A Brisk Walk With A Bit Of Climbing

August 30-August 31st

The morning after my interview, I was standing on the side of the road, thumb up, at the edge of Franz Joseph Township. The first ride took about an hour to catch, mostly because there weren’t many cars driving north. The good weather was continuing to hold so it wasn’t a terrible wait, except for dealing with my own impatience.

A RV filled with rowdy college students pulled a fake-out on me at one point (pretending to pick me up at first but then tauntingly rolling forward as I approached). Then 15 minutes later a man in an old truck pulled over and I was able to hop in without having to chase him down. He had gone on a drive along the coast for the morning just for the sake of it and was on his way back home. We chatted briefly in spurts and listened to the radio in between our occasional talk. On the drive, the man smoked a few cigarettes, so I focused on trying to not inhale his smoke and looking out the window to admire the views.

He dropped me off at the main traffic circle in Hokitika. As I was walking to a good hitching point, I put my thumb out when cars went by, as every good opportunist does. I was still walking when someone offered me a ride.  He was heading back to Christchurch from a weekend of visiting his family.

 He was almost the exact opposite of my last driver. Very talkative, with no shortage of stories. They were good stories too about his travel all around Australia. I listened intently as I munched on the apple turnover he had offered me (part of the large supply of food his mother was sending him home with). He’s been stuck trying to hitch hike from a few buildings surrounded by miles of uninhabited desert, hours from the closest proper town. To him, a five-hour drive to the West Coast to visit family for a day was nothing. He also took some time to describe many of the deadly insects and animals he came across during his travels. I probably should have been taking notes. I mentioned my worry about all the animals in Australia that could kill me. He assured me that as long as I don’t go around poking things with a stick like many teenage boys do, then I’ll be alright.

He ended up going about half an hour out of his way and dropped me off at my car. No broken windows, now slashed tires, and everything inside looked all in order. Sweet. I walked to the grocery store, bought some food and a bottle of wine. I left the wine at the backpackers with a note in exchange for my car keys. It was only about 3 in the afternoon and I felt like I needed to do something before heading back to Dunedin. Long story short, a few texts and a phone call and I had plans with Manu (gentleman I had met earlier that week) to go hiking and climbing on Mt Somers.

Mt Somers was a short 30-minute drive from where I was. I parked in the lot to see heaps of cars. Right, it’s a sunny warm Saturday, of course people are going to be hitting the hills. I went for a run while I waited for Manu. When he arrived, we decided to sleep in our own cars in the car park that night and head out at a leisurely hour in the morning. The sign at the start of the track noted the hike would take about 3 hours. Well, with Manu being a ranger in the summer and me Funemployed fit, we covered the trail in about 1 hr and 45 minutes. Conversation was brief and only held on the flatter bits of the trail when we both had air to talk and walk.

We crested the ridge I saw the familiar site of Pinnacle hut sitting in the wide valley, just below the features that earned the hut its name.  Rounded, pocketed limestone pinnacles protruded from the slopes. Above them, short wavy basalt walls stuck out of the steep slopes that were otherwise covered in scree or bushes

A short while later we arrived at the hut, just in time for most of the occupants to be heading down hill.  We chatted with the folks briefly and I looked around for topo drawings of the climbing areas that were here 3 years ago. With the last minute planning, we didn’t have time to get a guidebook. Unfortunately, the topos were gone (though I did find a copy of the entertaining 'Antics', a publication made by the University of Otago Tramping Club). Luckily Manu had the blessed and cursed smartphone, which helped us find information on a couple of crags. The arcing wave of basalt columns that were called the Christian Principles caught our attention (I for the looks and Manu for the name). It was one of the furthest crags but it looked like it had a couple of decent moderate climbs for Manu (who didn’t climb a whole lot). I glanced at the note that said the crag was not as big as it looks and decided it would be a fun adventure, we must go.

About an hour of scrambling up and down scree fields and on top of bushes, we finally arrived at the base of Christian Principles. I instantly learned to pay better attention to the small print in guidebooks. The wall was about half the size I though it to be from the hut.  I realized then some of the walls closer to the hut would have been preferable to this. But we were there. So we found some bolts and cracks and did some climbing. I led and Manu top roped.

