Loving the slow down time food wise

Growing food at home is a great way to eat healthy and our guests love everything we make ourselves. One favourite is rhubarb. It is so successful there is a whole big bed of it now. People invariably remark on how healthy it is. So out comes out the rhubarb jam. It is a special feeling as I pick and enjoy fresh and delicious herbs, bush ripened berries and crisp vegetables. We love knowing what goes into our chemical free home grown produce. During lockdown there has been more time to cook up delicious comforting food. Our meals have been something really positive to come out of this time.

Douglas Walk, a 10 minute drive from Ribbonwood, walking over glacial landforms formed between 1600 AD and 1750 AD by glacial advances and retreats.

I love this walk - jogging or walking the 4 kms through a succession of vegetation types, each representing a different stage of re growth behind retreating ice and different soil types. It also takes me past Peters Pool, a reflective kettle lake, and the historic Douglas Bridge.

Great glimpses of the mountains through the beautiful forest

One of the two entry points to the walk, Franz Josef Glacier Carpark

The historic Douglas bridge

Peters Pool a kettle lake left behind by the retreating glacier, a mirror image 

Galapagos and Ecuador See our blog - https://jjsecuador.blogspot.com/

Mt Chimborazo and the unique paramo

Frigate waits for a chance to show off its chest

Beautiful people

Typical rural scene

We tramped mountains at over 4500m, rode bikes down Ecuadors highest mountain, snorkeled, marveled at the wildlife of the Galapagos, and blew our lungs out walking round crater lakes at altitude. 

I admired the people who still wear rich, vibrant colours of ponchos, shawls, and scarves in the dress of Ecuadorians. Some of the clothes that the indígenas wear so proudly today are adaptations of the 16th century Spanish style costumes. How they manage to balance their hats on their heads with such elegance is a mystery. 

Straddling the equator, the Ecuadorian coast rises up to snow capped volcanoes then on the other side is the hot Amazon jungle all in a country not much bigger than New Zealand. The regions are the western coastal lowlands, the central Andean highlands, the eastern jungles of the Amazon basin and 1000 km west of the mainland - the Galapagos Islands. Thanks to its climate and many habitats (alpine grasslands, coastal swamps, tropical rainforest), Ecuador is one of the most species-rich nations on earth, a megadiversity hotspot. A fabulous place for a holiday we found!

The mighty Galapagos marine iguanas 

Challenging riding down Mt Chimborazo and freezing cold  

                                                                                                     






                                              Our Blog - https://jjsecuador.blogspot.com/

Bellbird sits in the Harakeke

Thanks so much to our guest Liping who sent us this photo she took in our garden.
Below is a link to learn more about our native harakeke.

https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-plants/harakeke-flax/

Flying home from Christchurch

If you decide to visit us by plane these are the views you may get from Christchurch to Hokitika, clouds permitting! Aoraki is there in all its glory.

Back home 2018

Great to escape winter for a two month stint, this time in Italy, the Dolomites and Croatia, with a trip to Kuching, Malaysia on the way home.

See our blog http://calotathing.weebly.com/

Lots of nice things about being home though, the snow clad mountains are pretty when they decide to show themselves off.

Okarito 3 mile lagoon views

Coast on the 3 mile walk

Low tide makes an easy walk

Views from Ribbonwood

Chalet Lookout Track

View from Chalet Lookout

These markers once guided the way but now buried

Lunascape, a far cry from the walk through the forest that once was

The slip that is the source of all the rubble

One of our favourite tracks in the Fox Glacier area has been severely damaged by a massive slip. A once popular track is now lying under the rubble of rocks. It is closed by the Department of Conservation but if you are careful and know where to go you can still get to the platform for magnificent views at the end of what was once the track.

John Foster, Master of Photography

We were lucky to have John and Robyn stay with us this season. John is a professional photographer see his link  John Foster Photography
Our cottage is in the foreground and house - on a fine day, these are the views of the mountains and glaciers from every room window. We are situated on Greens Road, just far away from the State Highway to feel peace and tranquility. State Highway 6 runs into the village. We are just 5 kms and 5 minutes drive away from the conveniences of the village.

Native clematis arrives in the garden - a harbinger of spring

Our native clematis has flowered in the garden more profusely every year - this spring is no exception.
Find out more in this link about New Zealand clematis

Peters Pool named after a 9 year old boy, Peter Westland, who camped here by himself in 1894

Making the most of this warm spring day we wandered to a view we often see but today was photo worthy! When Peter camped here the glacier was in full view, reaching around the corner with the terminal face just at the back of the lake. This is a Kettle Lake left behind by the retreating glacier hundreds of years ago. Large blocks of slower melting ice left huge depressions in the valley floor. 

A night under the stars at Alex Knob

Great to be on the tops

                  Annual pilgrimage 2017

From the top of Alex Knob we surveyed the scene below us feeling exhilarated after the grunt up. We were pleased we took the gamble to cart up all our gear to camp as so often the tops cloud over. The views of the Franz Josef Glacier, the Main Divide and Tasman Sea just got better with dusk falling.

