Coast to coast to coast

Hello from rainy Greymouth! I was lucky yesterday to have a full day of sunshine on this typically wet west coast, and now I'm paying for it: a storm is blowing through the South Island so I'm whiling away the day in the library catching up on emails and, of course, blogging.

January started off with a ground-covering 10-day trip of the South Island with my hometown friend Kim. I picked her up in Dunedin, on the east coast, on the 1st. We were eager to get to the west coast so didn't spend long in Dunedin, just long enough to wander the downtown area and get some exercise on the acclaimed world's steepest street!

This street gives San Francisco a run for its money. I'd hate to be someone living on it! Heaps of tourists..

It was actually quite the calf workout!

We also took a drive out the scenic and windy Otago Peninsula, but the weather wasn't very picture-friendly unfortunately, so we soon set off west towards Queenstown!

En route, we experienced the first of a few.. issues... that my trusty van Lola would experience over the next 10 days. The speed sensor stopped working while on the highway, and that led to a few other problems and a minor panic attack on my part, but thanks to AA (equivalent of CAA back home) I was able to get her checked out and ended up getting a new battery and a new speed sensor. However, that didn't immediately fix the problem which lingered around for the next 10 days but is now finally gone (hopefully for good, knock on wood).

Kim and I camped out at a holiday park-type thing in Queenstown for three nights, longer than we intended but the canyon swing, which we were itching to try, was booked up for a bit. Luckily we had gorgeous weather for two of the three days we spent there, and made use of it by hiking up the Queenstown Hill which offers lovely views of Lake Wakatipu and the mountains surrounding Queenstown. And of course, we tried a Fergburger, which was delicious as the insanely long queue outside the restaurant suggests.

The Remarkables Range forming an impressive backdrop to this area.

Canyon Swing!!!! That's the platform we jumped off, then you fall down 60 m before swinging out across the river. 

Kim and I each did our own solo jump and loved it so much that we opted for another, and this time we jumped together and backwards! It was terrifying but so thrilling and the adrenaline rush was amazing and addictive.

Following Queenstown, we spent a night in nearby Wanaka, which is much more calm than bustling, touristy Queenstown, but equally as picturesque as it lies on Lake Wanaka and is surrounded by mountains.

This view is from Iron Mountain, an easy hike near the centre of town.

The next day was a long one: 6 hours in the car to get from Wanaka to Franz Joseph Glacier, although we stopped lots along the way. Haast Pass, through Mount Aspiring National Park, is absolutely spectacular!

Lake Hawea, en route to the west coast

Thunder Creek Falls, another stop on the way

Made it!

Franz Joseph Glacier is tourist heaven. The glacier itself is accessible to anyone, including the big tour buses, so the 30-minute walk from the parking lot to the viewing point felt like a highway. Still cool to see a glacier so easily, and especially one right next to a temperate rainforest, which seems wrong. NZ is pretty special in its landscape!

A rare people-free shot, with the glacier poking its nose around the mountain in the distance.

Then, car mishap #2. Just north of Greymouth (close to where I am right now, funnily enough), Lola's hood started to smoke, but of course this happens when we're out of cell reception, so I carefully drove back towards town, found a bar of cell service, and managed to get through to AA to get a tow. Turns out the water hose broke, and something else happened with the heater control unit which I'm not entirely understanding of, but it required us to spend the night in Greymouth, sans Lola. Shouldn't be too hard to find a hostel room in a sleepy west coast town, right? Wrong. Every hostel bed in town was taken, but thankfully we had a tent, and one hostel owner took pity on us and let us squeeze into his already-full backyard. Not so thankfully, it stormed that night and we were both kept up almost all night in fear of flying objects crashing into the tent due to the wild winds and rain. We did survive, though, and picked up Lola the next afternoon all fixed up and ready to go. Onward to the east coast!

We hustled sleep-deprived across Lewis Pass, spent a night with a family friend in Culverden, then on to Kaikoura.

The Peninsula Walkway, at high tide. Got a wee bit wet rock-hopping this one!

Spot the seals! This area of the coast is a haven for NZ fur seals, as well as a gazillion seagulls, dolphins (we spotted a small pod offshore of our ocean-side campsite!) and heaps of other winged and water creatures. 

Beautiful east coast sunrise

This lil guy was climbing 300 m up a creek to a waterfall pool. What a trooper, it looked like quite the trek!

We were a little bummed as the fishing tour we booked got canceled due to the ugly weather, but that is the life of a traveler, we are at the whims of Mother Nature. I dropped Kim off in Picton at the ferry and meandered along Queen Charlotte Drive, which even in grey weather is beautiful.

Marlborough Sounds

The Pelorus River. LOTR fans, recognize this? This is the site of the scene in the Desolation of Smaug where the dwarves are floating down the river in barrels!

After a night camping alongside the beautiful Pelorus, I headed back to Nelson to pick up some mail and do a bit of trip planning.

Stunning sunset over the Tasman Bay near Nelson.

As I said, I'm now further south on the west coast in Greymouth, but I'll save the tale of my travels from Nelson to here for another post. Time to head to Arthur's Pass and hope this storm blows through tonight so I can do some hiking this weekend!

Cheers,

Sonja