The West Coast and Christmas

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Hello there from dusty Wanaka!

We had a bit of a scorcher today, just like Christmas Day and Boxing Day, so the campsite we are in now, on the edge of Lake Wanaka, has turned into one big dustbowl. I just walked back from the amenities building after a rather unsatisfying shower(the shower head had exactly 6 tiny holes, pointed in all directions, and it was built into a wall at a height that hobbits would really appreciate, but beings of the human kind not so much), and my feet had turned a lovely dusty brown by the time I got back to our Bertha. Luckily the wind has died down a bit, and it's slowly cooling down as well, and of course the view is to die for, so we're still happy happy! 😊





But to start where I left off:

After a night at Carter's Beach we carried on south along the West Coast. Taking a shortcut and getting stuck in between a herd of cows for a while, we still managed to make it to Punakaiki in time for the high tide. This is the best moment to be there, because the water sloshes and smashes and pushes itself in between the pancake rocks, creating little 'geysers' and great big roars while doing so. It's magnificent to witness, and sometimes a little terrifying as well, you can almost feel the ground trembling with the force of nature.

We then carried on towards Greymouth, along what is supposedly one of the most beautiful stretches of coastal highway in the world. And it definitely was amazing! Hard to keep your eyes on the road.

When we got to Greymouth we stopped by the station to get some info on the TranzAlpine, a train journey from there to Christchurch via Arthur's Pass. We thought it might be nice to ride the train for part of the way and then back, but found out it's not possible to do this in one day, and also the train wasn't running on Christmas Day, which meant we would have to wait in Greymouth for 2 days. And as the name might suggest, Greymouth was rather drab. So we gave up on the train idea, and carried on south.

Just outside Greymouth we came upon one of the most baffling traffic situations ever: we drove up to a one lane bridge(not that odd, the South Island is full of them), with the oncoming traffic getting the right of way, BUT 1. the bridge was an old railway bridge, 2. made out of loose wooden planks with high wooden sides, like the bridges of Maddison County, 3. about 300 meters long so no way of knowing if there WAS any oncoming traffic because you approached it on an angle, and lastly 4. THE TRAIN WAS ALSO USING IT!!!! WTF!! There were a few cars ahead of me, so I quickly followed them onto the bridge, all the while thinking ' if a train should show up at the other end I will have to back up all the way, straight as an arrow, and quick as a flash'....

We found a lovely little campsite called Cloud 9, run by 2 fantastic people, and decided to have our Christmas Eve there. They had a pond with eels in it, which we got to feed in the evening, and later that night the owners built a campfire, where we spent our evening chatting to German, Swiss, English, Kiwi and French people. It was a lovely evening, but very cold, so I went to bed frozen to the bone.





On Christmas Day we drove down to Franz Joseph Glacier, and hardly saw a living soul on the way down. Until we got to the carpark near the glacier. They were all walking the Franz Joseph Track, apparently! So we did as well. And it was definitely worth the climb.

In the evening we finally got out our barbecue for the first time, and had a NZ-style Christmas dinner, with a clear view of the beautiful mountains in the back. Bliss!





On Boxing Day we drove back up to Whataroa to go on a White Heron Sanctuary tour. One of the most amazing things I've ever done! We were taken by van along some gravel roads to a small jetty in the middle of nowhere, then loaded onto a jetboat for a 15 minute ride into the nature reserve, then another 500 meters walking on a wooden walkway trough thick forest, and all of a sudden there they were: 46 nests full of white herons. Some nests even had 2 chicks! It was so amazing to be able to observe them from up close. And nobody knows why the herons have been coming back to that exact spot for hundreds of years. Magical...

While going in and coming out of the reserve we passed a pair of ducks who had built their nest along the bank and kept 'attacking' the boat each time it passed. The guide said they'd been doing it all season, and he thought they were just doing it for fun now. He laughed and put his head down every time they flew overhead, but it was quite scary to see them swooping down towards us, and they could easily keep up with the boat! All in all an exhilarating experience!

It was a hot day, so after lunch we only drove south for another hour or so and set up camp next to Fox Glacier. We sat reading in the sun and whipped out the old barbecue in the evening. What a terrible way to spend Christmas!!





Today we wanted to finally get some asphalt behind us, so we drove most of the day, and made it to Wanaka. It's starting to get quite busy everywhere, so we've booked ahead for the next 2 days, at a campsite in Te Anau. We will arrive there tomorrow, and then do a daytrip by boat and bus to Doubtful Sound on Tuesday. Thanx for the tip Maike! 😊

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