New Zealand Travelog

Week 3

20-March-2002

A travel day - on the road for about 7 hours. The drive involved heading out from the center of the South Island, up and over the mountains to the West Coast. Around 9:30 a.m., we left Wanaka under clear beautiful skies. We headed up the road to a view point of Mt Aspiring to take a couple of photos in the beautiful morning light. The winds had considerably lightened over the night - from blustery to blissful.

Just after we left Wanaka, we became involved in a quintessential New Zealand experience. A farmer was moving his sheep to a new pasture, and the path to the new field included the middle of the road. As we passed by the farmer and his dogs, he told us to "go on through, the sheep will get out of your way."So we did. Sarah was driving and trying not to run over any sheep (all the while laughing hysterically at the scene) and, Steve was trying to take as many pictures as possible.

We took a 30 minute walk through the forest to the "blue pools" where you could supposedly view salmon on a clear day. No such critters were present, though the walk was pleasant, including a fairly long swing bridge over a glacial stream.

The road up through Haast Pass was very gentle compared to what we had experienced previously on the Crown Ridge road near Cardrona. We got to the top where the sign announced the elevation at 533m, we turned to each other and said "That's it?" The road down the west side of the pass was slightly more exciting, with the brakes smelling slightly, even in second gear! The river flowing down towards Haast passed through this area called the Gates of Haast, though we're not exactly sure where the gates were. A narrow single lane bridge spans the gorge, and made for an interesting mix of tourists, bicyclers, and motor vehicles.

Reaching the town of Haast around 3:00, we took an accidental scenic drive through the main residential neighborhood - nearly 30 homes! One of the highlights is the DOC visitors center, where they've done an impressive job with interpretive displays about the history, geology, and biology of the area. There is an enormous bridge that spans the Haast river, of course single lane, but with two passing bays, where you can pull over to allow oncoming traffic to pass.

We had been told about a great fresh salmon place between Haast and Fox Glacier. We saw signs for this Salmon Farm, so we stopped around 4:30. Apparently they were about to close, so we could only get a smoked salmon sandwich from their chilly-bin. Sitting outside, we watched the salmon in the ponds swim continuously in one direction. We wondered - do they always swim in the same direction? While we were there, they were all swimming counter-clockwise. If you've visited, and can remember, email us...

We got into Fox Glacier village around 6 p.m. There were two holiday parks (campgrounds) in town, and neither were particuarly appealing. We ended up at the Fox Glacier Holiday Park, which worked out fine. The weather predicted for the next day wasn't good, but we kept our fingers crossed that the sun might shine and we'd have a chance to hike up to the glacier, or even on one if we did a guided or heli-hike.

21-March-2002

We awoke on Thursday to pouring rain. No light showers or sprinkles, this was cats and dogs rain. We had originally planned to get up in time to see the sunrise at Lake Matheson (the mountains are often reflected in the calm waters of the lake). The rain coming down on the roof at 5 a.m. convinced us to stay in bed a bit longer. It was still raining at 6 and at 7 a.m., so we gave up on that idea. We were already planning on staying in the area for two nights, so we had a sluggish morning and stayed in the campervan until about 12:30. By that point, we were both going stir crazy and a little rain didn't seem as bothersome. We drove up the access road to Fox Glacier, which is just outside of Fox Glacier village. The road ends in a parking lot about one mile from the edge of the glacier. It was still raining, so we ate our lunch in the campervan. We were visited by a kea, a mountain parrot about 16 inches tall, that is protected in New Zealand. Keas are very smart, curious creatures, and can actually cause a great bit of damage (such as picking at the rubber on tires or window sills and/or running off with camping gear) if they become adjusted to people. This one had decided that tourists were a pretty good meal ticket, and was hanging around our campervan for a hand out. We didn't feed him (especially after he pooped on the vehicle!) but several other people were giving him food.

The rain had finally stopped at this point. Steve predicted it was about to clear up for the afternoon, but we soon found out that was not the case. The trail was technically closed due to flooding conditions, but Steve felt we would be better able to assess the situation if we progressed a bit further down the trail, past where DOC had posted signs and rope across the trail. This thinking was supported by the fact that we had seen a group of guided hikers head up the same trail about one hour before.

