Tasman Lake tour

So, I’ll be staying at a farm/hostel called Buscot’s Station tonight which is situated just 9km north of Omarama. This place doesn’t have internet but it’s quite cheap at $25 with a warm, cozy interior, a cute little dog and lots of merino sheep and cows in the surrounding farmland.

I’ve driven into town for some dinner since I didn’t feel like cooking, even though Tony (the farm owner) has a perfectly equipped kitchen. I even went to the local 4 square supermarket to see if there was anything appetizing that I might whip up, but I just didn’t feel like it. Yeah, I’ll eat lots cheap food when I’m back home but for now I want to enjoy some local cuisine. I’ll probably have another round of fish and chips when the kitchen opens at the pub in which I’m sitting. From here, I’m able to access the internet from a local hotel (not staying there since it costs $99+) so I thought I’d write up an entry while I wait and sip my dark beer. Otherwise, I’d feel kind of guilty for leaving my faithful readers (my parents) without an entry.

I thought about making it down to Queenstown or Cromwell this evening but I’m so tired and the day has gotten late. After Omarama, there’s supposed to be some beautiful scenery in Lindis Pass (or is it Linds.. not going to look it up) and I want to enjoy that in full daylight and while I’m more alert. So, I’ve stopped here instead. A really small, middle of nowhere town that’s famous for its merino sheep.

So, sleeping with a stranger in the room wasn’t all that bad. I had a hard time falling asleep, though but was up and awake when my alarm went off at 7am. Though, I did hit snooze for a bit but not too long because I had to make sure to be ready to go at the Hermitage Hotel’s activity’s desk at 9:40. Breakfast was just a few feijoas, a banana and 2 breakfast bars. Mount Cook Village food is pretty expensive, so didn’t bother with anything else.

I was at the hotel on time and signed the waiver form for the Glacier Explorers tour of the Tasman Lake and its many icebergs. The group was pretty large and we all piled onto a bus, which took us on a 20min drive to the trail head. Kate, the tour guide, gave us lots of information about the glacier and some of the surrounding landscape on the way. I couldn’t repeat it all if you paid me and on the way I was wishing I could write it all down. So, I’ll try my best but don’t hold all this info as fact. The Tasman glacier is about 18,000 years old and during the last ice age it carved a swath down the valley about 100km long, all the way 27km past Lake Pukaki. The current floor of the valley is 600 meters above the original floor filled in with loose rock that was left behind as the glacier retreated. When rain falls, it filters down to the original floor and out to Lake Pukaki. On the one side of the valley there’s even the area’s highest falls, Blackfield Falls that pours straight into the rocks but doesn’t result in a pool or stream. The little bit of water that does travel across the 600 meters of loose rock is filled with rock flour, which makes it a light, milky gray in colour.

When we reached the trail head, we had another 20 minute walk to the lake. We walked by a huge wall of rocks that was left from the last time the glacier came down pretty far about 100 years ago. The Tasman Lake is only about 27 years old and is formed from the glacier’s accelerated rate of melting due to climate change and is getting ever larger.

At the lake, we all donned red life vest and split into two groups. Before boarding the boats, we had our picture taken right beside it with the lake in the background. Then, we climbed into those heavy-duty inflated boats (no idea that they are called) and Kate gave us a quick safety info speech. Then we were off on the milky gray water. We had had a frost that night, so the lake had a thin layer of ice on it, so the beginning of our trip was slow. The crackling of the ice sounded pretty amazing and I took some video, just to capture the sound. I’m not sure if I got any of when it crackled the ice all the way to the edges of the lake and sounded like the crackle (over using this word, I know) of electricity. The guy in front of me and the annoying kid behind me repeated plunged their hands into the water to grab huge shards of broken up ice and throw it onto the unbroken ice to watch is shatter. The only reason why the kid behind me was annoying was because through the majority of the duration of the trip he would put his hand into the water and yell “Cold!” over and over.. and over again. He was loud and did a lot of squealing too.

Overall, the trip was pretty fantastic. I just glanced over my pictures and it’s too bad that I didn’t get something in there for size comparison because the icebergs really don’t look that big, but many of them were pretty darn huge, especially considering only 10% of them is above water. Most of them were pretty dark grey and dirty from all the melting they’ve been doing but some of them had that light, teal blue glow in the sides that were in the shade. They all have been on the lake for about a year or slightly more. The largest one, which is also the darkest one, has been there for 1.4 years.

We jetted around to the different icebergs for about an hour and then got up as close as we could to the actual Tasman Glacier, which was almost completely black at the portion we were able to see. This is mostly due to silt and rock. We couldn’t get up too close because the ice bergs break off from the top and there’s about an 800 meter sheet underneath the water that comes out from the portions on the top (think “L” shaped) and ice bergs can also break off and pop up from that below portion, which is apparently what the largest one did. Wouldn’t be too safe to be in that area. While we were floating in that section, we could hear cracks and see rock showers splash into the water that was pretty cool. I feel I should also mention that the whole time we were on the lake Mount Cook and its two peaks were visible, as well as Mount Tasman, which is the second largest mountain after Mount Cook.

Then it was all over and we sped back to the dock. The part was the coldest with whipping wind. I have no idea how cold it was up there, but the water was about 2 degrees, which is why it constantly melts the ice bergs. We walked the 20 mins back to the bus and drove back to the village.

At the village, I looked through the visitor’s center one more time and then made my way out of the park, stopping to take a few pictures now and then. I kept my stops to a minimum because I was really low on gas and the nearest petrol station was in Twizel (“Twi” as in Twilight) and that was about 70km from the village. Though, thankfully, I made it without any problems. While in Twizel, I stopped at the Poppie’s Café since I hadn’t really eaten anything except another breakfast bar. I had a delicious pumpkin, ginger and cumin soup. Next door, I stopped in at the iTour center or was it iHub because they offered some Lord of the Rings tours. I wasn’t about to take another one, though this one sounded kind of interesting since this part of New Zealand was where the Rohan portions of the film were captured. So, the tour would specialize in that. Maybe another time, since the Rohan parts of my favourite.

From Twizel to Omarama, it was just another 30km, actually another 20 to the Buscot’s Station. I had to go back to Twizel for some cash since Omarama doesn’t have any ATM machines. This is pretty standard in New Zealand. And now, as you know, I’m in Omarama waiting for my battered fish bites and chips. Trying to eat a little cheaper because I’m starting to feel like I’ve spent a lot of money. So, it just makes me feel better.

This bar, by the way, is the horniest bar in NZ. That’s because there are animal heads, mostly livestock, all over the place. And yes, they all have horns. So, now my fish bites and chips have arrived, classic pub food, and I’ve drenched my chips in malt vinegar. I’m amused because this is definitely the hang out for all the locals, so I’m just listening and watching the cute guys play pool.

I’m going to bring this to a close as I’m still really tired. I probably rushed this a little but be happy you got anything! when I’m back I’m going to go through everything and add, subtract, rearrange and correct the many spelling/grammar mistakes I know I have.