New Zealand Part #3

Both the Fox Glacier and the Franz Josef Glacier are two of New Zealand's biggest tourist attractions and are only about 25km apart. We had planned to visit the Fox Glacier, but on arrival we'd found out that the road there had been washed out during the heavy rains the previous week. We headed up the road to Franz Josef, but found out from the information centre that all tours onto the glacier were booked out for the next few days. This was of course because everyone was now coming to Franz Josef instead of Fox. By some remarkable stroke of luck we walked into the office of the main tour company just as a couple had cancelled their tour for the following day. The cashier told us that if we'd turned up 10 minutes earlier or 10 minutes later then we wouldn't have got the spots.

The tour on the glacier was fantastic. Although it rained all day, this kind of added to the adventure of it all. After a 45 minute walk along the valley floor/riverbed, we climbed up onto the glacier, passing through crevices and jumping over chasms. The water on the glacier runs in rivers with ever-changing paths. We drank some of the water, but were told that it's not advisable to drink for long periods of time. This is because the water is so pure it doesn't contain enough of the normal minerals that the body usually gets from water. It seemed like we were only on the glacier for about an hour, but we were there for nearly six. It was only after the trip had finished that I realised how tired (and cold) I really was. The trip was most definitely worth it though.

From Frans Josef we headed up the west coast towards the Pancake Rocks - an unusual geological formation. Throughout New Zealand they have this annoying habit of putting single lane bridges everywhere. Even on a main road you will turn the corner to be greeted by an Indiana Jones style cable bridge which is only wide enough for one car. It certainly helps to keep you alert when you're driving! This particular road on the west coast went one step further by adding a railway line into the equation. To get across this bridge you have to look for oncoming cars, look ahead and behind for oncoming trains, drive onto the railway line and cross the bridge. It was an interesting experience. I took comfort from the fact that I had yet to see a New Zealand train move faster than about 5 mph.

The Pancake Rocks are a limestone formation which has a number of blowholes. The pancake structure was created by immense pressure on layers of sediment/marine creatures/plant matter. From the rocks we managed to find a free-camp spot in a forest reserve.

Just before Westport we turned inland. I feel sorry for the people of Westport. The town lies only about 10km from the main road, but it's a big enough distance that tourists just pass it by. The local council had an interesting set of roadside advertisements trying to lure people from the main road. My favourite read as follows: "If you want Switzerland then go to Queenstown. If you want New Zealand then come to Westport."

The route inland took us through the Buller Gorge. The gorge contains the longest swing bridge in New Zealand. The drive is spectacular as the road clings to the side of the gorge. At Richmond we turned north-west and drove along the Tasman Bay to Kaiteriteri on the edge of the Abel Tasman National Park.

I had really been looking forward to this stop on our trip. The Abel Tasman National Park runs along the coast for about 30km (and quite a long way inland). There are hundreds of beaches ranging from tiny coves to long sweeping beaches. It is the point where Abel Tasman laid anchor as the first European to sight New Zealand. We stayed in a holiday park right on the beach. From here we took a water taxi into the middle of the park and did a 5 hour walk. The costal track took us over headlands, across rivers, along beaches and through thick forest. It thoroughly deserves its place as one of New Zealand's great walks.

Next up was the town of Blenheim. This was a bit of a weird place. It had a fantastic little market selling local produce and full of happy people, but just across the road was a car park full of boy-racers just sitting around intimidation people. We weren't really in Blenheim for the town, though. Blenheim sits in the middle of the Marlborough wine producing region with is renowned for producing some of New Zealand's best and most recognised wine (Montana, Oyster Bay, Wither Hills). Through a fairly large legal oversight, hiring a bicycle is the most popular way to visit all the wineries, returning home having tried many wines, acquired a few bottles and lost the ability to cycle. We did exactly that. It was one of my favourite days in New Zealand. The weather was perfect all the wineries we visited were friendly and were not pushy in trying to sell us bottles. My favourite two were the Wither Hills Sauvignon Blanc and the Alan Scott Sauvignon. They were all good, though - especially by the end of the day.

Blenheim was the last stop on the South Island before taking the Inter-Island ferry from Picton across to Wellington on the North Island. Picton is only about 30 km from Blenheim on the main road, but we took the scenic route around the coast. Halfway around the road turned to gravel and got steeper. We ended up covering about 40km on unsealed road and in places the car only just made it up the hills. The scenery of the Marlbrough Sound, though, was worth the effort. From high up on the road we could see the route that our ferry would be taking later that day. The view made me see why people talk so highly of the ferry as a tourist attraction in its own right.

The ferry across is about the same size as the cross-channel ferries that go to France. This one had train tracks inside it so the train just drove on to the ferry and drove off the other side. We had planned to have dinner on the ferry, but as we queued for our much anticipated dinner, I realised that I had left my wallet in the car - and we were not allowed to return to the car deck for the entire 3 hour crossing.

The North Island is about the same size as the South Island, but contains three times as many people as well as the majority of the Maori population. It will be interesting to see how it differs from the sparsely populated South Island.

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