves and tunnels, over crevasses, cracks and streams. Our tour guide from Argentina, Pablo, was a bit difficult to understand – it was evident English was not his first language. He often got ahead and did not wait much for the back of the pack. At one point while hurrying to catch up, Hayley fell face first, cutting her hand on the glacier. It was a minor skin abrasion and cleaned up easily. With a plan in place for Hayley to flight in the front of the helicopter on the ride back to take photos there was one small problem. The guy loading us into the helicopter was the only one unaware of it and filled the front with others before Hayley. Therefore our helicopter flight photos are not the best they could have been. Now please do not take the negativity of this paragraph as a bad thing. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and truly appreciate the time we spent on the glacier. We look forward to doing it again.
With feet on stable ground we changed into dry comfortable clothes, dined on delicious pancakes with bacon, bananas and maple syrup. While waiting on the food to cook I called to confirm Hayley’s Ride of the Rings for tomorrow. Afterward we refueled the car then hit the road. Our first stop was only about five kilometers away to get a full-on straight shot of the Fox Glacier. Then it was back on the road for a couple shots at Knight’s Point along the Tasman before our turn inland.
With Hayley asleep I crossed the Haast Pass, and then into the Southern Alps. The early morning wake up and the hours spent upon the glacier were catching up to me. I had to pull off the road and take a twenty minute power nap before we could continue our way towards Wanaka. Following a brief photo stop at the Cameron Flat we made our way along Lakes Wanaka and Hawea.
Finally arriving at Te Wanaka Lodge we unloaded the car after a tour of the lodge by the receptionist. With exhaustion looming we set out on foot to find sustenance. We were referred to a pizza and pasta place that sounded great, but on arrival we found a sign stating they were closed due to technical difficulties. After visiting another pizza shop and it too was closed we settled for some bar food as everything else was closed or by reservation only due to it being New Year’s Eve.
Hunger subdued we made our way back to the lodge. I downloaded the day’s photos, while Hayley got watching Pretty Woman on the tele. At the conclusion of the movie we had just under a half hour to the end of 2007. With the lack of New Year’s coverage on the tube we got changed and made our way down to the lake front to welcome in 2008. With fireworks over the lake and a kiss, 2008 was underway.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Cheers,
Bob and Hayley