We got about halfway to the face of the glacier and it began to rain. Hard. So hard, in fact, that hail was part of it. By this point we were close enough (and soon wet enough) that it didn't make sense to just turn around there. We crossed several small streams, but only one of them had enough water to warrant careful consideration of where we would cross. We made it to the roped-off area close to the glacier that DOC suggests everyone remain behind, lest a piece of ice come crashing down on their heads. We both took as many pictures as we could without our cameras become deluged, and then turned around to hike back.

Keep in mind that during this entire time it had been raining. Hard. And that this is an area with steep slopes and very little soil, so it was very "flashy". The only stream that had given us pause on our way to the glacier was now several inches higher and about three feet wider, even in this short time period. We got across, but Sarah ended up with some wet feet. Several of the other small streams that were of no concern to us on the hike out were now raging steams of brown silt and mud, just wide enough that jumping across was out of the question. Steve's feet got wet, and Sarah's feet got wetter, as we made our way back to the campervan. After seeing these conditions, we both decided it was probably a smart move for DOC to have closed the trail. If our moderately experienced legs had a tough time with the proper footgear, we could imagine the tourists in sneakers and umbrellas would be nearly swept away. By the time we got back to the campervan, we were both completely wet. Perhaps even wetter than we had been on the Milford Track. After we poured the water out of our hiking boots and rung out our socks, we changed out of our wet clothes and strung them about the campervan, hoping they would dry soon.

In Steve's haste to dry out his camera, he popped open the back - without having rewound the film, mind you. Needless to say, he was not a happy camper once he realized what he had done. The rain had stopped again, so we went up to the lookout point before the trail closure area and took some more pictures in an effort to recreate what was probably lost on that roll.

The weather report for the next day looked slightly better, and at sunset we could see blue sky. We crossed our fingers and set the alarm again for sunrise before we went to bed.

22-March-2002

All was well until about midnight, when the cats and dogs began raining down again. So much for blue sky at sunrise. Throughout the night there were several tremendous showers. So much water that the campervan started leaking in a few places. Thunder and lightning were also added into the mix. When the alarm rang at 5 a.m. the sky was still cloudy so we decided to wait a bit before heading out. Heavy rains came soon after that, and we were glad of the decision to wait.

We decided to motivate around 9 a.m. The rain had let up a bit, and we could see a patch of blue sky heading our way. We headed down to Lake Matheson, and ate our breakfast in the parking lot. The hike around the lake was nice. The lake was very calm, and the clouds lifted a bit while we were at one of the view points so we could see the high peaks reflected in the waters. Then, on our way out, it started to rain again. Guess we should have expected it by now.

We drove along the road a bit to Franz Josef Glacier village, about 25 km beyond Fox Glacier village. Both towns are extremely small (although Franz Josef seems a bit bigger) and both are very reliant on the tourism generated by the glaciers. Our first stop was the DOC office and visitor center, where we way a neat display on the glaciiers and some beautiful pictures of the surrounding area. Then we headed up to the trailhead for Franz Josef glacier, where we had lunch. Luckily, the weather had started to clear by this point - the sun was out and large patches of blue sky were visible.

We came across the same yellow ropes and warning signs that were at Fox Glacier the day before. We decided to heed them a little more carefully this time around. At least for a while. We saw two large groups of guided walkers come up the valley, and the guides just held the ropes up for their charges to pass through. They headed to this small aluminum ladder that was propped up against one of the valley walls. We saw about 30-40 people head up that way - and about half were considerably less prepared than we were. One of the guides must have noticed our indecision about crossing the line in public view - and said to us "You know - you shouldn't let a little yellow rope stop ya" in a subtle kiwi accent. We looked at each other - Steve smiling, Sarah worried. Scrambling to the bottom of the ladder, we now saw how close the edge of the stream channel was. Up the ladder we went, a little nervous about what lay ahead. At the top, there was a rope that helped us maintain balance walking up a steep rock face. At the top, we saw a parade of nearly 30 middle school students with ill-fitting rental boots and one with a plastic cartoon rain ponch pass by on the way out. We figured - if they could do it - we could do it.

On the other side of the rock face, we descended to the valley floor, and made our way to the front of the glacier. Hmm. We noticed a second set of yellow ropes, with another suitably threatening warning sign. And once again we observed the guides bypassing the sign and going right through. Well,, so did we. But now we were on full alert. Making our way up along the edge of the glacier, we were careful to keep out of the way of any potential rock or ice falls. We were walking in the footprints of 100+ other hikers - and since it had just rained, we knew they had been guided there today. Finding a nice rock to sit on, we decided to take a break, and just watch the ice.

