The Lakes (PART 2)

Southern Lakes and Central Otago - PART 2 - BLOG 22:  (The end of a dear old friend)

The 'Remarkables' Mountain range

On the second morning of our stay at Arrowtown disaster has struck. Sally is not well - A front puncture was bad enough but when about three of us tried to get the wheel off it just refused to budge - Nuts too tight (men you will relate to this!). That was it - after an 'assertive' but polite discussion on our hosts' phone the decision to take Sally back to our rental company was made. Fortunately the local ACE car hire's place was at Queenstown Airport about 10 miles away. When the breakdown service arrived and used special equipment an almost bald spare got us to the Airport.  There are great views of the local ski slopes from here.

It was very sad leaving Sally looking lonely and dejected in the yard, we had completed together 3500km (2100 miles) in a total of 17 days and she was understandably tired and irritable with the driver (ladies you will relate to this). A lot of that wonderful journey was on windy hilly roads and the brakes were fading fast as a strange smell and a bit of smoke had indicated. We took possession of a bright newish (well 6 years is new in kiwi rent-a-dent terms) Nissan which I christened "Nancy" with a kiss on the window and a look to the heavens giving a neat 'fingers crossed' hand gesture in the process. She was altogether a sleeker, taller pristine lady and I slid onto the driving seat as if I were a backpacking teenager, Nancy sure was comfy and much easier on the steering. I felt reinvigorated and was raring to go.  Looking through my phrase book the Maori name for Nancy Nissan is "o whata' butie of a cara"- Somehow that just does not look right to me! I will need to recheck that later.

The views on the road to Glenorchy

We decided to test out Nancy by taking her on a wonderful drive along the edge of Lake Wakatipu to a small town at the northern end, called Glenorchy. Stunning 360 degree panorama views with many beech forests going golden in late summer. It is oh so scotland here - my great friend John 'boy walton' Robertson would love this place. Take away the midges and double the views and it is Loch Lomond and the Trossachs: It is one of the most pleasant sights on the eye we have seen in this country and we have seen many. Jacky is in her element here clicking away on the camera as it is the back drop of many more LOR scenes.

Is it time for a bit of Maori legend? Are you sitting comfortably - good; This lake was formed by Matau, an evil giant who kidnapped Manata, the beautiful daughter of a Maori chief. Her rescuer, Matakauri destroyed Matau by fire, burning him while he lay asleep. Water from the river and melting snow off the mountains filled the giant hole he left in the ground. This formed the shape of Lake Waktipu as it is seen today (are you with me thus far?). Matau's head rested at Glenorchy in the North of the lake and his feet at Kingston in the South, Queenstown sits on Matua's knee. Legend has it that Matua's heart still beats today, explaining the very unusual 'tidal' rise and fall of this inland lake.  Now did you all enjoy that or are you all fast asleep?!

Yummy views at Glenorchy!

I talked about the biggest kiwi gold nugget of the past in Ross in my last blog - Glenorchy is the kiwi gold nugget of the future. I hope it retains it simplicity, its peace and oh those stunning views--I think they are just yummy! 

Looking towards Milford Sound

Across the lake and only reachable by 4x4 track is the backpacker town of Kinloch. As the crow flies tomorrow we are going just over these mountains a few miles to our coastal destination of Milford Sound. However the only sealed road is a long detour in a big clockwise circle of 300km around some very tricky and notoriously difficult roads including the last 120km stretch from Te Anau which goes through the infamous Milford Tunnel. That is tomorrow to look forward to, but to finish our day we travel back and into Queenstown along the same lakeside road.

Looking towards Queenstown

Now I was talking about the town of Wanaka earlier being the hub of Backpackers looking for fun - well that town is the junior cousin to the capital of adrenaline junkie which is Queenstown. If you want to do anything dangerous involving diving, jumping, skiing, canyoning, caving, river surfing, speeding on any form of transport, this is the place to holiday and party. 

This place buzzes with action - take the hair raising gondola journey over the ski slope routes - jet boat on the rapids of Shotover river - twang the bungy cord over the gorge - mountain bike at speed around the many bespoke forest tracks. 

Its the Flying Fox

There is also a frisbee golf course and yes indeed folks two bowling greens!- the list of activities is endless and every other shop advertises and organises a different or unusual adventure. I saw something advertised called the 'flying fox' - the mind boggles as to what that entails!(no it's not a bat) 

View from the Restaurant

We however just simply enjoyed the delightful harbour setting and views over the mountains and decided to have a meal at one of the many local restaurants. My steak was one of the best I have had anywhere in the world and at a good price which is even more palatable to my very Scottish wallet.

