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Wet is for all the rain that we've seen on the West Coast, for the fantastically choppy Tasman Sea, and for the temperate rainforest that surrounds us here.
Wild is for some of the weather we've seen, for the rugged scenery and for the day we had glacier hiking yesterday - fantastic.
And the west coast of NZ is where we are now. We drove from Nelson over two days, mostly in rainy and overcast weather, through scenery which was stunning when the low cloud broke enough to be able to see it - high mountains, rolling waves, a road which hugged first the Buller river valley then the coastline. We broke the journed in a place called Punakaiki, where we stayed in the most interesting hostel yet - a place called Te Nikau Retreat, which was a collection of wee houses scattered about the bush. It was absolutely in the middle of nowhere, and while it was nice for one night, we couldn't have stood the solitude for any longer. Our second day of driving was punctuated by some really nasty weather - a huge hailstorm which was so heavy you couldn't see the road in front of
Extreme danger
Didn't stop us!you (see the photo!) - luckily it hit when we were approaching a village (which is a big deal since that was the only village we passed on the 3 1/2 hour journey) and we were able to stop for coffee and wait for the weather to pass.
We arrived in Franz Josef - home to the Franz Josef glacier - in more rain, and drove to get a first glimpse of it in yet more rain. We were sure there were mountains, but we couldn't see them! Luckily, our run of jammy-ness continues, as we booked our glacier hike for the only clear sunny day we've had recently. You're not allowed near the glacier without a qualified guide, so we signed up for a full day (rather than a half day) hike - an excellent decision as we found out later.
We were a little apprehensive as we went to the Glacier Guide's office, got kitted out in waterproofs, boots, crampons etc and undertook the 3 km walk to the start of the glacier. The access onto the glacier is up a steep slope of unstable rock, past the signs that say 'danger', 'do not pass', 'only
Breathe in!!
One of the squeezes we had to do. pass this point with a guide', 'extreme risk of life past this point' etc etc. We donned our crampons at the ice, spilt into 3 groups of 9, then followed our guide (weilding an ice axe) up extremely steep steps cut into the ice. The ice was extremely dirty - full of rocks and stones - and full of cracks and holes. 'You need to commit to each step' our guide confidently told us as we prepared to cross the first crevass of the day. 'What have we got ourselves into' we were both thinking!
Our fears proved to be unfounded. Once up the series of steps onto the glacier we were rewarded with lovely views of the valley, and the hiking got a lot easier. After about 10 minutes of walking our guide said 'this is where the 1/2 day hike stops' - we were so glad we'd opted for the full day - the half day goes nowhere!! We hiked up to the 'blue ice' - it really was blue! We slipped and slithered through tunnels, holes, cracks, jumped over holes, slid down slides and generally had a brilliant time. We took about 100 photos and the
The hail storm
We stopped for coffee... geography teacher in me was thinking 'better get one of the moraine, better get one of the u-shaped valley, better get one of the hanging valley, and so on, so that I can make them into a ppt presentation'. How sad!!
Graeme and I think that the glacier hike is the best thing we have done by far in New Zealand. We had a brilliant time and an excellent guide - what a great day! Today it's raining again - so glad we hiked yesterday!
Today we're having a rest day (we need it!) before heading to Wanaka and more beautiful scenery tomorrow.
love Jo and Graeme x
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