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