Fox, Bruce, Haast and Queens - day 23

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With the rain pouring down, I had two showers (one hot, and one one on the run) then managed to make toast one a gas ring, and enjoyed a cup of caramel coffee to round off breakfast.

It is possible to view the Franz Joseph Glacier by driving 5km south of the town to a car park, then walking just half an hour up a gentle track. That's what the guide book says anyway. I confess, I got as far as the car park, and even though I had full waterproof gear with me, I chickened out of the walk as the rain was quite heavy, and the cloud so low that visibility was extremely poor. There seemed no point in taking on this expedition when I could move on to maybe drier locations of equal interest.

The obvious next stop was the Fox Glacier. which is just 30km south, so off I drove, fingers crossed. Sometimes you are ahead, and sometimnes you're not, and I have to accept that fate was against me today for glacier viewing. Although the Fox glacier comes down to just 245m above sealevel (that's very close to the coast), it too was blocked from view by low cloud and rain, so I had to settle for a postcard and a photo from the internet. You can see that on a good day, this is a stunning view.

My fuel tank was half full now, and a warning sign at Fox town encouraged me to fill up there and then. It would be over 100km before the next petrol station, and with no idea of opening times, I decided to play safe.

The rain stopped. The road was running along the coast, and I found myself in the one horse settlement of Bruce Bay. In needed of a DIY coffee and a stretch of legs, I stopped at the side of the road and was surprised to see that for as far as I could see, there was a line of pebble piles right along the beach. Some had driftwood added for artistic effect, most were recent (they had marker pen inscriptions) and all demonstrated a sence of balance and patence on the part of their creators. I have absolutely no idea what the significance of these were, but maybe someone started, and others followed as it seemed like a good idea. It was strangely beautiful, especially as there was nothing else there. Up until now, I'd have approached a beach full of flat stones like this and spun them into the water to see if I could get them to bounce. Maybe I'd enjoy more perfect moments if I were to balance more than spin.

Moving on, my next stop was at a parking spot by Jacobs River. This boasted a lookout tower, some forest walks, another driftwood clad beach and loos. As I have decided only to use my on-board facilities in emergency, the use of public facilities has become the norm already. In general, I have found them to be very clean, available in nearly every town or village, and always free. Thank you people of NZ for subsidising us in this way (of course there's no such thing as a free loo). As it was still not raining, I took full advantage and went for a half hour sign-posted walk through some coastal forest. It's strange the way the light greens here affect me. I mean, trees and bushes are green everywhere (nearly), but here, I get a great sense for youth and creation when I see the very soft light greens especially of the fern and fern trees. The curled up (asleep) ferns are especially significant, and as I think I have earlier mentioned, they are used here in NZ to indicate birth within nature.

The next drive took me through Haast then inland up over the Haast Pass. This is only 565m high, and the lowest of the Southern Alps crossings, but quite dramatic as it follows rivers and waterfalls for much of the climb. The steepest section (450m rise in just 3km of road) needs a fair amount of 2nd gear use, and the top passes through a gorge called the Gates of Haast. The way down to Wanaka is more gentle, with large lakes replacing white water rivers, but just as beautiful to drive along.

I had originally planned to stop overnight in Wanaka. The impression I had was that this was a good sized town, on a lake, with some great glow-worm caves and alpine scenery. Parking by the closed tourist office (it was 7pm), I searched for signs of the caves without success. Wanaka does seem to be a very relaxed and well appointed town, and normally, I would definately stay there, but the thought of driving another hour to Queenstown looked more attractive as it would give me a full day there tomorrow. Off I headed, following the Sat-Nav instructions without a second thought.

I now know that there are two roads from Wanaka to Queenstown. The main road and the mountain road. My Sat-Nav chose the shorter mountain route, whereas I would have taken the main road if I'd given it any thought. Luckily for me, I hadn't thought, so was treated to another spectacular drive through an area popular with skiers in winter. The high point on the Crown Range Road was sealed (given a tarmac surface) in 2000, and is now New Zealand's highest sealed road at 1076 meters (that's nearly as high as Snowdon). The views from the top stretched to Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu, and the drive down to Arrowtown was another of those challenges where you don't want to meet anything coming the other way, and your brakes stink the van out in retaliation for having been forced to work so hard.

There was a good campsite in Arrrowtown, which is pretty much a subrb of Queenstown, so I stopped here for the night, got settled, and exitted my forties in the comfort of my mobile palace.

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Photos

Young fern
in the forst near the west coast road, not far from Jacobs River

Pebble and driftwood art
The beach at Bruce Bay was full of these signs of balance and patience

Mirror mirror on the wall
Who is the fairest of them all? (At least I look tall in this photo at Bruce Bay)

Driftwood on the sand
at Bruce Bay - clearly the sign saying 'no fires' has reduced the value of this resource

No rain, but lots of water
The waves at Bruce Bay looked so fierce - I had no option but to take their photo

I see clouds
but the mountains on the west coast behind are well hidden

Queenstown from Crown Range Pass
A high point in road surfaces