Day 159 - Franz Josef, New Zealand

Day 159 – 14th November 2005 +13:00 GMT Total Miles 28748

After a bit of a chat with the guys who run the guided tours onto the Glacier we decided we would not bother paying the $80 each as it takes 90 mins to walk to the glacier and then you spend 40 minutes climbing the first part and then you have to turn around and come back. So we decided we would just walk along the riverbed up to the glacier. So when we were all up we drove the 5km from the village to the glacier car park and followed the track. This lead us first through the rain forest and then along the rocky river bed, there was hardly any water flowing at the moment.


A Waterfall


The Rocky Riverbed

The Franz Josef Glacier has been receding up until around the late 1970’s and now it is beginning to advance again. The photo’s they have show the ice covering miles and miles of the riverbed. The Glacier can advance at a rate of a metre a day. The Glacier looked spectacular, we did not go to close as bits of ice were breaking off and it can be quite dangerous.


Franz Josef Glacier


Franz Josef Glacier


Franz Josef Glacier


Franz Josef Glacier


Franz Josef Glacier


Franz Josef Glacier


Franz Josef Glacier


Me at The Franz Josef Glacier


Franz Josef Glacier


Franz Josef Glacier


My on the Rocks

We then took a walk back along the riverbed to the car and drove back to the hostel and it started to rain. Jill and I decided to take the opportunity to update the photo’s on our blog, the internet café across the road said I could plug in my laptop to there network so I could upload my photos. In the evening I cooked some food and we sat around and chatted to some of the other guests then I played a few games of chess against and Dutch guy and then a German guy before calling it a night.

Day 158 - Punakaiki - Franz Josef, New Zealand

Day 158 – 13th November 2005 +13:00 GMT Total Miles 28740

Usual routine of getting up and packing my bags grabbing a coffee and being on the road by 10am. We drove up the road to the Pancake Rocks as Reece had not seen them and Reece and I had a walk around, The blow holes were more spectacular due to the sea being rougher. We spent about 30 minutes walking around then back to the car and we drove South along Highway 6. We passed many one way bridges on the winding roads that shared the bridge with cars and trains. So not only did you have to drive the 150m bridge watching for traffic coming the other way but you had to give way to trains.


A funny sign

We stopped after a couple of hours at a town called Hokitika and found a café so I could have a Roast Sunday Lunch. I had the Roast Lamb which was very good, the staff in the café were so not on the ball as they were constantly dropping food off at the wrong tables and getting orders all wrong.


Hokitika

We were soon back on the road and arrived in Franz Josef just before 3pm. We checked out our room and the hostel and ad a drink and Reece and I played pool for a bit then we wandered around the village and got information on the guided tours up the Franz Josef Glacier, we all went shopping and then headed back to the hostel. I watched a film on TV for a couple of hours then jumped in the hot tub for a soak, sitting in the hot bubbly water looking a the snow covered mountains was lovely. We then cooked some food and headed out to the local bar which had a free pool table and Reece and I were unbeaten all night playing doubles. We had a few beers then headed back for bed.

Day 157 - Punakaiki, New Zealand

Day 157 – 12th November 2005 +13:00 GMT Total Miles 28539

Woke up to the rain lashing down on our bedroom window so had no motivation to get out of bed, managed to go to the kitchen and make a coffee then returned to bed and spent most of the morning reading my book (presently reading Digital Fortress by Dan Brown). When I finally got up and showered I chatted to a few people at the hostel and then Jill and I went to find the local shop, it was in a café and the shop was about 4ft x 4ft and sold baked beans at four times the cost of the supermarket. We ended up just eating in the café, so after a nice meal of fish n chips we went back to the hostel. Jill did not want to go out due to the weather but I still wanted to explore another track down the road. I drove 2 km down the road to the Truman Path and took the 15 minutes walk to a isolated bay and then walked along the beach watching the huge waves crash into the rocks of the peninsula.


Truman Path Beach


Truman Path Beach


Waterfall on Beach

Along the beach there were some fantastic rock formations and a huge cave that had been eroded away. I walked across a couple of bays before turning around and heading back to the car.


Some Cool Seaweed

Got back to the hostel and read some more already 350 pages through the book. Anyway Reece was due to meet us at the hostel around 8pm so I thought I’d pick him up from the café down the road as that is where the bus should stop. The bus driver actually dropped him off at the hostel so we missed each other but luckily I had seen the bus go past so guessed that had happened. Reece had had a great time on his four day walk, so he showered up and Jill and I sat on the beach and watched the sunset.


Punakaiki Beach


Sunset


Sunset

Then we all went to the pub for a beer and a snack. I then called it a night.

Day 156 - Motueka - Punakaiki, New Zealand

Day 156 – 11th November 2005 +13:00 GMT Total Miles 28537

Rolled out of bed just before 9am and was on the road by 10am. We had a long drive and for a change it was just Jill and I. We wound down the windows and turned up the tunes. We drove back towards Nelson for a while then headed south on the Highway 6. Driving in New Zealand is quite different as there are very few cars on the roads other than in the big cities and the roads are very very winding, the twist and turn up and down the mountainous terrain. They seem to only have two speed limits here 100 kmph and 50 kmph, when they ran out of 50’s they seemed to just use 100’s. The windiest road in New Zealand is between Kaiteriteri and Marahau and the speed limit is 100 kmph now I could not go faster than 40 kmph on that road. Anyway we had a long 4 hour drive south and we stopped for fuel as the signs said no more fuel for 87 km. We stopped at West Port on the way and had lunch at a small café then went shopping for grocery’s before driving on. We reached Punakaiki around 3pm and I got chatting to the owners, Melanie was traveling 7 years ago and fell in love with a German guy who ran the hostel, se was taught by a Mr. Pilkington in Hastings in England so she thought I might know him, unfortunately I did not unless my dad did teach at Hastings girls school at some point. This hostel was 10 steps from the beach and only 600m from the famous pancake rocks. After Jill and I had unpacked we walked up to Pancake Rocks.


Pancake Rocks

It is a 20 minute walk around a path which shows you all the layered rock formations which looks like stacks of pancakes. On route you also see 4 blow holes and some amazing erosion by the sea, which has created many caves and bridges of land.


Jill in the rocks


The Rocks


Pancake Rocks


Pancake Rocks


Pancake Rocks


Pancake Rocks


Pancake Rocks

We stopped by the local pub on the way back for a quick pint and then I spent the evening reading I finished Tommyland by Tommy Lee and started a new book.