From Beaches to Glaciers!

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After arriving into Picton via Marlborough Sounds we headed across to the West coast of the south island to begin our trip down south. The first stop was the Abel Tasman National Park, which we knew would be different from most NZ national parks, as this one was mainly beaches and coast line (and not mountains!), and at first we thoughts it would be good, but nothing special.....how wrong we were. It turned out to be one of the most stunning and memorable days we had.

We started our day from the southern section of the park, and took a water taxi up to the north end, and witnessed Split Apple rock on route, and a small seal colony, plus fantastic views of the green hills rolling striaght into sandy beaches and turqoise water. We spent the day walking back south, where we had some great views, and spent some time enjoying some of the beaches. It was an amazing day, and something I hadnt expected to see prior to leaving for NZ - i thought all the best beaches would be in Oz and Asia!


Back in the little hire car we headed down the coast to Westport, but unfortunately spent the whole time trying to avoid the torrential rain, before arriving down at the Franz Joseph and Fox glaciers, but the weather was still awful. Undetered we booked a days glacier guide and prayed for the best. Luckily the next day the weather improved enough for us to take a few short walks to view both glaciers which were stunning, and spent the evening walking round Lake Matheson, which gives perfect pictures of the Fox glacier, southern alps and Mt Cook reflected in the river.

The day of the hike turned out to be the best day of the week (luckily!) and we had a fantastic time hiking across the ice, where we saw ice chasms, mulars, and even an ice cave. It was a great experience and one we were happy we hadnt missed!

After the glaciers we continued to head south, as we wanted to be in Queenstown for Christmas (yes....the blog is slightly out of date!). On the way down we drove through the Haast Pass, which was by far the most stunning drive we took in NZ. The drive takes you through a valley surrounded by snow capped mountains, past incredible lakes and rivers, and by waterfalls and lush green hills - its hard to describe how beautiful it really was.

The journey took us straight down to the town of Wanaka, which has a beautiful lake and great views of the alps, and was a great place to relax. By this time it was the 23rd of December and we headed the short journey down to Queenstown...

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Photos

Lake Matheson
South Alps and Mount Cook in views