My psych for climbing was high at the start of the day and rapidly decreased once we were at the crag. Meanwhile, Manu started the day with a low psych for climbing, and after struggling up the first climb remembered how fun climbing could be. His drive to climb something clean perked up and he hoped on the second route I put up.

After a couple of hours at the wall we headed out and back down to the car park with less spring in our steps than coming in. We arrived at the car park rather hungry, and despite my low climbing psych, content with the day out. We quickly loaded our cars and met in Geraldine 20 minutes away for a fish and chip dinner. After loading up on the cheap greasy meal, we said our good byes, and I hopped in the car to finally make my way to Dunedin, a mere three hours away.

High Flying Interviews

August 28^th- August 29^th

Alright, I had about a week of fun and games, now it was time to get down to the serious business of finding a job for summer. Before arriving to the South Island I had completed job applications for working as a guide on Fox and Franz Joseph Glacier. I scheduled to meet Kurt, a gentleman from Fox, for an informal meet and greet (really to show I wasn’t just an email from across the world) on Thursday. Friday I had a ‘formal’ interview with the guides at Franz Joseph. Penzy and Jonas were kind enough to detour around to the West Coast to drop me off at Fox before heading down to Wanaka to continue their ski trip.

I arrived in Fox Township (which consists of a small hotel, a motel, a café, a restaurant, the tourist guide shops, and a scattering of small homes and farms) just before noon. Right on time. It was a stunningly warm, sunny day. I had to remind myself this is rare for the West Coast. If I move here, I will have to get over having a majority of my days being rainy. Ok, Kat, picture yourself living in a town that has nothing to do unless you’re in the mountains, and remember that a majority of the weather doesn’t allow you to get into the mountains. It’ll be like living in Maine again, not CO and UT. Ahh, I’ll be good. It’s about 3.5 hours to get to Wanaka, which is a much drier place with lots of rock climbing and mountains to play in. Besides, there’s always coffee and tea to drink, a beach 20 minutes away, and as I found out later, some of the best kayaking in the world. I might end up converting if I stay here.

Pulling myself out of my mind’s tangent tornado, I walked into the Fox glacier guide office. In the same building they packed in a café, a heli-guide company, and a souvenir shop.  I asked the lady at the desk if I could meet with Kurt. Ten minutes later he came down and introduced himself. We sat down to have a very informal, and it turns out, impromptu chat outside. Our conversation sort of zig zagged through various subjects about being a guide, my needs, and living in the area. When I happened to mention that I had to hitch back to my car, which was almost on the same latitude as us but on the other side of the mountains, he offered to see if he could find a helicopter heading that way, so I might hitch a ride with them. Tempting but I declined the offer, noting I was staying on the west coast for a couple more days.

During our discussions, I learned that the company would need me to work December, January, and February for 5-6 days a week. I had been hoping for September, October, November, and maybe December. I was going to miss out on prime climbing season with that schedule. I began to doubt the compatibility of the job with my need of a balance between work and play. Though if they’d sponsor a two-year work visa for me after…that could change my mind.

Kurt mentioned at the start of our conversation that there was a heli-trip heading out to the glacier that afternoon that I may be able to shadow. That way I could see exactly what my job would look like (minus the glacier changing everyday). An hour or more into our conversation he mentions it again, noting that the trip was leaving in 15 minutes, and if I was keen he would see if there was a spot. It was after 1 and I hadn't eaten lunch yet, but of course I wasn't going to miss out so I agreed to go. He radioed in. There was a spot. I pulled what life I had with me out of my backpack put it on the table we were sitting at (not the most professional thing to do, but I didn’t have much choice). Grabbed what I needed: layers, snack and water bottle, then followed Kurt to the heli-pad. He gave me a quick rundown of what I needed to know for helicopter safety and then left me with the group and a guide. The guide luckily remembered to grab me a pair of crampons as well just as the helicopter arrived. I followed the directions of the guide, hopping in the helicopter.

Looking down on Fox Glacier from the Helicopter

We soared up to the glacier, the helicopter taking the high, scenic route. The sight of the mountains made me doubt the sense of doubt I was feeling earlier. It would be an amazing place to live. Especially if I could get up the mountains with a free or cheap heli ride.  The Fox glacier below, with seracs and boulders scattered upon it, looked nothing like it’s true size. We landed on a flattened spot in the glacier that was marked by rocks. The rest of the group was waiting nearby. The guide for our trip, John (I think), was an Irish bloke, probably a few years older than me, a little on the heftier side, and with that classic Irish red face, softened with the lilt of the Irish accent and humor.

