The West Coast

---

After packing up and checking out I drove Tom to the hospital to have his knee braced altered, it was easy as it was on the way to The Remarks! Had another great morning skiing by myself before the guys arrived around 12ish. I managed to spend an hour with them before I decided it would be best for me to get on my way up the West Coast! I returned my equipment and got a venison pie from Fergbaker and hit the road.

I headed back out of the valley towards Cronwell before taking anew route out towards the coast. The scenery out this way was again beautiful but in a different way to what I had experienced on Wednesday. This area is called the Lakes for good reason, there are loads of them! They are sat inbetween the mountains and are as clear and flat as a mirror, reflecting the mountains in them! The two main ones are Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka and they are used to supply hydroelectric power to NZ, its main source of electricity. The last hour or so before I reached the coast took me out along the Haast Pass Highway through Mount Aspiring National Park and the return of the forests I remembered from my journey through this way in 2005. This is again a very pretty route and towards the end the sun, as it was setting, was glaring through the valley causing some amazing shadows! The roads this way were also totally deserted so I was able to open up and enjoy the straights and sweeping turns, winding alongside the river.

I arrived at Haast at 5.30pm and stopped for a coffee in the Hard Antler Bar, the only such establishment in this very small township! The walls of the Hard Antler, as you may expect, were adorned with the trophies of hunting, the heads of Stags, Deers and a Moose! My main aim for coming up this coast was to see Craig and Snadra Hartwig who live just outside Greymouth. However at Haast I realised I would never get there tonight as I ahd only travelled 250km in 3hrs and the distance to Paroa was 300km....

I therefore took the clever decision to split the journey and stop off at one of the glacier towns, Fox or Franz Josef, on the way, around 150km up the coast. As I headed along the coast the sun was setting into the sea throwing off an amazing orange glow. However the loss of light didnt help the driving as the roads here are very narrow and windey as they follow the cliffs along the coast. I passed the lookout point we had stopped on our rugby tour in 2008, from where you could see seals down on the beach below, but continued on. About an hour into the journey I passed a long stretch of beach in a valley that had a single beach hut on it and in the twilight it looked very eery but beautiful!

At 7pm I passed through Fox Glacier township but after staying there on tour, and it being kinda dull, I pushed onto F.J. where I had stayed with my parents before. It was only 25km away but the road twisted and turned so much that I eventually arrived at Franz Josef at 7.30pm. Now for the choice of Hostel..... I eventually chose the Bella Vista due to it advertising that it had SKY! The owner was very nice and gave me a good deal. II grabbed some dinner at a local Ale House, along with an ale of course, then watched some TV before getting some shut eye, it had been another long day!

---