I’m officially in the “West Coast” region of New Zealand. For the Entrée we have glaciers, as follow-up we visit a small “cool” little town and for the dessert we arrive in the Christchurch of the west.
Table of Contents
Fox Glacier
After my adventures in Wanaka another long drive is following. There’re some nice sights along the way to Fox Glacier, but because of my blessed weather, these are not meant to be. Commonly, February is the best month to travel through New Zealand. Stable weather on most of the time sunny days. But if the distribution is 50/50, this assumption is losing its weight… The natives told me off an unfortunate summer this year.
Anyways, Fox Glacier is next. Where you come up to a familiar sight. Mt. Cook mountain range is reaching down to the coast. Naturally the sight on the afternoon didn’t improve and now there’s nothing to do in this tiny town. Fortunately the weather cleared on the next morning. Sadly the clouds didn’t evaporated entirely. The magnificent mirror of Lake Matheson couldn’t present itself in all it’s glory.
But the sky was constantly getting better and I used the opportunity for a walk. The South Side Walk is really not challenging, but at the end you get rewarded with pretty views onto Fox Glacier. At afternoon I was driving to the next glacier.
Franz Josef
As it appears, must have been the name giver a great worshipper of the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef. To honour the majesty this glacier was named after the emperor. 25km further north you arrive Franz Josef village. We’re still talking about the same mountain range, it’s a really long glacier. The town is a little bit bigger than Fox Glacier, but if the weather is bad, there’s still not much to do.
The afternoon was fine and therefore tramped the 30 minutes walk to the viewing point. If you think about that the glacier was reaching down until where I’m standing, it’s a sad and devastating sight.
But in these two towns there is an unsolvable enigma. I don’t want to be a prophet, I flew to the other side of the world, but all these helicopter flights are incomprehensible. We have here a wonderful landscape which must be protected. For this protection it seems best to have over 20 heli flights a day…
After this manifestation, there was no time left to do the 8h or 5.25h hikes. Naturally the weather got worse on the next morning and a hike seemed to be a dream. But I don’t have to make this decision yet. On the morning I carved my own Jade stone. Te Koha is only a short drive away from Franz Josef. But you must book in advanced, two guests were driven away because they didn’t reserve a seat. Although there was only one other guest besides me and four machines were present…
For 85 NZD you can choose your own stone and create your original design, plan 2h. I didn’t carve anything complex, but I really like the surfaces with all it’s different minerals a lot. In the last step you use fine grinding paper and the stone will not be covered in a polishing layer. The stone should be kept at your body, so your own body oil is remaining the gloss. It was a nice activity, but the weather worsen.
You only to these paths for the views and not for the great variety of the same rainforest, which I experienced since my onward journey, or for another swing bridge. The versatile landscape of New Zealand is losing its uniqueness after 5 months of travelling.
Hokitika
The “cool” little town. It’s safe to say, that the weather was again bad and therefore this little town is losing its charm. This is the first town after 400km which could be cautiously named city. It’s still small, but in comparison to Fox Glacier and Franz Josef quiet big. There’s a big grocery store and the fuel prices are 15 cents lower again.
But the planned activities are again not meant to be. Because I got soaked on my last hiking adventure, I will leave the beautiful Hokitika Gorge and Mt. Tuhua alone, but got the chance to experience a beautiful sunset. Moreover, Hokitika is the Jade capital of New Zealand and you could get your own gem overpriced, or something more in my budget.
Shantytown
The project to rebuild a old gold mining town historically accurate has succeeded. In Shantytown you go back in time to the 19th century and get a glimpse of the “Golden Age” in New Zealand. For 40 NZD you get access to a small town. From a steam locomotive to jail, everything is included. Plan 2h for this trip. As always you can take a break at a Café, with the best prices I have seen during my journey.
Greymouth
You could say, that Greymouth is the Christchurch of the west coast. An insult to Christchurch, there you had the wonderful Hagley Park and a good town center. Greymouth has nothing, no construction regulations, everything is small and the facades are fading into nothingness. You cannot find any real sights and because my weather is still meh, a visit to Lake Brunner is not worth it. Hopefully Nelson will positively surprise me, as last big township.
On my last stop before I get out my hiking boots again, I got really good weather and therefore enjoyed Pancake Rocks in all its wonder.
This will be on of the last blog entries. Not to much is left until a circular road trip of the South Island is achieved. The last big multi day hike, besides the tourism hotspots, Traverse Sabine Circuit is next. Afterwards I’m already in the north of the south. The end is near.
As always, you can view more pictures in the gallery.
