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Published: August 4th 2009
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It was an early start for shuttle bus to the train station to catch the TransAlpine across to Greymouth. There was a steady stream of hail stones falling as we boarded amongst the massed ranks of Japanese, who were fitting the train trip into their 5 day - it’s Thursday so it must be Arthur’s Pass - NZ itinerary. The fact that most were sound asleep within an hour of leaving, suggested that a combination of the itinerary and the early start had been too much for most. The hail had turned to snow by Arthur’s Pass, which made for a pretty pit stop amongst the peaks. The majority of the train jumped ship on to buses at this point - obviously there was no time in the schedule for the delights of Greymouth.
The weather but not the temperature had brightened up by the time of the approach to Greymouth. The conductor made an announcement as we descended, which presumably didn’t meet with the approval of the Greymouth Tourist Commission ……….ladies and gentlemen, please prepare to turn your clocks back 30 years - you are now arriving in Greymouth! The first glance did indeed show signs of the mid-1970’s,
but anywhere with a Montieth’s brewery is surely a place you can warm to. We checked into Neptune’s Backpackers - a rambling old pub down towards the docks - and recreated the 1970’s by investing in a cream horn from the bakery across the road. The walk on the beach was a bit brisk, which probably explained why we were the only ones enjoying the view towards the Southern Alps.
The next day was partially occupied on the Monteith’s experience - a brewery tour, which allowed a pull your own session of the various brews, followed by all you can eat $5 sausage snags at the Railway Inn in the town centre. Whilst the volumes of pedestrians and traffic would not have been unduly affected by firing a machine gun down the main street, the Greymouth Museum had lots of archive photos to demonstrate that this was not always the case in yesteryear. Greymouth in it’s mining heyday was even the scene of a royal visit in the early years of the 20th century.
The weather especially on the West Coast is a gamble, so we factored in an extra couple of contingency days in Franz Josef -
there didn’t seem a lot of point going on a glacier hike into the fog. We booked on with one of the two main companies who operated the hikes and having listened to advice en route to Franz Josef, opted for the full day. The heli-hike came well recommended at a price and the half day seemed universally classed as too short (and as the glacier is apparently retreating, will be come more so in the future). The scheduled day dawned with bright blue skies, continued with bright blue skies and was a really worthwhile experience. What else do you normally do on a Wednesday? ………today we climbed a glacier, which makes you feel a sense of achievement. We were on the ice for about 5 ½ hours and apparently reached 2,500 feet. The company give you all the equipment necessary - boots, crampons, serious waterproof jacket and gloves - the mind come in somewhat more useful if you don’t drop them on the bus to the start point.
The glacier conquered, we rescheduled our departure from Franz Josef via the Haast Pass to Wanaka. Gloworm Cottages didn’t live up to expectations, so we pressed on past Fox Glacier
on a road that was only completed in 1960. Haast is decidedly remote and as our NZ bus driver advised …………….if you are 5 minutes late for the bus, consider your self 23 hours 55 minutes early for the next one! As you cross the divide from the West to East, the swarms of sandflies are left behind and the route descends along the side of Lakes Hawea and Wanaka. Wanaka is picture post card pretty and we had an uninterrupted view down the lake from our room at the Purple Cow. The hostel suffered from an over population of the transient Kiwi Experience types with an aversion to washing up, which spoils the serenity a bit, but Wanaka remains a high point of that first trip on the South Island.
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