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Published: February 8th 2009
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Tuesday, 3rd
As I only have the car for a couple of days I figured I'd better make the most of it, so I set off to Franz Josef Glacier some 469km / 8 hours away.
Just outside of town I saw to hitchhikers, I wanted to stop and pick them up, but didn't. As I drove away I had the gut feeling that I should go back for them. I turned around and picked them up. It turned out to be a mother and her daughter, Andrea and Johanna Hertwich. They were on their way to Murchison, and it was on my way.
They are from Germany and immigrated ten years ago. They live on an organic farm just outside of town and went into wellington do get a passport. We had some interesting conversation and I found out that Johnny Clegg is big internationally!
We were travelling inland through to the west coast and the scenery her looks just like it does on the internet. Forrests, mountains, blue skies.
I dropped the ladies off in Muchison and continued on to Westport. On a sign post it said "For England see Christchurch. For New Zealand see
Westport". I hope that is not the case, because it reminded me of Roslyn... no offence to anyone!
I put the town to my heels as fast as I could, that being said it wasn't that fast at all, and drove on to Greymouth. Here I pumped my first tank of gas and paid $60 for the pleasure!
Next stop, Franz Joseph Glacier! On my way I drove through amazing forests, the Kauri trees touching the sky with vegetation growing three stories high on the trunks. Clouds rolled in and soon I was driving in the wet.
I made the mistake of getting out of my car to take some pictures of mountains and a river and was accosted by a swarm of sand flies. I jumped in the car and sped off not realizing I had left my door open and the pests were coming with me!
I swatted and swatted but they kept on coming and I almost drove off the road trying to get rid of them. I will never say a bad word about mosquito's again, at least their bite doesn't itch for days!
Alive and itchy, I made it to
Franz Josef. The town reminds me of a small ski town out of a movie, without the snow of course. Bustling with tourists I was lucky to find a tent site.
I drove out to the glacier and got a good view from the parking lot. It's a 30 min walk to the glacier and with the rain coming down I decided to turn in for the night and leave the exploring for tomorrow.
Wednesday, 4th
At 4:00 this morning I awoke to the sound of rain on my tent. More of a drizzle, but I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep any more. I decided to pack up and blow this popsicle stand. By the time I was ready, it was raining pretty hard and too dark to see anything.
I made my way to Fox Glacier, thinking I've already seen Franz Josef. When I arrived in town it was still dark so I made my way to the Mount Cook Lookout point, about 10km away. I parked in at the lookout point and made breakfast. Here I got my first glimpse, of many, of freedom camping. People with campers and tents just park
somewhere secluded and camp out.
The mountain was still covered in clouds but it was a stunning place to have breakfast none the less.
It was still a little rainy, but they day had lightened considerably as I made my way on a small forest road to the Fox Glacier. As you exit the trees you drive into this big canyon, with sheer rock wall on the one side where the glacier had cut through the rock. As you round a bend, you get your first view of the glacier... breathtaking!
I left my car in the parking lot and made the 15 minute hike to the glacier. Stuck between two cliffs lies this huge block of ice. Except for my glimpse of Franz Josef, this is the first time I see a glacier in real life and it is so alien, so big, so beautiful. The crevasses, the texture, the blue colour.
In that moment you truly appreciate the splendour of God's creation, the size of it, the power of it, the beauty of it.
I wanted to get closer, to touch the ice, but luckily I'm not a Japanese tourist. If you missed
the news, some died at a glacier in New Zealand not too long ago, when one of the sides collapsed on top of them.
Totally wowed I made my way back to my car and the 404km / 8 hour drive to Queenstown.
Most of my journey took me pas more stunning scenery, this really is the most beautiful country I've ever seen. I drove past Lake Paringa, Lake Moeraki and Knight's point.
Somewhere a long the way my left front wheel started grinding that all too familiar grinding of metal on metal. I decided to have it looked at in Haast, the next town. Haast turned out to be but a splat on the side of the road, so I pushed on.
As I rounded a bend I was greeted with the sight of Lake Wanaka, beautifully ringed by mountains. I stopped for a leak and a photo at a DOC (Dep. Of Conservation) campsite and realized again I'm not in SA. There is no office and just basic facilities and drop box with envelopes and registration slips. You fill it out, attach a tag to your tent an drop your money and slip into
a drop box. Honour system, what a strange concept!
To the east, on the opposite side of Lake Wanaka, lies Lake Hawea, almost as big and just as beautiful.
Still alive after all the mountain diving with my shoddy breaks, I finally made it to Wanaka and a auto shop. As I waited I stopped by the Bullock Bar next door for a pint, just one mind you, left Wanaka with new brake pads two hours later.
With only about 100km to Queenstown, I was getting excited. I got my first taste of farm country, with cherry farms and wineries all the way to the big Q.
Queenstown is really gorgeous, with Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables mountain range framing the opposite side. The city centre is quaint and totally packed with tourists. It reminded me of Margate in December. The population is around 11 500 people, but they estimate that about a million tourists travel trough here every year!
I drove through town looking for a place to lay my head for the next couple of days and after a bit of searching found nice, quiet little campsite in Frankton, one of the two
suburbs. I picked a site under a big tree about 15m from the lake... heaven!
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