Day 315 / 2016 - A Trip Across the Ditch Part 3

Frank and Alice have left us and we continue our road trip around the South Island of New Zealand. Leaving Christchurch we headed over to the West Coast.

Day 11 Christchurch to Tekapo

Very early next morning we bid our fellow travellers a final farewell as we dropped them at the airport for their flight back to North Queensland. Since we had already booked out of Quality Elm we decided to keep on moving. After a brief stop at Maccas for breakfast we headed south again this time by a more scenic route through Darfield, Methven and Geraldine. We tried to travel over new ground without backtracking over areas we had already covered.

Stopping at Geraldine we perused a small growers market before having a well priced tea and scone for 2. Leaving Geraldine we headed towards Tekapo passing what could be best described as a collection of artefacts from a bygone era and some robustly constructed timber furniture. Arriving in Tekapo we booked into our accommodation which from our Balcony had a view of the lake and mountains which formed a scenic backdrop to the lake. We were conveniently surrounded by all the shops, cafes and resturaunts without blocking our view.

Our first attraction was the observatory perched high on the hill next to Tekapo. At the top is a cafe which afforded the best vista over the town. You could also walk to various advantage points on top of the hill each one with its own panoramic view. Here you could easily see Mt Cook the highest peak in New Zealand.

Returning to the town of Tekapo we took a walk to the church of the little Shepard which had a distracting view of the lake and mountains through the window in the rear wall which would have been directly behind the preist giving his sermon. That evening we had dinner at a resturaunt which also had an uninterrupted view of the lake. We ate dinner while watching the light slowly fade over the lake as the sun set behind the mountains. John and Leila had early found a flying fox down near the shore of the lake where they challenged us to a night race.

Day 12 Tekapo to Fox Glacier

Next morning after another go at the flying fox we headed off west towards glacier country. We stopped off at a Salmon farm along the way and discovered how fish farming worked in the area while sampling some of the produce. We continued on stopping along the way to take scenic photos before arriving at Wanaka for Lunch. Since the previous evening meal pushed the budget a little we decided this was going to be cheap arse Sunday and stopped at the bakery for lunch. After consuming a yummy pie we walked down to the lake watching the start of a boat race made from oversized cardboard boxes.

Leaving Wanaka we headed over the beautiful Haast pass stopping for a few more scenic photos. We also stopped by a river where stones were being piled up into towers across the riverbed. John also had to create his own pile to leave behind. Arriving on the West coast we continued on until we finally made Fox Glacier and checked into the High Peaks hotel. This was a great spot as we had the whole motel to ourselves. The Motel itself had only re-opened after a period of 2 year closure. That evening we drove to Fox Glacier car park and viewd the terminal face of the actual glacier only 1,000 metres away then returned to the village for dinner. We then retired to the motel for the night.

Day 13 Fox Glacier

Next morning after breakfast we headed back into the village. John and Leila wanted to take a Heli flight up onto the Glacier itself. Checking in with the heli company the news wasn't good. The weather was unpredictable at the moment and not looking good. There was a good possiblity they could get flight over the glacier but the chance of landing was looking pretty slim. They decided not to bother as the landing and touching the snow was what they really wanted to do so instead we looked at the valley walk tour. You could pay a guide $75.00 a head or walk in ourselves for free. You got the impression if you went with a guide you would get closer to the terminal face but this wasn't actually true you may only get a few metres closer again depending on the weather so we opted for the free walk.

There were 2 glaciers to choose from so we decided to do the Franz Josef walk that morning and if we were still keen then do the Fox Glacier walk in the afternoon. Franz Josef Glacier walk is about 2km long over moderate terrain. there were easy track and a few river crossing with the last 100 metres or so over some steep terrain. From the lookout point you could see clearly the cave at the bottom of the terminal face where the water from the melting ice flows out. There had been a fair bit of rain so there were also a lot of waterfalls cascading down the near vertical sides of the canyon. You could clearly see how the glacier had carved the canyon as it slid slowly towards the sea. There were also markers along the track which showed a number of locations where the terminal face use to be and how much it has receded over recent history I would estimate 3 to 4 kilometres in the past 100 years.

After the walk we had built up quite a hunger so stopped in at a cafe and lunch on some seafood chowder. From there we went to the Glacier Hot Pools. There were 4 public pools to pick from each at various temperature form about 36 Deg's to 41 Deg's. You can sit and sooth away the ache's of the days activity.

Day 14 Fox Glacier to Westport

Leaving Fox Glacier we headed north again towards Westport. Stopping in at Hokitika we did a brief walk through town stopping in at the Hokitika glass Studio where we watch penguins being created bya local artist.  Leaving Hokitika we stopped in at Shanty Town which is a theme park based on the gold rush days of New Zealand. There is an authentic steam train which you can ride for about 2 km up the line. Dropping you off you can then wander through the goldfields back into town. Continuing on through Greymouth just before Westport we turned off towards ... beach where we walk about 500 metres and viewed seals lying on rocky outcrops along the coast. Ariving in Westport we made our way to our accomodation a BnB called Pakington house. That evening we went for dinner at Portside Bistro and Bar which served the best Pork Belly I had ever tasted. This resturaunt received my vote for the best for the whole trip

Day 15 Westport to Nelson

Leaving Westport we headed across the top to Nelson near Tasman National Park. Our accomodation here was the restored Victorian Era Warwick House. We ended up with a wing to ourselves which included a shared kitchen. Taking a walk through town we visted the geographical centre of New Zealand which of course was on top of a hill accessable only by a steep track (cue wheezy walking). Nelson is the gateway to the Tasman national park which boasts many excellent tramping (walking) tracks with various degrees of difficulty and takes you past some of the most scenic coastline and bays of New Zealand. There is also a tasting trail you follow but for reasons unknown most of the outlets were not open while we were there.

Day 17 Nelson to Christchurch

Leaving Nelson we headed back down the east coast towards Christchurch our final destination. Our jouney took us through Blenheim which we stopped for coffee. The road paralleled the coast towards Kaikoura where we stopped at a number of bays to admire the sceanery and watch the seals below go about their daily business. Arriving in Christchurch our final night was spent in a small cottage organised through AirBnB. It had just been refurbished and was well appointed and suitable for 2 couples.

Day 18 The Trip Home

Departing early in the morning we made our way to Christchurch airport where we returned to Brisbane then a connecting flight back to Cairns.