Days 26 to 28 - Ice ice baby

Warning: picture heavy post ahead!

Haast Pass is thrillingly scenic but equally dangerous – you’ll want to gaze open mouthed at the view before you, but take your eyes off the road at your peril – full of switchbacks, narrow corners, steep gradients and sheer rock faces, it demands your entire attention. Apparently seasoned Kiwis can traverse it in around 4-5 hours, but we came nowhere near that, hampered by the proliferation of one lane bridges and the many short walks in the area (Blue Pools, Fantail and Thunder Creek Falls to name but a few) just as much as the challenging terrain. One lane bridges by the way, are a bit like our chicanes, except they are bridges obviously! And not so much a traffic calming measure as a construction issue. One particular one near Haast township that we crossed was so long that you couldn't quite see the other side and thus it had been widened in a couple of places to allow a place to wait for oncoming traffic to clear.

Thunder Creek Falls

State Highway 6



Fantail Falls



Native bush

One of the many bridges on the Haast Pass

Picnicking at Cameron Flat

Blue Pools

Sarah at the Blue Pools

Delightfully well managed walking tracks



Crossing the massive one lane bridge at Haast township

Knights Point Lookout

Final glimpse of the West Coast before turning inland once more

Some 6 or more hours later we pulled up outside Glenfern Villas on the outskirts of a misty Franz Josef. We were checked into our accommodation by the friendly and helpful Cesar – an Argentinian bloke who had come to NZ and loved it so much he had stayed. As it was getting late (by NZ terms – 8pm is pushing it for dinner) we headed out to town and opted for a meal at local sports pub/bar, The Landing.

Inside our villa



View from the decking

Next morning, on our one full day in Franz Josef, we decided to book ourselves onto a scenic flight. We’d wanted to do the heli hike but as it required a degree of fitness and Sarah had been suffering with a bad back for the last few days, we thought it best not to risk it. As it turns out, that day had best weather for over a week which meant that there was a bit of a backlog with all the people who had had heli-hikes/flights cancelled previously now booked in. The weather was still a bit touch and go, with no-one flying around Mt Cook due to low cloud, which ruled out one of the options we’d been considering. Fortunately however, we found space on an alternative flight and were paired with a German couple, who had been trying to fly for the past few days. Finally at about 11am we all piled into our tiny helicopter and we were off, up up and away!

Watching another group head to their 'copter

Our transport!

No backing out now!

Lower part of the glacier

Top part of the glacier

Sunlight on the snow



Above the clouds



Looking down the valley

How different the landscape is just below the glacier

Neither of us had been in a helicopter before but we found it surprisingly stable and even nervous flyer Paul soon relaxed and enjoyed himself as we toured up Fox Glacier, admiring the spectacular views of ice caves and formations from above. At the top, we did a snow landing on the neve and we all got out for a photo opportunity – and a half! ‘Walking’ on the fine powdery non-compacted virgin snow on the neve was hilarious – if only because Sarah could barely manage to take a step before suddenly disappearing downward half a foot. Paul fared slightly better, but not by much! 




Watch out for the blades!

Walking: a tad difficult in these parts!

On top of the world!

All smiles

Back in the helicopter we descended back down to earth, this time following the flow of Franz Josef glacier. Seeing both glaciers from the air was simply exhilarating. It really gives you an idea of their mammoth size and just to see the geography of the area is fascinating too – so many differing environments within such a small space.

On the ground once more we drove towards Fox for a walk around Lake Matheson – yet another very famous and widely photographed NZ landmark. On a clear day you can see Mount Cook. Unfortunately our luck wasn’t in – the cloud cover persisted – but we still had a lovely stroll in beautiful surrounds and a hot chocolate fuelled lunch in the excellent café.

Paul admiring the wetland

Tightly curled native ferns (Koru)

Lake Matheson - on a clear day, Mount Cook would be visible in the centre

A glimpse of why they call it Mirror Lake...

More beautiful native bush

Tiny koru

Koru patterns in the hot chocolate too!

That evening, with the prospect of another long drive looming ahead, we picked up some pizza and cider from the supermarket and utilised the DVD library at our accommodation for a quiet night in. We took the opportunity to feed the goats/chickens on the onsite farm too, and attempted to feed the alpacas – they weren’t interested though, instead keeping a watchful eye on the villain skulking in the field over the road!

Paul getting mobbed by the greedy goats

Indifferent alpacas!

