Way Out Wet West

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We are now on our way down the West Coast but there is no need to add a seperate entry for each place we visit as we are only stopping a night in some places.

Westport

At the top the west coast is this tiny little non descript town, the best thing about it was the drive there via the Nelson Lakes National Park. This park would have been even better if we could have seen the scenery properly as the rain has now set in big time. The park is the start of the Southern Alps, a large mountain range that go through the south island.

It didn't help getting to Westport on a Sunday evening with nothing open and no cash to spend on the Kiwi Ex organised activities it was a bit of a quiet night. The hostel was pretty good too, we also had Paul and Rachael for company who are also heading down the coast in their own car. We did a "Where's Walley" jigsaw and played cards, and they say you need money to enjoy life!!

Lake Mahinapua

This was a random stop!! however on route we stopped at Cape Foulwind to check out a seal colony and at a few other west coast lookouts on the way. We also saw the famouse pancake rocks and blowholes further down the coast. These rock formations are layered like pancakes, hense the name, they are pretty impressive combined with the west coast scenery.

The stop itself consisted of us staying in cabins behind a little west cost pub, nicknamed the "Poo Pub". Its run by an 81 year guy called Les, who is, apparantly a local legend. He is going strong for an 81 year old and got on the bus to welcome us and told a few jokes and heckeled the people at the front. Strange. On route to the pub we had stopped off at the salvation army shop for the nights bad taste themed party. The less said aboutn our costumes the better. Suffice to say we didn't win any of the prizes on offer.

As the name suggests there is a lake right next too the pub, which is quite nice, there are gloworms there at night but the torrential rain stopped us going out.

Franz Josef

This tiny town further down the west coast was our next stop for two nights this time. The extra night is so that we could take the oppotunity to hike the Franz Josef Glacier, a huge lump of ice in a nearby valley surrounded by rain forrest. Of course you don't get rainforrest without rain and it rains here over 260 days of the year, and our hiking day was no exception. It rained and it rained and it rained, and we got completely , p#@1 wet though. In fact prior to our arrival it had rained all day, every day for the last 28 days. Despite this the whole thing was amazing, we treked for four hours on the ice up steep ice tracks and through ice passages and into an ice cave. We opted to go in group one which was the group who had the hardest route (ok we opted for group two but it was full). Not bad for a days walking, shame about the rain but it's the west coast and due to the geography of the Southern Alps, thats what happens.

Check out http://www.glaciercountry.co.nz/glaciers for more info.

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Photos

The West Coast
Battered by the sea, wind and rain

Seal
Seal Colony at Cape Foulwind

Cape Foulwind
Foulwind by name.......

Pancake Rocks
These limestone formations are layered like pancakes

The West Coast (Again)
Still the west coast, pretty rough seas, and freezing cold.

Claire
Claire with her new image, large north american man in the backgound

Possums
Caged possums at the bushman centre. Cage is a bit small!! These critters cause massive problems to local wildlife

Ice
An ice passage on Franz Josef

Ice Hikers
Intrepid Explorers on the Glacier

Claire
In ice cave

John
In ice cave

Terminal Face
The start of the glacier, we climbed up the steps in the centre

Comments

[stu]

in the pink
nice to see you in the pink, is it hiding where you store all that lager? where ever you go you just melt the ice! stu x

[paul]

same outfit
Claire, isnt it about time you put that little pink number in for a wash, everytime we bump into you, you seem to be wearing it!