A Long ANZAC Day of Driving

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A Long ANZAC Day of Driving

Since we were behind on our schedule due to Kel’s stomach illness, we decided to play a little catch up today. We got up a little earlier than usual to get some serious driving done and see some of the west coast of the south island.

Most of the day involved driving which isn’t really fun to do our recount so I will skip to the stuff we actually accomplished during the day.

After driving for about 2 and a half hours we stopped in Westport to grab some food. In order to get a early start and make progress we had skipped eating in Nelson so we were starved by time we reached town. Unfortunately for us most of the town was closed due ANZAC Day.

ANZAC Day is similar to Veterans Day in the US. ANZAC (Australia/New Zealand Army Corps) is celebrated all over Australia and New Zealand and was originally set as the WWII date that the combined Allied Forces invaded Gallipoli, Turkey. The Australia/New Zealand forces were very involved in this particular battle and together lost many troops. Today ANZAC as evolved into a celebration of all soldiers who have lost their lives in wars.

When we pulled into Westport the whole town was shut down except for one pub-food place. Pub food is not exactly our food of choice, especially Kel since she had been ill for the last couple of days. Kel stuck with toast and I ate a delightfully drab meat & pickle sandwich.

As we left the pub-food place, we were just in time to catch the town’s ANZAC parade. The town had a full military band which led all of the town’s veterans and some of the active duty military through main street. It was really cool because you could see how proud the town and the veterans were. It reminded Kel and I of small town parades of yore. We were both really glad that we had gotten a chance to see something that was intimately part of New Zealand culture.

Later during the day and about two hours down the road we stopped to view the Pancake Rock formations in the middle of the west coast. Much like the twelve apostles of Victoria, Australia, these rock formations tower out of the sea. Unlike the apostles though, these rock formations show layer upon layer of rock from which they were formed.

We made one final push down the coast for another three hours of fun twisty windy mountain road driving. The final stretch is by far the windiest road I have ever driven. Whole sections had to be taken at 25kph (less than 20mph) because of the switchbacks of, in some cases, more than 180 degrees.

Our final destination of the day was the town of Franz Joseph which is located at the foot of the Franz Joseph glacier. New Zealand has two glaciers (the other is the Fox glacier) which have been shifting back and forth for thousands of years. As you drive into town you can actually see part of the glacier between two of the enormous mountains nearby.

Kel and I stopped at a couple of motor inns until we found one that met our needs. After check in, Kel rested in the room while I drove down the road to the glacier to take some pictures. After about a half an hour it started raining which ended my picture time and caused me to head back to get Kel.

Tomorrow we are taking a helicopter ride up to the top of the glacier for a couple of hours of hiking. Hopefully the weather, and Kel’s stomach, hold out for us to get off the ground.

Hope you are all well at home!

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