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Published: March 20th 2011
Back again, and what an experience we had Saturday. Before that, Friday night in Franz Joseph we enjoyed the local spa for over an hour, despite the constant rain. Come to find out a prominent feature of a rain forest such as the West Coast is is…Rain! It had been raining most of the day, and then most of the night also. We were a bit concerned our hike up to the glacier would be wet, but we were prepared to do it nonetheless. Once again, we got lucky!
Saturday morning dawned partly cloudy and just got nicer as the day went on. We got to the assembly area in town along with the other 15 or so people that were doing the half day trek with us. We were outfitted in weather proof pants, rain jackets, boots and even given crampons. The bus ride was about 20 minutes, and we set out for the 30 minute or so hike to the base of the glacier. It was actually warm enough for us to hike in shorts and short sleeves, which seemed odd considering we were going to a glacier, but that’s what makes this ice floe so unique (
1 of only three in the world that descends into a rain forest). I’m glad we both brought our packs, as we needed them as much for the layers of clothes we shed and put on as for food & water. Once we reached the base, we ascended the right side of the glacier, affectionately called “Mt. Hell” by our guide, and for good reason. It is a huge pile of rocks and mud on top of the ice that is quite strenuous getting to the top of. Once to the top of that we were within spitting distance of the ice, and both got to don crampons (absolutely necessary) for the first times in our lives. After that it was all about the ice, and truly an amazing experience. The ice is so other-worldly, and the tour did a great job of getting us around to different parts of the floes, as well as ice caves and crevices. There were so many shades of blue in the ice that I don’t even think my camera was able to do it justice. On the way down we came back a different way that required us to squeeze through a crocked
crevice that was barely wide enough to fit our shoulders through, and because of the tilt of it, you had to slide with one side on the ice. We both fully enjoyed the whole trip, and think it might rival Millford Sound for the experience.
After that, a quick lunch at a local café and off up the Coast, destination Abel Tasman. On the way, it became obvious that we bit off more than we could chew, so we relaxed a little, stopping to see the world famous Pancake rocks (most bizarre rock formations we had ever seen), and then stopping at this small cove on the Tasman Sea to cook and eat dinner before the sun went down. We ended up pulling over on Hwy 6 off the coast on our way to Molueka and sleeping in a pull out, a big benefit to having a camper.
Unfortunately, neither of us slept really well, and we were feeling our hectic schedule all day. We got into Molueka around noon, checked into a Holiday Park, then went down to the beach to have lunch. Molueka has a very quaint harbor, and it was a beautiful day. We then
drove up the coast to Kaiteriteri and Marahau to look into renting kayaks in the morning to paddle along the coast of Abel Tasman park. We also spent some time on the beach and strolling our on the sand, which was quite receded from the ultra low tide. We decided on a half day guided tour on the kayaks, but won’t have enough time to hike in the park. After that we have to head towards Nelson to take the Ferry, campervan and all, over to Wellington Tuesday morning, and then begin our mad dash across the north island. Our main destination: the volcanic region of Rotorua.
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