The mountain is named after Alexander Graham (Alec.) He was one of New Zealand’s most skilled mountaineers. Through the early twentieth century Alec guided many parties up the Alex Knob track and to the Franz Josef Glacier. He and his brother Peter were well loved guides.

Views out over the Franz township and coast

Setting up camp

Just us and the keas 

Sunset from the deck

Photo taken by our guest Herve Deladriere 

Mr Jo's Garden

A visitor to our garden, Harry the hare. He prefers the short grass of our lawn to the long rank grass of our neighbours .

I couldn't help but think of Peter Rabbit, who was born in 1902 in The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. The widowed mother rabbit cautions her young against entering the vegetable garden of a man named Mr. McGregor, telling them: "your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor". Peter does not listen and is spotted by Mr. McGregor. After all sorts of scrapes including losing his clothing, getting lost and sneaking past a cat he finally crawls under the fence, returning home. Sick Peter is sent to bed by his mother, while his well-behaved sisters receive a sumptuous dinner of milk and berries as opposed to Peter's supper of chamomile tea.

As long as Harry stays on the grass and out of the garden he will be enjoyed by the guests and tolerated by the gardener!

Southern Rata

Great to spot southern rata blossoming as we wandered through the glacier valley the other day.

Our favourite walk in the Franz Josef Glacier area - the Glacier Valley Walk

Jo looks back down the valley 

Fault in the  bedrock

Waterfall in the forest 

Bridge across helps to keep feet dry

Tributary of the Wahio river

Trident Falls

Moss covered rocks of the 'once was riverbed'

The trail is easily accessible for all

Getting closer to the glacier face

The viewpoint - so worth the walk to view this!

Another day in Franz Josef

Franz Josef Glacier is steep and narrow, shaped like a funnel.

 For those taking a walk to the face of the glacier it is an impressive environment of
caves, seracs and crevasses.

The glacier ice moves down by sliding over rock and is lubricated by the water flowing beneath the glacier.

The ice closer to the surface splits and cracks forming crevasses to depths of 20-30m

Blackbird Chicks

Today we found this nest close to where we were working in the garden.  The robust nest is made of twigs, grass, roots and moss, fortified with mud and roughly lined with grass and leaf skeletons. The female incubates for 13–14 days and both parents feed the chicks which fledge at 13–15 days. OK blackbirds are common as, but it's a rare sight and fascinating to be able to spy on bird life as young as this. 

Blackbirds feed mainly on the ground and eat insects, spiders and a wide variety of fruits from both native podocarps and shrubs and introduced shrubs and weeds. They can cause damage to orchards and spread weed seeds into native forests and crops, but they also help to disperse the seeds of fleshy–fruited understorey plants in native forests.

Learn more about blackbirds by visiting New Zealand Birds Online.

Hidden Trails of the Glacier

A few days ago we were early birds and we did catch the worm with some of the clearest scenes we've seen yet of the great divide mountains with Aoraki, Mount Cook our highest mountain in all its glory.

Read the article we wrote for 100% Pure New Zealand, our official travel NZ website about this magic hidden trail. 

http://www.newzealand.com/int/article/hidden-trails-of-the-glacier-region/

Early Tourism at Franz Josef Glacier

I had been scanning mums photos when I came across these lovely black and white photos of her guided trip across the glacier.
I am not quite sure of the date of her trip but I am guessing it would have been sometime around 1950-1955.

There is a great site about our areas history.

West Coast climbers

The national library records online turned up these tourism posters. The sprig of rata is from the tree that blooms in our temperate forest that surround the glacier.

Mum facing an ice cave

King, Marcus, 1891-1983. King, Marcus, 1891-1983 :Rata blossom, Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand. [ca 1955]. Ref: Eph-E-TOURISM-1955-02. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23150912

Lovell-Smith, Edgar McLeod, 1875-1950. Lovell-Smith, Edgar McLeod, 1875-1950 :Franz Josef Glacier New Zealand / E M Lovell-Smith, 1932. Full information from the High Commissioner for New Zealand ... New Zealand Trade and Tourist Commissioner and Government Agent ... and all travel agents Coulls Somerville Wilkie Ltd, Ch'ch, des et lith. Issued by the Publicity Branch, NZ Railways. 1932.. Ref: Eph-E-TOURISM-Franz-1932-01. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23170163

Mum (3rd in line) and her friend on the glacier 

The poster shows a view of the Franz Josef Glacier with the road and hotel in the foreground. Various places are labelled and the altitude given: Minarets (10,050 feet), Grahams Saddle (8,800 feet), Almer Hut (5,500 feet), Defiance Hut (2,700 feet), the hotel (350 feet, Callery Gorge and Alec's Knob. Two suspension bridges over the river are shown.