OK, the ice can be pretty boring, once you realize it doesn't move that quickly. We descended back to the valley floor for a couple of last pictures of an ice cave, and the river flowing out from underneath the ice (Don't worry moms, we're OK...). On the way out of the valley, Steve asked Sarah to remind him to rewind his film first this time around.

Back at the campervan around 5:30, we thought it might be a good idea to hit the road for the next town. About 130 km north lay the town oh Hokitika, our destination. Arriving into town around 7:30 (curvy roads to blame), the first thought on our minds (okay, Sarah's mind) was food. The guidebooks recommended two restaurants in town, and we chose the first one of the two we saw - the Cafe de Paris. The dinner (steak and filet) were both very good, but the dessert (creme brelee) was only marginal. The best part was that with the exchange rate, the whole meal, including an appetizer, two entres and one dessert) only cost us about $30 US total.

After dinner, we drove through town to find the holiday park. The town is very strange - it seemed like a ghost town as we were driving through. As Steve said, it seemed like they designed the town for thousands of people and only a few hundred showed up. The area is known for its arts and crafts (jade, wood working, and glass blowing, along with the expected wool products), so tomorrow some shopping is on the agenda (Steve can't wait!).

23-March-2002

Shivering awake to a brisk morning, we definitely knew fall had come. Even though we were only 1 day past the autumnal equinox, the temperatures had started to dip. The beautifully starry clear night was also partly to blame for the cold morning. By the time we were showered and ready to go, the temperature had warmed to a very pleasurable summer/fall day again.

Driving back to Hokitika, we realized why the streets were so large - the place gets busy! We saw about 6-8 tour buses come through town and discharge their tourist passengers. The streets are lined with dozens of shops, most with very nice jade and woodworking products for sale. Our favorite was a craft guild with the works of a collection of local artisans. Probably the best stuff in town, as far as we were concerned. The jade places were stocked to the hilt, but none if looked too appealing to us. Guess we are non-traditional.

We spent most of the morning (and part of the afternoon) walking around town. Lunch around 2 back at the Cafe de Paris, finally hitting the road around 3:30. Hanmer Springs was the destination for the evening - nearly 300km away.

One of the unusual highlights of the drive was a twist on the "one lane bridges" they have over here. This time, two of the bridges were also shared with railroad tracks. Yes that's right, a one lane bridge with railroad tracks down the middle. While the traffic right of way was pretty clear between the cars, I guess a locomotive trumps everyone else. A little farther down the road we came across a similar twist to the omnipresent rotary - this one had a set of railroad tracks running smack through the center of the island in the middle. Would've really made it a lot more confusing had there been a train involved. We can understand the bridge sharing, but was it really necessary to put a rotary on the railroad tracks?? Anyway - something so simple was quite interesting to see firsthand.

A long afternoon of driving brought us into Hanmer Springs a little after dark. We seemed to be making better time as we learn how to drive kiwi roads. However, on this leg we rarely stopped for pictures.

24-March-2002

Since the Hanmer Springs didn't open until 10:00 in themorning, we thought we would drive to ttown and explore for an hour or two. We drove through town and parked ini front of the hot springs entrance. We briefly scanned the town, and found little open to explore. Ah well. We thought it a good time for a little quiet relaxation time.

The Hanmer Springs park was quite interesting. There are several sets of pools - Thermal, Sulphur, and and Rock pools. The Thermal pools were our favorite. 40 degrees was just right to soothe muscles and relax the mind. The sulfur pools really did smell. Quite stinky. There was also a lap pool (with no organization to speak of.) Some people were swimming widthwise across the pool... Luckily, there was a "family fun" area off to one side with waterslide and lots of loud kids. We did notice how this place attracts the slightly overweight, aging, wear a speedo when you really should be wearing trunks kinds of people, the same as you mind find sunning on a nude beach.

We relaxed in the thermal pools for about 1.5 hours, until we just couldn't stand the heat any longer. Outside the pools, we headed across the town green to make a phone call about some activities we wanted to do in Kaikoura (swimming with dolphins to be precise). While we waited for a yabbering young person to get off the phone, we saw a couple walk past with an ice cream cone - Ooh - that would hit the spot. We took turns waiting for the phone while the other checked out the flavors. Steve got boysenberry while Sarah got mud 'n blood (some kind of red fruity stuff in a chocolate fudge base.) While we were on the phone, the fire siren sounded (seems to happen whenever we visit town - see Fox Glacier). The person on the other end of the phone in Kaikoura was a little startled to hear this sound emanating from our end of the line. "What's that?" she asked. We saw the volunteers responding to the station. We guessed they were going to a car accident, as only one firetruck and one ambulance responded.

