From Abel Tasman to Blackball, Franz Josef and Wanaka

So yes, it has been a while. Not all of the time since I last posted has been having crazy adventures I'm afraid, but I've still been enjoying myself immensely. Get the kettle on if you haven't already.

 So after leaving Abel Tasman, we travelled to Blackball, a true little West Coast town;

Where the A is. Thanks Google Maps.

 Now, the only reason this place is a tourist destination was because we were the tourists. There are only a few hundred people who live here, and the place we stayed in was the only pub. The Former Hilton (After the threat of being sued by the actual Hilton hotel chain!).
  Now I'm of the belief that there are stories that will always stick with you even if they have no relation to your life (that might even be the reason for some), and one of those stories is here for me.
 A few months after the Chilean Mining disaster, where the 33 miners were all successfully rescued, a similar disaster struck the Pike River mine, which for the main part was worked by locals, namely from Blackball.
 You may not of heard about this one, didn't see the pictures of the dramatic rescue of the 29 miners, but that's because there wasn't one.
 On the 19th November 2010, there were explosions and the miners were trapped inside (one of whom had celebrated his 17th birthday the day before). Because of the risk of gases, rescue attempts were delayed and delayed, and the bodies of those 29 people are still there to this day, despite promises from the Government to help, aid and recover them. Now there are various reasons for this, no doubt justified reasons, and of course there was (from all reports) a brilliant community spirit with aid coming from Australia as well as all over New Zealand as part of the rescue attempts. The contrast between the highly televised Chilean rescue and the relatively unknown disaster here struck me heavily.
  All of this history was in a section of the Former Hilton, who had put up volunteers and rescue workers for free of charge during the emergency.

 Sorry to be so gloomy, but as I say it's stuck with me, and I feel it should be shared! If you do want to read about it yourself, here's the wikipedia link to get you started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_River_Mine_disaster

Anyway, the next day we made our way down the west coast to Franz Josef glacier, stopping plenty of times to admire the beautiful scenery;

What did we see on the rocks?

Seals!

The Pancake rocks... I wasn't sure where they bought their pancakes from...

But I think it's because of the way they are all stacked....

We also stopped at the bushman centre to learn a bit about hunting in the West Coast. Now Possums and Deer were released in the wild in New Zealand with the arrival of settlers to the West Coast. Possums became massive pests because they destroy trees. Deer became expensive, for meat. Cue New Zealand ingenuity, not just trekking for days and shooting deer, but using helicopters to do it.
 Cue some more smart people as the price of venison went up:

  "Hang on, what if instead of killing all the deer, we caught a few and started farming them like we do with cows?"

 "Great idea! But how do we get them all the way back from the wild?"

"Well, what if we took the Helicopter as usual, but instead of shooting them, we er, well, jump on the deer and tackle it to the ground?"

"Worth a go..."

And that is what actually happened. Then slightly later, the net gun was invented, probably to lower the risk of comically missing the deer and breaking a limb. Now, despite scouring you tube, I couldn't find the video we were shown, or the footage of people jumping the deer, but this link does show some being netted

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaSxqxTmV1Q

I don't see this as cruel, it is being done to preserve the deer population! Unfortunately, they didn't offer jumping on a deer from a helicopter as one of the activities for some reason...

   After the video I had a lovely Possum pie. It did not taste like chicken. It was like lamb. You aren't allowed to buy or sell prepared possum though, so I gave the centre a small donation and they gave me a free pie. Good deal.

  They also had some goats outside, so here's a photo:

After this, we made our way to Franz Josef Glacier.

 So there's a few glaciers in New Zealand, and I chose not to take the helicopter up to the top, merely to walk as close as you can to the start (or end) of the Glacier I'll let the photos do the talking;

The valley carved out by the glacier and the streams coming from it

This is how clear the water is from those streams

I also did a horse trek while I was here, but it didn't seem like the smartest idea to take my camera along...

 So after Franz Josef, it was down to Wanaka, where I have been for a month now, and will be staying until the start of March. I've picked up a bar job at the Trout, nice little bar/restaurant/gastro pub, and despite having worked the busiest period of the year, I'm really enjoying being in hospitality again for a short while. It's a lot nicer than Wetherspoons! The team I'm working with are all  really great as well, and I've laughed so much in the last few weeks I'm in danger of cracking a rib.
  Why did I want to stay in Wanaka? I've only had the chance to get out with my camera once since being here, but here's a few shots for you:

Lake Wanaka

35 Degrees, and you can still see snow

The Grey stone building second from the right is where I work, so you just need to look out to see the view of the mountains and the lake

I want to take a night shot of this view, it's like someone has played around with the proportions of Aberystwyth

Poor Kids

    After Golden bay, Wanaka is probably my favourite place in New Zealand. I came here in May for a few hours so had a sneak peak already. Next time, I'll have lots more photos to show you hopefully!