I try and remember how many feature films other than LOR and the Hobbit were filmed in these parts. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; 10000BC; Wolverine; Prince Caspian; The Water Horse come to mind. Even Bollywood comes here and the big super-hit I Hate Luv Storys ( their spelling not mine) has the lake backdrop in it. I remember visiting the huge studios in Mumbai and it was most unusual for any Indian film maker in my day to venture too far out of the studio, never mind India, such then is the pulling power of this place. Any way I love a good weepy Luv story, don't you? (where's me hanky).

Queenstown Square

Harbour & TSS Earnslaw

This town has everything a young care-free needs to holiday. Around two million visitors come here each year. However what struck me was that irrespective of age and physical ability you are not left out. From a boat trip on the famous TSS Earnslaw down the lake to Kingston and the old steam train station or a walk about the town and gardens looking at some really nice architecture or a coffee and a piece of the very tasty local carrot cake we experienced at Glenorchy earlier.

Edith Cavell Bridge over the 'Shotover'

Information about Edith Cavell

We returned to spend our final night at the lodge by travelling over the Shotover Bridge and the ski lodge areas of the Coronet Peak. The famous bridge at Shotover is named after Edith Cavell, a lady spy of world War 1 who was caught and executed in 1915. This country has always recognised the role of woman in society and their achievements, in 1893 they were the first country in the world to give woman the vote. In the last 25 years there has been two female Prime Ministers. The Maori people's Kingitanga (the elected King of all Maori united tribes) was ruled over for the first time by a woman called Te Arikinui for 40 years to her death in 2006.  10 years ago all the main front bench constitutional roles in Parliament were all filled by woman. Praise indeed and another reason that this country seems a balanced and fair land full of promise and hope for the future..

Kawakawa trees at Shotover River

There are great views of the river valley here and yet another LOR location. Shotover was the richest gold bearing river before the Klondyke in North America. There are also many old Kawakawa (Pepperwood) trees in this area, the Maori used to crush the leaves and chew them to relieve toothache. The leaves are spicy flavoured and a dark rich colour and always grow  naturally with lots of holes all over the leaves ( nobody knows why) - I guess I should say cavities to keep the dental theme going.

Coronet Peak Ski slopes

The Coronet peak is a very popular ski resort destination and I can see why. Spectacular runs and what a place is Queenstown to end your day on the slopes - Piste in all meaning of this great word comes to mind!  

Sally Subaru goodbye old friend

What another eventful, exhilarating and exiting two plus days in this place of scenic beauty. Tomorrow we are heading towards Milford Sound and an overnight in a hostel before catching an early boat the next morning to travel down the fiord (as it is spelt in NZ). This is the start of a few days in Fiordland, part of another World Heritage site. How many of those have we seen already, this country amazes me and I feel privileged to see it all at close quarters. Nancy Nissan is going along very nicely but my Sally will be fondly remembered. I raise a glass of Pinot Noir ( I have finished the Merlot!) to my retired old friend….. 

End of PART TWO (blogs 21 & 22)

Blog 23 to follow:

DKT

The Southern Lakes - (PART 1)

Blog 21 (PART ONE) - Lakes, backpacker action, wine and the end for a dear old friend! 

Mount Aspiring National Park

To reiterate the last paragraph from blog 20:

"Today we are making the journey inland through the Haast Pass (562m) around the edge of Mount Aspiring National Park to Lake Wanaka where we stay at another homestay B&B - Can the sights before our eyes get any better?" 

This was the last sentence of my last blog and the answer to my question is a definite 'yes'.  

This whole area is called the Southern Lakes District, just west of the heritage region of Central Otego. The Lakes are a place of great natural beauty and we are visiting three of the four main water landscapes over the next two days.  

After visiting Fox Glacier, we take the road south to Haast. 

Haast Pass

Haast Pass Road 1965

We then turn inland on a 80 mile tarmacadam 'snake' along the Haast Pass road. It's twisty and very narrow at times and the horn on Sally was put to good use on several occasions. This pass was eventually opened as a 'sealed' route in 1965 and given the Maori name Tioripatea, meaning 'clear path'. Before then it was only a hiking track used by Maori to bring the West Coast greenstone (Pounamu) across to the lakes and rivers for transport onwards to their villages.

