Stranded… 4

So the “inclement” weather of New Years’ Day turned into something a little more serious and we’re stranded here in Franz Josef. Bridge to the north of us (the direction we’re headed to next) is washed out and repair unlikely until Saturday. To the south the road was also out yesterday as river levels too high. As there is only one road in / out of here, we were stuck. Possible to go south today but that’s a bloody long diversion back the way we came, up the east coast and back inland to the west coast so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the bridge will be fixed on schedule…

Yesterday was a day of no internet, or telephones, intermittent power cuts and a day of pretty much torrential rain, as was the night before. Cut off from the outside world, we felt our best option for the morning was a long lie in – much needed as we’ve both now got this coughy coldy thing, and the dampness here isn’t particularly helping.

So there was a bit of this…

A bit of this…

A lot of this…

Whilst listening to the radio.

And when the rain lightened up a little a wander into “town” to see what rainy day activities we could indulge in. We opted to see “flowing west”, a 21 min movie about the glaciers supposedly. Worst $12 I’ve spent in NZ so far. Rubbish! Sure there was the odd nice shot but the whole thing was a bit like an ad for why you should take a scenic flight tour. No proper commentary a lot of shots of ground and water and not very inspiring. Franz Josef itself does have its attractions though.

Woke this morning and blow me down it wasn’t raining. Better still the sun was actually shining so we could actually see the mountains that have been invisible for the last couple of days.

Gradually phone and internet came back on, bridge still looking like Saturday for a fix so we’ll be stuck here for a little while longer yet.

Took advantage of the gap in the rain to do a little walk in the rain forest. Bloody beautiful and only short so matched our energy levels.

Trying for a scenic flight this afternoon. Our 3pm flight cancelled due to looming cloud, so we trying again for 4.30. Will see how we get on and post pics later if it works out.