From Hanmer Springs, we drove to Kaikoura to make the 3:00 whale watch boat. In Kaikoura we accidentally drove to the Dolphin Encounter place, before realizing that we really wanted the whale watch place. They are about 10 minutes walk apart. Interestingly, for the 3:00 whale watch, we arrive a few minutes early, and sat around a dark movie theeater waiting for a "safety video." At about 3:20, they started the 10 minute video. At 3:30, we boarded a bus to South Bay, where the boats depart. Finally at 4:00, we got onboard the boat. While the boat is moving, everyone must stay inside and seated. The boat was a catamaran with some turbo engines or something because it could really fly. In the 3-4 foot swells however,, a few folks got a little sick. For some reason, people tended to go to the bathroom when they felt ill, which made their situation much worse. It would've been better to get to the rear of the boat, and watch the horizon. We zipped around the bay looking for a couple of the whales they had sighted earlier that day. After an hour of motoring around, one surfaced to the north of us, and we all piled inside for a quick trip back to the whale location. Arriving on site, we had about 10 minutes of viewing time, and all you could hear were camera shutters and people narrating to their camcorders. The whale stayed on the surface for a few minutes to breathe, and then dive for about 30-40 minutes to feed. While we were watching this whale, another surfaced about a mile away, and dove before we even had a chance to get a look. On the way back to the harbor, we chased after a pod of dusky dolphins, among which we might swim with tomorrow. The crew called this a successful cruise, Steve gave it a thumbs down, Sarah agreed. We heard that the morning cruises (6am) saw six to seven whales, which we thought might have been nice. However, the sunset from the beach at the whalewatch office was quite spectacular, and put us in a better mood.

Back in town we called the Dolphin Encounter place again to see about our wait listed spots. They were quite dismayed that we didn't come in at 4:30 p.m. to check on the our status, but no one had ever mentioned this as a possibility. They told us all the spots were filled for the next day, but that we could show up at 8:45 a.m. and see if anyone cancelled for the 9 a.m. boat. We figured that we would not get a spot, but that the early call time would be a good motivator to get ourselves on the road to the next adventure.

We stayed at 69 Beach Rd Holiday Park, which was directly behind the old train station, now the new location for the whale watch. After driving the lap around the campground, deciding it was suitable and paying, we found our campsite and stepped outside. Then we noticed the lovely aroma of "meadow muffins" (as Steve called them) - the campground was right next to a cow pasture. Luckily, the campervan provided enough of a barrier that it didn't bother us in the vehicle.

25-March-2002

The alarm woke us up early to make sure we were at the Dolphin place in time to check on our wait list status. Turns out, we were in luck. Two people, who had reconfirmed their booking, didn't show up by the designated time and we were able to get their slots on the 9 a.m. boat for dolphin swimming.

We frantically grabbed all our gear, which entailed two trips to the vehicle for Sarah as the first time she forgot her bathing suit and towel. Steve couldn't figure out what she went and got. What else would you need? We smooshed ourselves into full wetsuits and boarded the bus to the dock. Once at the dock, we were divided into two boats. In addition to the 13 swimmers on our boat, there were about 20 students, part of an eco-tour group from Singapore, who were along for the boat ride and to watch the rest of us swim.

The boat headed out into the bay, and positioned itself ahead of a pod of dusky dolphins. The boat horn blasted, and we were ordered into the water. Even with the wetsuits on, the water was cold. The shock was enough that it took your breath away. Once you got used to the temperature, you realized that hundreds of dolphins were swimming around you. Some were curious, and would circle around you to check things out. Others just continued by, on their way to other adventures. Your instincts wanted to keep your head above water to see where the dolphins were, but for every dolphin above the water there were several more below the water. Some swam so close that Steve was able to touch them. The boat horn sounded again, and we hustled back to the boat to be driven to the front of the pod again and dropped off. We had three times of jumping in the water with the dolphins, but we both agreed that the first swim was the best.

Once everyone was out of the water, the crew served hot chocolate and cookies to help warm us up. They also had a hot water pump that would inject hot water down your wet suit which felt quite nice. The boat followed a pod of the dolphins for about 15 minutes. The dolphins jumped, swam in the bow wave, and did flips as we watched. It was pretty impressive. Definitely a highlight of the trip.