Lake Wanaka

After driving through the pretty one main street small town of Makarora the crossing of the Southern Alps ends in dramatic fashion. Overgrown valleys open up and Lake Wanaka appears and what a stunning sight it is to see. 30 miles long and 1000 feet deep, created by glacier activity. Till 1860 it had a beach all along the lower banks,then an earthquake hit and as usually happens in NZ the land geography changes for ever (till the next time!).

Lake Hawea

Around another bend and suddenly on the left is another scene of equal beauty. Lake Hawea is before us, 20 miles long and even deeper, around 1200 feet. These lakes run side by side for a few miles but with hills in between you actually cannot see both lakes in the same view. 

Wanaka Town

Wanaka Town is the gateway to the Aspiring National Park (as seen in the first picture above), another of NZ's World Heritage areas. We are also on the verge of the winter ski slopes and in the same breath some of the world's finest vineyards. Where else in the world can there be such a diverse combination? The Kiwi Pinot Noir grape variety flourishes at altitude; a visit to a vineyard is planned later to find out more about this global industry that gives us so much pleasure (in moderation of course).  

You notice straight away that you are in a different environment here, a younger one, a more 'backpacking" feel is in the air. I had heard that this region we were about to explore over the next few days is called "the world's first lifestyle reserve". it's certainly got an energy, a certain freedom from restriction to do what you love, carefree is a word that is buzzing around in my head. Ah those days when one was young and parents paid for everything, where have they gone?

The mix of water and mountains at Wanaka

When you get water, mountain valleys, gorges and altitude in Kiwi land you get sport and daring. I aim to find out more, I may be losing the physical ability to run and jump but mentally I am still a youngster at heart! You can stroll around admiring the views or you can push yourself to the limits on adrenaline, its all here. 

Homestay Garden at Wanaka

Today however I was pooped with the visit to the glacier and the driving concentration of the snake drive. It was to be a quiet night at yet another fantastic homestay with lovingly kept gardens, eating a yummy pizza, checking emails and writing up the adventure of yet another day in this wonderful country.

To break us out of our peaceful night, our host at breakfast was looking at a website and proceeded to tell us that there had been 116 minor earthquakes and tremors in 3 days in NZ's two main islands. 

'Cor Blimy', good job that 95% of them are miles under the ground and not noticeable. The older pessimist in me thinks of the 5% that aren't! Is today the day? I cuddle Sally Subaru and once again wash her eyes and face, she is a bit big in the girth to hug.

Cardrona Hotel

We continue south to travel over the Cardrona Pass - Jacky wants to search out some more Lord of the Rings (LOR) locations,they are everywhere it seems. We head towards Arrowtown and Queenstown for a mixture of sport, heritage and wine. The first stop is history - Cardrona and its hotel date back to the Central Otago gold rush days in the 1860's.  The original Landlord here, one James Patteson, served a mixture of his own brew, rather warm and frequently rationed. He continued to do this untill he was 90 years of age. Nobody argued with Jimmy - whatever the state of the beer it was all they had for miles around and sheep sheering or gold panning was thirsty work indeed. You drank what was on offer or went thirsty. Cause any trouble and that's where the rationing came into force.

The twisty Cardrona Pass

We are now at 3000ft and still climbing up this awesome valley to reach the summit another thousand feet higher. Cardrona is the start of the many ski resorts in this region but there is no snow on this late summer day. I may even see my first real field of sheep, Merino country is fast approaching and I wanna see my wooly friends please, I miss them.  We continue to the summit, there is lots of steep grass terrain on both sides but still no sheep!!

Still no sheep!!

I do feel quite at home here; the hills and valleys around me do remind me of parts of the highlands of Scotland (the A9 going North). It is quite nippy but when the sun comes out from behind the clouds it's really warm and the glare on the roads with the rain is blinding at times. Yes rain! - Its one of our first cloudy and wet days, not surprising at this altitude but it is a shame we cannot get a full view of the pass at the summit. 

Gibbston Vinyard

LOR landscapes could not be seen in the clouds so we cut our losses and head down the snake towards the Gibbston Valley vineyard which is east along the Kawarou Gorge road to have some lunch. We also booked in for the tour of the vaults, which was actually a purpose built cave hacked and dynamited into the mountain. The rain was too heavy to get around the outside vines but took some pictures of the vines against the mountain backdrop.

Some wine cellar!

Central Otago wines are predominately good quality pinot gris, pinot noir and sauvignon blonc but the samples I tasted were not quite to my palette. I much prefer an Italian or French Merlot, however, as the wine tasting was part of the tour, I am not going to say No! I am told by the experts here that the northern hemisphere vineyard equivalents to these alpine wines are in the mid Europe Bordeaux region.

