The West Coast of New Zealand

We awoke early and set off towards the west coast. It was amazing how different Lake Hawea looked the next morning with the sun coming up.

There were a few things I just couldn’t get tired of seeing: the snow capping the mountains, the mist, the lakes, the rolling hills and of course, the sheep.

 The interior of the South Island really was beautiful. Every corner we went around seemed to lead us to yet more stunning scenery.

I loved the location of this ranch with the mountains right in their backyard.

On our journey we would sometimes see signs indicating a cattle stop; and a few times, we were forced to wait as cattle used the road to move from pasture to pasture.

The fellow at our Lake Hawea site suggested that Ian and I trek the short walk to Blue Pools so we pulled over, parked and bundled up. The walk wasn’t long, maybe 10 minutes through a mossy dark forest along a well laid out path. It led us to this short suspension bridge over a fairly fast moving river.

The water was crystal clear at the blue pools -

We made a couple more pit spots along the way – The Gates of Haast – a place where the river ran over large rocks, and a salmon farm where we bought some fresh salmon for dinner.

We stopped in Haast for some fish and chips and although the food was okay, it wasn’t impressive. As it was fall in New Zealand, the water levels were low and it was the same for the Haast River. We were astonished by the amount of gravel along the shores of the rivers in New Zealand.

Bridges that run across rivers are more often than not, one lane. Since there wasn’t a great deal of traffic, we rarely found ourselves waiting for our turn to cross –

As we turned up the coast, I kept my eyes open for any seals but didn’t see any…

Around 3 pm, we arrived at Fox Glacier. Fox Glacier is 13 km long and easy to access. It has the distinction of being one of the few glaciers to end in a rainforest. With a 1000 tourists a day visiting, you’d have thought it would be super busy but on our visit, we only saw a few folks. Signs along the route warn people to stay behind the barriers since the rapid advance of the glacier causes sudden rock and ice falls.

The valley leading up to the glacier reminded me of the movie Jurassic Park – I could imagine dinosaurs roaming here.

If you look carefully in the flat part of the valley, you can see the coloured jackets of other tourists. That will give you an idea of how high the rock faces extend.

The only way you can get close to the glacier is by hiring a guide. Being so far away, it is hard to get a sense of how large the glacier actually is. I like this photo because you can see the blue ice.

I am including two photos to help give you a better idea of the size of the glacier. In the first one you can see a guide in a red jacket on top of the glacier.

In the second one, if you look over Ian’s right shoulder, you can just make out the same guide.

It really is quite high. If I were to return to New Zealand, I’d love to do one of the many helicopter rides offered (for a price of course) and not only see the entire glacier but also step onto the top in an area that even guides can’t get to.

Our campsite was only about 10 minutes from the glacier. It was a busy place but very clean. We got some laundry done and the next morning awoke to find a couple of ducks next to our site.

Along our journey, we often noticed these ducks always in the same pairs; I am assuming one is female and the other male.

Our next stop was the Franz Josef Glacier but this time, we didn’t walk all the way up to the viewing platform; instead, we climbed a small hill to get this perspective:

Franz Josef Glacier is a km shorter than Fox and since 2010 has been rapidly retreating. After our short stop here, we continued north along the west coast and the border of Lake Mapourika; so beautiful.

The highway ran along the ocean for quite awhile affording us some great views. I made Ian stop a lot so I could get some photos.

The waves pounded the shore with some ferocity. I loved the sound, the wind and the view -  

The sun was behind some clouds when we arrived at Punakaika and Pancake Rocks.

The layered limestone of the rocks earned them the name ‘pancake.’ The walkway weaves through the pancake rocks and along blowholes where the sea crashes through, occasionally sending up a spray of mist.

It was a neat site.

The path was easy to follow and we took our time taking it all in.

Night was approaching so it was time to find a camper park. It was pitch black by the time we pulled into a site close to Cape Foulwind and Westport on the west coast.