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Published: August 15th 2016
Living and traveling in a car for a month really has been one of the great road trips of my life. I've driven across the United States countless times for my company buying and selling equipment and have been on the road quite a lot in my days. These early road trips really gave me the tools to do what I am doing now and living out of a car has taught me what I am capable of and the conditions I am willing and able to live under. It has been a challenge and I'm proud of myself for sticking with it and renting a car was the absolute correct decision for me. Thank god I did not end up on one of the "backpacker" buses like
Kiwi Experience. I would have been miserable. I'm much more DIY and being this way and traveling on my own here has enabled me to reach the far off the beaten path places of this wonderful country.
Making my way north from the spectacle that is Fiordland I found myself on the vast and wild west coast of the South Island. With only 1%!o(MISSING)f the population and 10%!o(MISSING)f the land area
it definitely had a deserted sense about it. Dense sub-tropical fern rainforests and high alpine mountains dominate the interior with the pounding waves of the Tasman Sea right at the doorstep. My first night I was all alone in the forest next to a peaceful lake. Not a bad spot to set up camp for the night.
The main draw on the west coast are two massive glaciers that are bucking the worldwide trend of retreating and are actually advancing. The Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers were an amazing site. First up for me was Fox Glacier. I have never really felt so insignificant or tiny in the face of nature. Walking through the massive granite glacier valley that has been carved out for millennia will have that effect on anyone. I cannot imagine how large the sheet of ice must have been when it filled the valley.
They do not let you get to close to the glacier as it can be quite dangerous. In fact last year two tourists overtook the barrier for a closer look and were killed when a massive slab of ice broke off and crushed them. I was happy enough to take
a few photos from a distance. I could have taken part in an organized tour and walked on the glacier, but the cost for me was too much and I didn't think I would get that much out of it. So content with my day hikes around the area I milled about and explored the valley.
About 20KM north up the highway is the Franz Joseph Glacier. By this point it vast blanket of constant drizzle began to fall soaking everything in its path. I was not to be deterred and still managed to hike to the glacier face for some views and photos. This trip was short lived as I was cold and wet about 2 minutes into the hour hike. I made it to the end and turned around back to the car. You can't do anything about the weather, but man has it been a fight here on the South Island.
As I continued north my drive was again a spectacular one and I even managed a day or two of sunshine. Switching from rain forest to mountains to ocean in the span of half an hour never gets old and it is really hard
to take a bad photo in this country. Even my poor skills look descent. So now I have made it back to the North Island after crossing the Cook Strait for the second time. One more night here in NZ and tomorrow I fly out to Australia where I am to meet an old friend of mine who stayed with me a few years back in Denver. New Zealand has been a really special place for me and someday I would like to return. The nature here is unlike anything I have ever experienced and it really is a magical place. That being said it is time for me to move on as I am starting to get the urge to change countries and I know that my real inspiration for leaving home - Asia - is just around the corner. Until then bring on Oz!
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