The adapted kiwi Pinot Noir grape is probably the only high altitude red grape that is really successful here. It has unusual qualities in the fact that the grape absorbs and retains the sun ray without it bursting in the sharper evening air and retains the growing pattern even in wet and colder conditions.

Further up this valley nearer to the towns of Clyde and Bannockburn is the Perigrine Vinyard. These town names of course remind me further of my homeland. It is therefore unusual that the local main town along highway 8 turning south east is called Cromwell. Now how does that work, you historians out there, is there a relationship between all three places? A bottle of NZ Pinot Noir goes to the best answer with my compliments.

View from Chard Farm Vinyard

The next door neighbour is Chard Farm, this is the highest and furthest vineyard from the sea and commands spectacular views. We took an off road drive for a few hundred yards towards the vines and snapped some photos across the valley.

AJ Hackett Bungy

We turned back west and almost immediately the famous Kawarau River bridge was in our view finder. This is the HQ of AJ Hackett. The bungy was developed and used in 1987. When he jumped off the Eiffel Tower back in 1988 he was the same height after the fall, so the new type of resistant nylon rope obviously worked well. 

Long shot of the bungy gorge

This bridge was the first jump location in the world for commercial bungy. We did not see an actual jump but it all looked a bit scary, especially  when you have to trust a rope and knot and hope the guy
rigging it around your ankles has not popped up the road a few yards for a quick glass of pinot gris! 

It was now mid afternoon and it was time to head to the gold rush historic heritage Arrowtown. Jacky was also looking for the LOR location 'Anduin Ford' which coincidentally was somewhere very close to where the gold rush fever started in 1862. True to form, we hit another town on the day of a big event. This time it was a four day event, the NZ open golf championships! There are three beautiful golf courses here in idyllic settings. The town was certainly busy and parking Sally Subaru was not an easy achievement. 

Maori Jack found gold here

The weather had improved somewhat as we were now at a lower altitude and walking around this town was a real treat. The Arrow River that runs along the edge of main street was our first destination. Maori Jack a sheep shearer found a gold nugget in the river bed here and told somebody (oh dear - big mistake!) and that was that. 

The Chinese Settlement

Within a very short period of time 1500 miners descended and created a shanty town, many of whom were Chinese. They were panning away for years before stocks started to dwindle and Prospectors moved on, many becoming farmers. The Chinese stayed and developed a separate village area (settlement) at the end of the high street. The town grew very quickly and in its heyday, between 1865 - 1885, out of the estimated 8000 miners here the Chinese retrieved 30% of the gold and represented 40% of the Prospector workforce.

The Town in the 20th century had the foresight to retain the great majority of the old buildings and 100 years on, tourism is what keeps this quaint place buzzing. The Chinese settlement has been fully restored and is a 'must see' stop for any visitor.

LOR ford on Arrowtown

Jacky went off searching for her LOR river ford crossing and I sauntered around the main street to look at some fascinating old buildings now turned into shops and eating parlours. There is even a fine old fashioned small cinema that gave town folk in the early days the chance to view the first silent movies that came to NZ. 

Arrow Town main street

I was not feeling too good today (ah bless - thanks) so was glad of a quiet sit down to reflect on what this town would have been like to live in 150 years ago. It must have been hard graft and the chance to let your hair down must have been very welcoming.

Some of the old settler houses

The Museum must rate as one of the finest rural history collections in the whole of NZ. It was fascinating to see the whole past lovingly restored to cover the town's industries, buildings and stories of their residents all under one roof. There is Maori heritage here as well.  Before the gold rush this was originally sheep and wine country and both of those early industries are still successful here today over a century on from the end of the gold fever. The Museum was full of tales (not tails) of sheep farming and the wool trade that flourished here. I have however still to see my fields of sheep. There are 30 million of the woolly winter warmers somewhere but do you think I can find them. Baahaps tomorrow (sorry!).

We had a quiet night in catching up with emails and a bit of clothes washing. I was feeling a lot better so could not refuse a chance to try a glass of some local wine we had purchased earlier. I still however miss my favourite Merlot. I am also missing my friends back home who I share my liking of the red wine with. You know who you are!.. 

STAY WITH ME FOR PART 2 of this Lakeside trip……….(BLOG 22)

The West Coast and Glaciers

Blog 20 - Blow holes, beautiful shaped rocks, rugged coast lines, mountains and glaciers. 

