Lost, Found, and six thieving parrots – The story so far.

Due to an absent wake up call i missed my train and had to rebook for the next day.
The train departed Christchurch and began the transalpine journey over to Greymouth. I decided to split my ticket over 2 days to allow an overnight stop at the Alpine village of Arthur's Pass – population less than 100. The journey to this small town at an altitude of 850m first takes you over the Canterbury Plains with their beautiful milky blue rivers and dramatic gorges before then beginning the ascent into the Southern Alps.

I checked into a Mountain Lodge, threw on my boots, grabbed some info and headed for the hills. I was going to climb Avalanche Peak. A 1900m meter mountain above the snow line with 360 degree panoramic views over the awesome surrounding scenery. The climb is very steep, 1000m accent over 2-3 hours, and then a short ridge walk to the summit. It was hard work but worth every step.

I had been warned about the behavior of a bird known as a Kea, a large alpine parrot sometimes known as the 'Clown of the mountain' due to its crazy and intelligent behavior. They have no fear of people and will quite happily steal food, hats, anything they can lay their claws on, from your person. There were about 6 at the summit and after pecking my boots and opening the zip on my bag, amongst other things, i decided it would be fun to take a few snaps. As i began to take a photo one of them promptly flew off with my camera case in its beak and headed into the mountains. The bastard.

I got back to the lodge and rested.

The following morning i re boarded the train to head for Greymouth. You immediately enter a mountain tunnel that descends for 10 miles before bursting out into the lush green rain forest of the west coast. A bizarre transformation. After arriving i realized it was possible to get a bus straight to a place called Franz Joseph Glacier, this was actually my intended destination due to Greymouths lack of, well, anything. I hopped aboard and began the 4 hour journey down to the town that sits at the bottom of a massive glacier, the details of which i go into another time. We quickly stopped at a town called Hokitika for a coffee and kept going. It would turn out to be a very inconvenient coffee indeed.

I arrived at Franz Joseph to realize i had left my wallet with attached cash cards and coat at the last stop, the first time i had worn it in 4 months. Being reasonably organized, honest, i immediately canceled both cards and checked into my hostel that thankfully i had already booked and paid for earlier that day. 20 mins later the police ring. They have my jacket and wallet and its on the next bus to Franz Joseph. Fantastic. Apart from the fact that you cant un-cancel cards. No matter how much you plead.

The repercussions are such that Im stuck here with little money, no banks and no way of knowing when i can leave. Apparently a card will be here in 3-10 days but this is a major set back. To be honest its a pretty good place to be stuck. There are plenty of walks around edges of the glacier to keep me busy, and i can always work for free accommodation. However the intended full day guided ice walk into the glacier caves and crevices will have to wait until i get my card. It also means Im probably unable to get the refund on my $100 missed train. So all in all its basically been a bad day.

However New Zealand i am absolutely loving, the scenery and activities are right up my ally and I know already that my time here is going to be some of the best so far.

I deserve a pint of beer, a priority cost out of the little money i have left until....?