It should be pointed out at this time that before the trip, even right up to the actual boat ride, Steve poo-pooed the idea of swimming with dolphins as a hokey, feel good endeavor. However, when we got back to the campervan after the swim, Steve commented "Alright, that was really cool." Since that time, he has said it was a highlight of the trip.

After getting back on land, we headed north toward Blenheim and Picton. Our plans were a bit loose, so we just let things happen as they may. We were heading into New Zealand wine country, so stopping at a vineyard was about the only item on our agenda. Someone had recommended the Montana/Brancott Vineyards, which was actually the first vineyard we saw. We had a late lunch of mussels and seafood boulliabase, along with the house recommended wine, which was a great complement to the meal. As we were finishing lunch, we noticed a tour gathering so we quickly paid for lunch and joined the tour. The most-anticipated part came at the end of the tour, when we got to taste several of the vineyard's wines.

After the vineyard, we continued north to Blenheim. While there, we booked a hiking trip for the next day on the Queen Charlotte Track. After making the booking, we realized that we now had to get ourselves in gear and get organized, as we would start our 3 day kayaking trip the day after hiking. We checked out the grocery store in Blenheim to update our food supplies, as we didn't think we would have the time after the hike the next day.

We then drove to the Blue Anchor Holiday Park in Picton, which we decided on mostly for its close proximity to the boat terminal that we had to be at by 8 a.m. the next morning for the hike. We caught up on our laundry that night, and Steve was able to upload a new update to our website. Then it was off to sleep as we would have a busy next few days.

26-March-2002

It was an early morning, but we made it to the docks with time to spare. A small shuttle boat dropped us off at Ship Cove, which is at the far end of the Queen Charlotte Track. The whole track would take 2-3 days to hike, but as our time was limited we were only able to hike a portion of it. Ship's Cove was visited by Captain Cook five times during his explorations of New Zealand, and is said to be his favorite place to refurbish the ships.

The track began with a steep uphill - even steeper that what we saw on the Milford Track. At the top of the incline, we were rewarded with beautiful views into two different bays. We then descended into Resolution Bay, where we stopped for a rest and a fresh-baked muffin. The rest of the day was one big uphill push, and then a steady decline to our pick up point at Furneaux Lodge. We decided if we'd had more time we could have spent several days at the lodge - it is an old estate that has been turned into a resort facility, complete with restaurant and grass tennis court. Just the place to sit on the front porch reading a good book and enjoying a refreshment.

The boat picked us up about 3 p.m., and we headed back towards Picton. Along the way we stopped at two backpacker accommodations, both of which looked very relaxing. One had remodeled a red British telephone booth into a "phish-phone" at the end of its dock. Again, they all looked like lovely places to spend a few days if only we'd had more time.

Since we had to be at the kayaking place at 8:30 the next morning, we decided to head over there the night before. To get from Picton to Havelock, one option is to take the Queen Charlotte Drive, a more direct route but on crazy roads. The other option is to head back to Blenheim and then over to Havelock, a longer route but on straighter, wider roads that can be driven faster. Both routes are said to take the same amount of time, even though the Queen Charlotte road is one-third less the distance than the other route. Steve opted for the shorte, but curvier, Queen Charlotte Drive. It was a beautiful drive, but the curves and steep drop offs made Sarah glad it was Steve who had made the decision on this one, as he had no one to complain to when the driving got tough.

We made it to Nelson in time for dinner, so we decided to head to the Boatshed, which we'd read several rave reviews about. Given that we were driving in the clothes we'd hike in all day, we didn't look our best, to say the least. Even though we didn't have access to a shower, we decided that the least we could do was change our clothes and dress tastefully for dinner. The beauty of traveling in the campervan was that we could just shut the blinds in the back and change into our clean clothes, even though we were parked on a major highway. We lucked into getting a table right away, and sat down for dinner. Steve had the fish of the day and Sarah ordered the scallops in coconut milk with lemon grass. Steve thought his dish was so-so, but really liked what Sarah had ordered, but Sarah thought her dish was a bit too spicy for her liking.

After dinner, we headed north to a holiday park in Motueka. Even though the hour was getting late and Sarah was ready for bed, we managed to get most everything ready for kayaking the next day. Then it was to bed for some shut eye, as we had to get up early the next morning since we were still a half hour away from the kayaking base in Marahua.