Wednesday 20 February 2013

Day 4: Driving, Arthur's Pass and More Driving

We woke up this morning in the pitch dark of 5 AM, Auckland summer.


Making eggs REALLY fast and throwing our stuff in the vans before the sun even rose, we arrived at Auckland International Airport just an hour and a half later. Checking our bags was a breeze compared to the Dubai check in; we literally went from rental car drop-off to boarding in an hour, a record time for our "extremely efficient" group (according to Henderson).

The plane ride itself offered spectacular views of the Southern Alps before landing in Christchurch. The mountains rose from the ground unexpectedly, some rising high enough to still contain snow, despite it being the summer. As we landed our anticipation to drive through them and witness the great mountain-building forces of New Zealand reached a peak (haha). We were not disappointed!

The drive to the west coast was spectacular. As a chillier breeze of cooler South Island air blew through the window, we set off between the majestic lower mountains of greywacke, eroding so significantly at their tops that they almost looked as though they were covered in snow.


Limestone monoliths jutted out from the grass as though pushing away from the surrounding landscape. They were beautiful and fascinating both visually and geologically.


We continued driving until we arrived at a wide rocky river plain in Arthur's Pass National Park which flowed towards the Pacific Ocean. When several students arrived at the plain, we decided to explore: we got out to examine the river bed, and some of us even waded into the river! It was SO cold that it felt as though our skin was burning from the chill, and so we spent most of our time walking on the dry rocks and discussing the differences between a glacial plain and a river plain.


Taking notes on the clast composition of the plain

When we finally found it in ourselves to (painfully) wade back across and get back in the cars, we continued driving and discussed the amazing geologic formations around us. We drove until we saw the Tasman Sea, crossing over the plate boundary between the Pacific plate and Indo-Australian plate which was marked by rivers emptying into the two different bodies of water. We arrived at the campsite, thoroughly sick of cars, but excited to be within sight of our next goal: Franz Josef Glacier!

Fourth year students discussing their material for the next day
Updating the blog (!) and peering at the glacier through a telescope

We hope it gets a little warmer; it will be cold enough with all that ice!

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