Leaving the picturesque city of Nelson was a tad later than expected. I had to phone the UK and speak to the Halifax about my world wide 'clarity' credit card which really is a great card for travellers but only if they except your PIN number!! For some reason it was blocked and after two hours of frustrated calls I found out why - It was an admin error on their part! 

The Road from Nelson

 It's bad enough phoning banks when in the UK but you try from the other side of the world. I was told it was a free call but then at the end was told it was only free if I went through the International Operator. I had never heard of this and thought they had disappeared with the automated systems we have these days. I will be speaking rather assertively to them on my return and expect a few credits appearing in my account.

Buller Gorge

We eventually left at Noon, way behind schedule. There was no way that Sally Subaru could go fast so we had to miss out on a few scenic stops when following the spectacular narrow and twisty Buller Gorge going south. 

We arrived before sunset and back on schedule at Punakaiki, on the edge of the Paparoa National Park. This is the location of the famous  'Pancake Rocks', a bunch of heavily eroded ('stylobedded'

Pancake Rocks

to give it the proper technical term) limestone rocks that look like, well, giant stacks of pancakes. The blowholes are at their most impressive when the weather's a bit wild. When the tide is right and a good wave comes in the water swirls and surges into caves around the rocks and spurts jets of water through blow holes right up into the sky. 

Faces in the rocks

It's hard to believe that these rocks were formed 30 million years ago from minute fragments of dead marine creatures and plants that landed on the seabed about 2 km below the surface. Immense water pressure caused the fragments to solidify in hard and soft layers. Gradually seismic action lifted the limestone above the seabed. Mildly acidic rain, wind and seawater then over centuries sculpted these bizarre shapes. The blow hole activity only really happens at high tide and better when the seas are rough. 

Images in the rocks

Maybe this was not the best day but we got a fair idea of the immense power of the ocean even in the more gentle sea state that was with us today. I see images in these rocks, can you? Here is a start, see if you can add more images in the rocks. Let your imagination go!

Sunset over our B&B

There was also a glow worm cave here which I personally did not explore (I get a bit claustrophobic in my old age) but Jacky informs me the cave was warm and deep enough but needed a really good torch to explore the internal tunnels more thoroughly. The place has everything including high cliffs and palm trees and a wonderful sunset. 

The sky looks so big here and the stars so bright. I slept like a log (which is unusual) and the next day it was more scenic picture opportunities along the West coast and exploring the Franz Joseph glacier before staying the night at a Homestay B&B in Fox Glacier town and getting our first views of the stunning Mount Cook. 

Pounamu (Greenstone)

On the road south we picked up a German Hitchhiker and took her to a town called Hokitika where she was going to work on a dairy farm for a short period to get some money to continue her backpacking experience. We were going there anyway as this is the Jade centre of South Island - Jade or commonly known as Greenstone (Maori name is Pounamu). It's an important stone as well to reflect status and authority. 

We passed by the coastal commercial fishing town of Greymouth. As with all the west coast towns, this was a big gold town 150 years ago and when stocks ran out it acclimatised itself to timber and coal. Nowadays its Tourism thats the big seller. If you want to fish for the Blue Fin Tuna or big game fish then this is the place to hire your vessel…  Here is also where there is a turn off to go through Arthurs Pass which many Truckers take to get to Christchurch without the long journey going right round the south coast. Its a twisty hilly road across the Southern Alps and even in a car they reckon its a scary journey, even more so if there is a truck up your back bumper! Definitely not the route for our ailing Sally Subaru.

Pounamu Necklace

The type of Jade the Maori treasured and searched for was mostly the Nephrite type. This is made up of silicate of calcium and magnesium as compared with the other type of Jade (Jadeite) around northern Burma which is composed of silicate of sodium and aluminium. Nephrite is rich in colour with interesting variations of shades and natural inclusions like waves and spots. It reflects well in light and makes for a beautiful piece of jewellery. Guess what - yep correct Jacky bought a small souvenir necklace to wear. I bought an ice cream!! 

Hokitika was a true Wild West town in gold rush days -In the 1860"s it boasted 102 hotels all with bars filled with Prospectors trying to make it rich. A rough place - you would not guess that today as its very peaceful.

The old water wheel at Ross

Further along the coast we stopped at a small town called Ross where NZ's biggest ever gold nugget was found on 10th September 1909 (99oz). That's my birthday, no I am not 105 years old, I am talking about the day and month!  There is still estimated gold here worth $7million but it is a bit like coal mining in the UK - it's there but not cost effective to get it out. High water tables bring flooding. Cost and risk versus reward. The original gold rush here focused on the alluvial deposits in the many rivers. This gave way to serious mining with steam power, like up in North Island's Thames in the Coromandel. (I was chatting about gold mining a few blogs back).     

