Off to the Alps

Useful New Zealand term of the day...

"Sweet as!" - Kind of like a substitute for words like "awesome!" or "cool!"

            Our days in Kaiteriteri came to a swift end it seemed, the three days we had not seeming to be nearly long enough. With the next Kiwi tour bus passing through, it was time to meet our new driver and hop on towards new and exciting adventures.  We got to say our one last goodbye to the beautiful beachfront town by taking a hike up to a beautiful lookout of town, and then it was off we went!

            We spent much of that day driving, a few stops here and there as always for coffee and bathroom breaks.  The changes in scenery throughout the drive were probably some of the most dramatic we have seen thus far, the hills becoming a more temperate rainforest with a slightly browner color as opposed to the lush farm fields of the more northern parts.

             One of the scenic stops we took was at Nelson Lakes National Park, the site holding one of the first of the dramatic mirror lakes we were to see many more of as we traveled down the southern coast. The weather seems to be getting chillier as we travel as well, maybe it's just me, though we are slowly getting closer towards glacier country which makes sense.

Mom and I feeling the chill a bit and enjoying the view of beautiful Nelson lake

            We got in to our short overnight stop at Westport shortly before nightfall, our accommodation being the lively hostel of Bazil’s.  Let’s just say, the three of us in our room wanted to go to sleep ages before anyone else on the hostel did… I heard tell that a rather rowdy rugby team had been in town for the evening.  Lovely.

            But good sleep we had despite it and good thing too since it was to be another early morning for us again. What better way to wake up in the morning than with a nice brisk morning horseback ride! But boy will I tell you, it was COLD! And with that chilly valley wind, holy moly! I think I lost my fingers and toes somewhere along the track… But in all honesty, I may not have been fully dressed for the weather, my feet sporting just a thin pair of ankle socks and my hands braving the weather in nothing but their skin.

Karen in front on Leroy and the ever perky ears and head of my horse Joey.

            But it was way fun none-the-less, of course, the horses being more than willing to pick up the pace when we asked and take us through some more lovely New Zealand country side.  We traversed a few creek crossings as well (a couple going up to horse's chest!) which may not have helped all that much with the cold factor. I did after all have a hole in my boot and got to ride the whole way home with my own personal puddle of glacial water.  Joy!

             The horses put away and our feet and hands thawed by the fire, it was off to driving again, heading towards our next destination. We took a stop off along the way, of course, and hopped out to see the famous Punakaiki Pancake Rocks.  Those were cool! The originals rocks were made up of mostly sandstone with mudstone interspersed between which erodes much faster over time than the other and leaves the sandstone standing in the stacked like formations that we see today.  And they really do look like stacks of pancakes!

The Punakaiki Pancake Rocks

The really do look kind of like pancakes!

            We began to see the snow topped mountains as we went, their white heads in a stark contrast to the blue sky above and their brown bases below.  I had a couple people tell me before I came here that New Zealand in winter is almost better than New Zealand in the summer because of the effect the snow has on the landscape. I mean, I’m sure New Zealand in the summer is utterly breathtaking, but in the winter with the added contrast of snow it is simply dramatically so.

            Right outside of Franz Josef, we took a little stop off to see the mirror reflections off the kettle lake of Mapourika and then it was into Franz Josef itself. 

Looking off the pier at Lake Mapourika

            The town itself is quite quaint really, the essential grocery store and information center present with numerous touristy shops and activity centers pocketed here and there.  

Looking up towards the glacier from the town of Franz Josef

            Rainforest Retreat was to be our accommodation for the next couple nights, the hostel presenting a very put together and good quality air.  The one thing I will say though is that the showers were not quite up to par with what I expected… It was seriously like a polar bear plunge trying to take a shower in the morning! I mean, of all things to cease working when you are staying at a glacier, the hot water heater is certainly not one of them! By day two though we had it fixed, thank you Lord, but that first shockingly cold shower was slightly less than pleasant. 

Our hostel with the beautiful mountain backdrop

             First thing to start our first morning off, Mom and I took a trip in to the Kiwi wildlife center for a sure fire shot of seeing the New Zealand icon up close and personal.  Franz Josef itself is situated not far from the one and only habitat sanctuary in which lives the much endangered Rowi bird, the rarest of all the kiwi species (I think there are 5).  What the wildlife center does is collects eggs from the sanctuary (the wild eggs survival rate is about 1 in every 40) and incubates them, raising the chick to a certain age in the wildlife center itself.  They get moved around to other safe havens throughout growing up before finally getting released back into the sanctuary when they are fully grown and can defend themselves. We got to see two of the younger ones in the center and man, they are a LOT bigger than I expected! They are not these small little birds like I originally thought, there are more like a large chicken sized!

            Unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside the room (and it was dark anyways since they are nocturnal birds) but they are some funny creatures! Their run is hilarious I must say, and I definitely know what they mean now when they say you will often hear one before you see it. They are constantly scuffling around and squeal at each other when they run into each other. At least, these ones did. So funny!

            First hand experiencing the Kiwi birds under our belt, it was time to do just the same with the glacier right out the back door! Mom and I hopped on a shuttle from town, taking it up to a parking lot a ways up the road and the beginning of the glacial hikes.  In total the hikes we walked took us about 2 hours, one to around a cool little pond, Peter’s Pool, that reflected the mountains amazingly well...

The mountains reflected in Peter's Pool

...and another that took us all the way up to the glacier lookout.

On the way to the glacier!

            Unfortunately neither mom nor I were able to actually go up and walk on the glacier itself as the only way was through a slightly more expensive helicopter ride. Our good friend Karen however opted for that option and she got some pretty darn cool shots from up on top!

From on top the glacier

            We got back to town just in time to meet up with our tour guides and off we went back to Lake Mapourika for a kayak trip! The 3 hour trip across the lake and back was way fun, though a little wet for the rain that decided to come tumbling down.  But we were all well bundled in jackets, life vests and rain coats that’s for sure! I had never kayaked before this and I must say, I want to do it again! Granted, my arms were quite sore by the end of the day from all the rowing but a workout is kind of part of the point now isn't it?

A chilly kayak across Lake Mapourika!

             We finished off our last night in the town restaurant/pub next door to the hostel with homemade pizza next to a glorious fire.  Not a bad way to end it off! And then it was off the next morning, leaving the town of Franz Josef behind and heading off to the next stop.