He gave a very clear demonstration of how to put on the crampons, went over some basic safety rules, invited folks to ask if they want to investigate something, and we were off. I followed right behind him asking questions as we went. What was the length of a workday? How was it working for Fox? Were the other guides keen to get out for adventures? Etc. He paused occasionally in our discussion to explain various features in the ice to the paying clients. This was only my second time on the glacier, and I was excited to have the opportunity this time to pause and take pictures of the features in the ice.  Three years ago on Aoraki, we were in a race against time. We needed to get across the glacier before the bridges over the crevasses, some of which could eat a small house and you’d never know, softened up too much. Where we were on the Fox Glacier wasn’t very exciting. Pretty flat, with a scattering of small features to see here and there; A narrow very deep hole with a waterfall dropping into it, a couple of arches, a few small walls with tunnels you could crawl all the way through to the other side, etc. It was lovely to see the layers in the ice, the diversity of color. Oh how I wished I had a good camera to capture it. I did my best, but the camera couldn’t really pick up the subtle changes in the ice colors. The most exciting thing we went into was a crevasse you could walk right into. They had some fixed lines to be used as a handrail to guide you through spots with shallow holes that could never the less twist an ankle. Apparently it had only showed up a week or two before, and was growing rapidly.

After strolling around at a very leisurely pace for about 2 hours, we headed back to the Helipad. John asked if I was interested in the position and I admitted my concerns for my partner getting a job around here and us having time to accomplish some of our bigger missions. He understood and advised me to contact the Queenstown rock climbing company for a guide position.

Right after the flight I met again with Kurt for a little bit longer. He gave me a brief tour of the housing they provide for the guides before we said our goodbyes, noting we would both be in touch shortly. I headed to a good hitching spot to get back to Franz Joseph Glacier. About 1 hour later, after watching less than a handful of cars go by, a young French woman pulled over and I hopped in.

I arrived at the Backpackers, Chateu Franz Joseph, that the guiding company had booked me into for two nights, free of charge. Pretty hoppin’ place. Free wifi, free or cheap food some nights, big parties on the patio (oh yeah, it was college Spring Break), etc. The man at reception, when he found out I was interviewing with Franz guiding company, booked me into an empty room to make sure I could get a good nights rest before my interview.

So Franz Joseph was a much more formal interview (and in reality, I still had to do an interview with Fox if they decided to put me on their short list), or as formal as the outdoor rec world gets. I showed up in a nice button up synthetic shirt and my mountaineering pants. I chatted with two head guides when I arrived. They asked me to talk about myself and of course I told them what I thought they’d like to hear (adding that I just ran up Rolleston the other day with ease, just to put a cherry on top). Then they told me about working for the company. Their program required 4-6 weeks of training and therefore wanted about a 5- 6 month commitment from me. Again, with me working 5-6 days a week during the prime climbing season. Ouch. There are no decent crags near either town to just run up after work.

They then sent me out on shadowing a group on the Franz Joseph glacier. My 3^rd helicopter ride in my life and it was less than 24 hours after my 2^nd.  The Franz Joseph Glacier was far more featured than the Fox, at least where they take the clients. Lot of walking up and down. That being said however, unlike Fox glacier, as a beginner guide I get to do no route choosing. I just follow the predesigned track over and through the glacier, and just cut out steps.  

I got to detour from the group to chat with a couple of other guides working on the glacier. One was a woman guide who was instructed to inform me what it is like to be a woman in this industry. So she tried to give me some scenarios to explain. I interpreted it as:

“So just ‘kick the others guys' butts’ so I can earn their respect?”

“Yeah, basically.”

“Ok, I think I can handle that.”

In a talk with a lead guide, I learned the conversation was really suppose to focus more on how it is to be a woman guide when leading groups from other nationalities. Another very important point and I had some things to contemplate from our discussion.

I joined the group again just in time to catch a helicopter back to town. I exchanged some final words with the guides I met when I first arrived and then headed back to the backpackers to sneak in an afternoon run.

I had a wee bit to think about in the next couple of weeks while I waited on the two company’s decision. Within two weeks I was offered a job with Franz Joseph and a formal interview with Fox. I declined both, hoping I could get another job which would be more accommodating to our needs.