In Ross there was a local jade jewellery maker working out of a little cabin. He had some lovely pieces, guess what, yep you have guessed again, Jacky bought a very nice little souvenir to wear, I bought a post card! I was going to buy something for Sally Subaru but she would have looked a bit silly with earrings dangling from her headlights. Status and authority is not just in the Maori tradition (only joking).

Glacial Ice flow of Franz Joseph

We were very close now to the glaciers on the Southern Alps. Franz Joseph is the first one you come to. Glaciers form from rain falling on mountains. The Southern Alps (Ka Tiritiri) are actually still growing at a rate of 20mm average each year. That is as much as one's finger nails can grow to if left uncut (now not a lot of people know this!).  These Mountains are sitting on a constantly upward moving plate. At this rate the Southern Alps here could be 20km higher in a few million years - spooky. Rock falls happen because of the tremendous rain fall (average 16m per year), the rocks freeze and thaw, the heavy rain penetrates the rocks loosening them and melting ice carries them downhill causing the moraine ( debris dumped by a glacier). Glacial valleys are caused by the sheer force of the ice flow, gouged out by sheer force of the glacial ice. It's true beauty, created over millions of years. 

Franz Joseph Glacier

Franz Joseph like most of the world's glaciers is receding at an alarming rate. Five years ago there was 500m more glacier for your money than there is today. Witnessing this true splendour of Mother nature I feel somehow sad that sooner than we think this type of landscape will be gone to the naked eye. Maybe only from a helicopter high up on the blind spots near the summits will we say glaciers work their natural paths. Our world is so fragile and the majority of us homo sapiens are just oblivious to the effects of global warming. Most of us continue to live only for today and leave it to other generations to think about preserving the precious gift that was given to us.

The Kiwis are trying very very hard to look after their wonderful environment; they have serious laws regarding protection of the land,the sea and the air. Good luck to them and may they be a lesson to all countries who simply cannot see what is happening to our lovely world. Here endeth my 'hobby horse' but I really do get upset when I see with my own eyes the effects of global warming, human hunting of endangered species or ignorance in allowing vermin to run riot in our forests killing indigenous wild life, fauna or flora. 

The mirror Lake Matheson

We stayed at a garden lodge in Fox Glacier township near Lake Matheson which is known as the mirror lake. Jacky went on a walk around the lake and took some great photos. The water reflects wonderfully the peaks of Mount Cook(3754m) and Mount Tasman (3497m).....

Mount Cook and Mount Tasman

We ate at a restaurant on the shore of this lovely lake looking at the
mountains as they peeked into view from behind the passing clouds. What a very nice meal it was too and a superb end to another jaw dropping day. 

Colin and DKT

Colin our host at Rapatini's homestay is a very talented man, he makes wonderful furniture from indigenous wood, inlaying Greenstone, Paula shell and flecks of gold into the cracks and setting it with lacquer to form a beautiful table or shelf. He also is of Maori descent and we had a fantastic chat through breakfast - I could have listened to him all day but as usual we had a busy schedule so on the move we were after the usual kiss, hug and windscreen wash to Sally Subaru.

Looking towards Mount Cook

It was another bright and sunny day (gosh we have been so lucky on our trip with the weather). We left our B&B to take some photos of Mount Cook and Fox Glacier from the road up to Lake Matheson.

Fox Glacier from Lake Matheson

Close up of ice flow

Like Franz Joseph the Fox Glacier is receding but we could get a lot closer to this one as it is not as vulnerable to rock fall as FJ. The layering of the ice makes for spectacular viewing.

Bruce Bay on the road to Haast

We headed south along the coast road. This whole landscape was recognised as the centre piece of the South West New Zealand world heritage area named Te Wahipounamu. It is nicknamed "the edge of wilderness" and I can see why. It is simply stunning, I keep using this word and each time I do the more stunning the scenery becomes. It seems that around every bend in the twisty roads a new and more awesome sight greets you.

What a fantastic three days (2.5 in reality) journey down the west coast from Nelson. Today we are making the journey inland through the Haast Pass (562m) around the edge of Mount Aspiring National Park to Lake Wanaka where we stay the night at another homestay B&B - Can the sights before our eyes get any better? 

Blog 21 to follow:

DKT