Blogs from West Coast, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania

In the Waimakariri Basin there is a scattering of hundreds of weathered limestone rocks. These ancient rocks are smooth, sculpted, spectacular, and sometimes a little bit creepy. Named by Ngai Tahu Kura Tāwhiti, or "treasure from afar", it's also an area of cultural and spiritual significance. The limestone rocks were formed from years of sediment compression and then shaped by erosion following a large uplifting event. As Patrick & Jacinda took to the trail the scenery was spectacular and got even better when they reached the top. There were very few people around but when Jacinda was in the photo either on her hands or her feet you could really appreciate the magnitude of the rocks. The area was also a location for the movie “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. ... read more

As we expected late yesterday afternoon when we arrived in Fox Glacier, the weather today was not going to offer much in the way of opportunities for outdoor activities. And so it turned out to be. As light came up outside out motel unit, we had, what would turn out to be a last look at the surrounding mountains before they disappeared behind the mists of rain that persisted all day. It was cold outside, probably no more than 3C, and there was what looked like fresh snow on the hills visible before the rain really closed in. Fortunately the heater in the unit was very efficient and after the brief wander outside we were able to get back into the warmth of the unit quickly. It was to be an indoor day with the only ... read more

One of our travelling party is having her birthday today. Whoops that gave it all away! It seems a bit unusual to be travelling on your birthday as it is normally time to sit back, kick your shoes off and be waited on rather than being the chief pilot of the rented Toyota Corolla with a few hundred kilometres of highway and scenery ahead. One fortunate feature of being independent travellers is that you can choose the time to get up, have breakfast and get on the road rather than being in a group party and have your suitcases out at the prescribed time. After a short discussion, about our travels so far and where we w ere going, with our hosts at the Air BnB we got the car pointing south and headed for a ... read more

For continuity's sake the title of the blog should read Abel Tasman to Milford Sound, however the rip from AT to Westport was simply a nice but uneventful day of driving and not a lot to report on...this was one of a couple of what I referred to as "hump" days where all we did was drive, again necessary due to the times/distances and the things we wanted to see...even Westport itself was really just a stopping point; not much there other than a pretty cool beach where we camped (Carters Beach) and a colony of fur seals which we managed to see...it was kind of the trail head to the West Coast track, and as it was about 6 hours of driving from Abel Tasman that was more than plenty for the day... I was ... read more

Fri 3/2 and unfortunately the weather has not really cleared here at Franz Jospeh. I needed a rest day and Lance was driving me crazy so I sent him off on his bike with the waterproof camera and a raincoat:). The glacier valley track was open so he headed up there to take a look. Not as spectacular as he though it might and the weather conditions not favourable for photos today but the exercise brought him back with a renewed sense of life. The rest of the day was really spent reading books. Sat 4/2 and it’s raining so we head to the only laundromat at Franz Jospeh. It had only 1 working washing machine and 2 dryers. Basically the whole day was spent here gas bagging whilst everyone was waiting their turns to use ... read more