West coast of the South Island
Trip Start
Jan 10, 2010
1
7
10
Trip End
Feb 20, 2010
Where I stayed
Okarito, South Island, New Zealand
Monday, February 1, 2010
Monday 1---
This morning we drove over the Haast Pass to get to the west coast. There are only 40,000 people who live on the west coast with 400 miles of beautiful coastline to enjoy. The terrain has changed from beech trees and tussock to rainforest. We are heading to glacier country. A quick stop at Ship Creek (without a paddle) gave us our first view of the Tasman Sea on the West coast of the South Island. We looked for greenstone (jade) on the beach, didn't find any good specimens but saw thousands of agates and other colorful rocks on the beach, good rock hunting here on the beach if you knew what to look for. Next we drove to a viewing area of the Fox glacier. Really hard to get the massive scale of it from a distance and pictures don't do it justice. Lots of rockfall on the way, the area has been moving about recently. Just a quick stop at Fox before we were on the road again to make our checkin time for the heli-ride and climb on the Franz Josef Glacier. We parked in the town of Franz Josef and stopped in the Helicopter tour office to get our equipment. It was a fun ride up to the glacier, we took some quick steep banks and circled once before touching down on the ice. We met our guide up there and after putting on our crampons we followed him through some of the features of the glacier. We planted our spikes and axes into the ice with deliberate ka-chunking sounds, weaving around scalloped blocks of white and blue as high as four-story buildings. We walked under dripping arches of ice, crawled through an icy tunnel and navigated over streams of water that flowed for short distances before being swallowed up by holes in the ice leading down for hundreds of meters beneath our feet. The weather was perfect with clear views in all directions and lots of sun. We spent a couple hours hiking on the glacier before we were picked up by the helicopter and taken back to Franz Josef township. We journeyed on until reaching the town of Okarito on the coast, with a population of 30. This will be our base for the next two nights.
Tues 2---This morning we toured the Okarito Lagoon in kayaks. The tidal lagoon is 10k by 2k, with many species of birds and a nesting site for white herons which are rare in NZ. We got out on the water at 8:30 am during the outgoing tide. We stayed close to shore to avoid fighting the current heading out to sea. Once inland a bit it was easier going and we paddled into an arm of the lagoon that took us through rainforest. Many bird sightings later we headed back for lunch and a leisurely afternoon of hanging out on the beach, reading and lounging around the beach house. After a nice dinner we went down to the beach for a bonfire. We will be here one more night before heading further north up the coast to Punakaiki and then on to Nelson Lakes National Park for 3 days of remote backpacking.
Comments
I'm sure the photos dont do it justice, but the glacier looks pretty rad. I like the miners cabin also. Encountered any odd foods at this point? Keep up the blog entries - I'm lovin' it!
nothing weird food-wise unless you count Marmite which is horrible in my opinion but Kiwis love it on toast for breakfast.
Looks awsome! Happy birthday Bill!
You guys look like you're having a blast! Tell Carolyn that Garden Home misses her! =)
Bill - Hope you have a great Birthday. You picked the perfect place to have fun. More when you guys get back.
I noticed you all had matcing jackets on the glacier - except the guide :)
Gorgeous views - thank you for sharing!
We were in Hawaii last week so I'm just catching up on your adventures. We stayed in Wanaka when we were there and went with the kids to Franz Josef and Fox glaciers too. It's fun to remember our trip as you're experiencing yours! We miss you at Garden Home!