A week of awesomeness with a bit of horrendous weather chucked in

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We left Lake Pukaki last Friday 27/1 making our way to Mt Cook. The weather was pretty sad as we travelled up the valley to the DOC Whitehorse camp at Mt Cook. But luck was on our side and by lunchtime the rain had all but stopped. We managed to get out and walk both the Kea Pt walk and the Hooker Valley walk. The Kea Pt walk is only about 1 hr return from camp. The track leads you out to the Mueller Glacier moraine wall. From the end of the track you get stunning views of Mt Sefton, The Footstool, Mueller Glacier Lake and Aoraki/Mt Cook. Back to camp and in the opposite direction we then headed out to the Hooker Valley. This walk is definitely up there with the most stunning scenery we have seen. You cross over 3 swingbridges over the Hooker river as you walk up the beautiful valley to the glacier lake. The end of the track leads to the most incredible views of Mt Cook, Hooker Glacier and the Southern Alps. You can walk down to Lake level and get some pretty nice shots across the Lake and up to Mt Cook. The walk back was just as rewarding soaking in the views down the valley and across to the Sealy Range. The walk takes about 3 hours but if you are going to stop and take photos you will need to allow a bit more time. It was starting to cool down by the time we got back to camp in the early evening but what a fantastic day.

Saturday 28/1 and the sun is shining as we leave camp and head down the road to the Tasman Valley. From here you can walk to Blue Lakes and Tasman Glacier View walk. The Blue Lakes are now green as they are no longer glacier fed. They are basically ponds. We clambered over rocks and found about 5 of them. The biggest been the last one we found I imagine if Lake levels were high you may not get access to them all. Nothing spectacular but I did manage to get some photos of a little Tomtit which was pretty cool. The glacier viewpoint at the top of the track has good views of Mt Cook, Tasman glacier and Lake. There is a boat tourist operator below taking boat trips over the lake to the glacier and around the very impressive icebergs. There is another track that branches off this track that will take you to a Lake viewpoint another good spot but the gem is to make sure you also take the river track. This will get you down to the Lake level where the rivers heads down the valley. From here you really get a feel for how big these icebergs are. You will need to clamber down rocks to the water but it is so worth it😊. We got a couple of frights as large chunks of ice dropped off the icebergs making a rather booming noise and sending a tidal wave of water towards shore. We could have spent hours sitting on the rocks looking out on this spectacular view. From here we head to Twizel to restock before heading out to Lake Ohau and the DOC Round Bush Camp. Top spot on the lake edge but unfortunately the evening wind got up and it was a blustery night.

Sunday 29/1 we head over the Lindis Pass to Wanaka. Light showers of rain as we walked around the little town. The place was full of tourists and the cafes spilling out on the street. It must have been a sign for us to get out😊. So we headed further around the lake to Glendhu Bay Camping ground. Now this is a pretty spot to catch up on the washing and enjoy a bit of peace.

Monday 30/1 and we are off over the Haast pass stopping along the way to walk to the Blue Pools. This is a must do if you are in the area. The water is stunningly blue, but very cold. It does not seem to stop a few young ones jumping off the bridge into the blue water. (see photo and spot the jumpers). Next stops were Thunder Creek Falls (28 metre waterfall dropping into Haast river), Fantail Creek Falls (Had trouble taking a photo here as a young women and friend decided it was a good idea to swim over and climb on rocks and have a wee photo shoot. The problem is she didn’t know or didn’t care that we were all trying to take a photo without her in it😊), and lastly the gates of Haast Bridge (This is where the river narrows and the force of the water crashing over the boulders is pretty impressive). Parked up for the night at Haast we spent a few hours at the local (Hard Antler) to have a beer and watch the Kiwis beat the Aussies at cricket. We chatted to a friendly local….Gorse was his name😊. Apparently everyone has a nickname there.

Tuesday 31/1 and the sky has opened up and it’s chucking down. But not to be deterred we head South to Jackson Bay after a quick stop at the Haast Visitor centre (it’s worth a stop here). Lunch and a coffee looking out at the Jackson Bay Wharf saw us sheltering in the motorhome as the rain pelted down. I actually braved the weather and stepped outside to take some photos (was probably not worth it but slightly amusing if anyone was watching). We had planned to do some walks over the hills to a couple of bays but the weather is just too bad. As we headed out of Jackson Bay we come across a slip that we just manage to get around to only come across a huge slip further up the road. We weree stuck on the road and there was no going back from here so we waited anxiously for the bulldozer to clear and hoping no slip was going to come down on us. A couple of hours later they managed to clear a single lane for us to squeeze through. We slowly make our way up the coast stopping at Knights Viewpoint. It would be great views along the coast if the weather was clear. Our last stop for the night is Lake Paringa. We manage to get a campsite up high and away from the water. It’s going to be a long night the rain is horrendous.

Wednesday 1/2 morning and the rain has subsided enough to take a couple of photos before we leave Lake Paringa. The reflections on the still morning make for a great misty shot. We finally arrive at Fox Glacier after negotiating more slips and flooded roads and guess what it’s raining! This is when I start to think the West Coast is not my cuppa tea…..rain, rain, rain, and huge sandflies, mosquitos that you can’t run from. Send me to Golden Bay to sit in the sun I say😊. The plan today was to head up to the Fox glacier walk but it is closed due to slips so we head out to Lake Matheson instead. Miraculously the clouds lift and the sun peaks out for our walk around the Lake. The track was pretty busy and obviously an alternative as the Glacier track was closed. A few glimpses of Mt Cook and the glacier from here. It’s great to be out walking again I just need to teach all these tourists to hang left on the track! From here we make our way up and over to Franz Joseph Glacier. We head off to do the Glacier Valley walk but only get to first lookout as the rest of the walk is closed. It’s amazing how many people are jumping the barrier and ignoring the sign. Maybe they need to hang the photos of all the people who have lost lives or been seriously hurt on these glaciers from just doing exactly that. The views are good but would have liked to have gotten closer. From here we walked up to Sentinel Rock for a slightly different angle of the Glacier and valley. Well the day did get better and I'm looking forward to exploring more tomorrow. We are now parked up for the night at the NZMCA Campsite just on the edge of town.

Good morning…….well I hope our neighbours are ok as we had a late night and a great catch up with a couple of ex Rotovegas peps. But no dirty looks from the neighbours this morning assumes we weren’t too loud😊. Hitching a ride late this morning we head out to the Wombat Lake track. I have a theory on this lake it’s called Wombat because it looks like a dirty old Australian pond with a bit of a eerie feeling that something is gonna get you😊. From here we walk back and over to the track that leads you to a large swing bridge over the Waiho River. The track further on is closed today because of slips but the swing bridge is definitely worth a wander over as the water rushes beneath you. From here we meander up to Peters Pool. Now this is the place for a wow reflective photo. Peters Pool is a Kettle lake caused by a huge block of ice left behind during the glaciers withdrawal. When the ice melts it was contained in a depression (known as a kettle hole) among the rock and debris deposited by the receding glacier. Today the snow covered mountains are perfectly mirrored in the water. From here we walk back towards town following the Waiho river and over what seem to be a rather rickety main highway bridge to town and camp. It’s been a good day and I am looking forward to dinner and bed😊.

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