The next morning, our last full day in NZ, we woke to the pitter patter of tiny feet on the decking outside – the chickens had decided to join us for breakfast. They were a little too enthusiastic in their greeting though, which lead to Sarah threatening them with the prospect of being turned into Christmas dinner!

One of the pesky chickens!

Days 24 to 26 - Smoke and mirrors

Before I start the next entry, here's a picture I meant to include at the end of the last blog post but couldn't find at the time:

The Crown Range road - yes, that grey ribbon snaking up the hillside!

And now carrying on....Lake Wanaka and its surrounds are another picturesque area in a country stuffed full of them.  Outside of winter (when the Cardrona ski slopes come alive) the resort is much quieter, but this suited us fine after a pretty full couple of days. We both agreed it would be a good place to settle if you were looking to put down roots in NZ – it’s a reasonable size town (i.e. has shops), centrally located on the South Island with good transport links (in NZ terms!) to Queenstown, decent schools and an excellent local community if the entertaining newsletter in our accommodation was anything to go by!

Speaking of accommodation, we stayed in a lovely B&B just outside the town that was basically an annexe of the owner’s house. We had our own kitchen, lounge, en suite, even a private deck complete with BBQ that led to the owner’s beautiful garden, full of colour and fragrance. We were also delighted to find amongst their DVD collection a copy of ‎Fiordland on Film: Ata Whenua (Shadowland). We’d wanted to see this on the big screen in Te Anau but unfortunately the timings didn't work out. It’s a short 20 minute film of Fiordland atmospherically set to music and it is well worth seeing for a stunning showcase of the region’s beauty and majesty. We were suitably impressed to purchase it, so if anyone wants to borrow our copy, just let me know J

After a tasty meal out at the esteemed local Indian, we opted for an early night followed by a lie in the next morning – our packed itinerary was beginning to take its toll a little bit. Mid-morning we headed out to local attraction Puzzling World, where we explored the illusion rooms and had some fun with some of the exhibits as evidenced below! We also attempted the famously difficult maze but had to abandon our endeavours, much to Paul’s chagrin, before we were late to our next pitstop: Cinema Paradiso.

Sarah getting rather confused and not really quite sure how to pose .... also lipreading instructions from a distance is difficult!

The fiendishly difficult maze - I know, it doesn't look that hard, right? (Trust me, it is)

Even the toilets are another illusion....

Cinema Paradiso is not your average chain cinema. Instead much of the seating comprises comfy armchairs and sofas with a Morris Minor or two chucked in for good measure. They even have an old fashioned 30 minute interval during which they serve delicious homemade food and everyone piles into the foyer for freshly baked cookies. Unfortunately though they don’t yet subtitle films so after some serious(!) discussion we settled on Twilight’s finest with Breaking Dawn: Part 2 as our movie of choice, mainly so that Sarah could follow along as she knew the plot.

Inside Cinema Paradiso

We followed up the cinema with a visit to Wanaka Ale House on the lakeside, where we watched the sunset and amused the barman who gave the ½ pint to Sarah and the pint to Paul by swapping them over. We in turn were amused by one of the regulars - a friendly bird that merrily flitted in and out through the open door and windows. That evening we decided on a meal at a local hotel, the Edgewater Resort – a bit posher than our usual haunts! (Not that this makes a difference to the dress code which in NZ is nearly always 'casual'.) On returning back to the B&B to change we bumped into our hosts who generously offered us a lift down so that we could have a drink or two. Not only that, but our transport would be a 3 wheeler motorised trike very similar to the one Billy Connolly used in his tour around NZ. This thoughtful unexpected gesture was a real highlight - it was excellent fun zipping down the hill! Apparently – we didn’t know at the time – but they run tours of the local area by trike and if we ever return this is on our to-do list!

Ale supping

Wonderful Lake Wanaka

You're never far away from a mountain (or three) in New Zealand...

Not us on it, but a piccy of the fabulous trike!

The next morning our friendly laidback hosts had a prior engagement, so they left us the keys to the house (!) and asked us to lock up before we left. After a few final cuddles with their beautiful (if slightly over-enthusiastic) dog Poppy, we set off mid-morning on another long drive, this time up the Haast Pass to glacier country.

Walks aplenty - route planning, NZ style

Poppy

Next time, Franz Josef, Hokitika, Arthurs Pass, Christchurch, Singapore and home - the finish line is in sight, folks.