Land of Glaciers!

Written Sunday, May 8, 2011

Franz Josef Village, Westland

South Island

Posted  Monday evening, May 9th

Wanaka, Central Otago, South Island

(Click on Photos to Enlarge)

Waking early to sunshine in Hokitika this morning, we boarded our southbound bus, Marjorie, this time driven by Magic Nick, and headed off. We had a brief stop at the gold mining town of Ross, then drove straight through to Franz Josef (about a 2 ½ hour drive), but not before Matt and some of our fellow travelers could get friendly with the village goat:

As we turned inland from the coast, the clouds lifted a bit and we got some amazing views of the increasingly rugged country. Had there been no clouds at all, we would have been able to see the higher peaks, including Aoraki/Mt. Cook, but as it was we were lucky to get some glimpses of snow behind the foremost ranges. The West Coast, also known as the Wet Coast, gets huge amounts of cloud and rain, due to weather systems that have thousands of miles of ocean (and Australia) to gather steam, then come up against the Southern Alps and have dump all their moisture on the coast. The areas around Franz Josef measure their yearly rainfall in metres, not in milimetres or centimeters like other parts of the country. We’re just happy that it’s not actively raining, and that we were able to take in these views:

We’ve really been enjoying the commentary by our bus drivers, and also getting to know some of our fellow travelers. Here’s a few fellow Magic passengers (Magicians?) posing with the bus mascot Ross in Ross:

And taking photos of Lake Ianthe, one of the many “mirror” lakes in Westland, that are often so calm that they perfectly reflect the scenery above them:

We pulled into Franz Josef Village, in Westland Tai Poutini National Park, just before noon, and checked into our respective hostels. The village is so tiny that all three hostels are side by side, and there are a couple of glacier guiding offices, an information centre, and a couple gift shops, and that’s it. Truly a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it place, with the immensely steep mountains rising up behind it and the glaciers visible from the main street. The way the town is laid out and it’s alpine feel reminded me and Matt of Government Camp, the ski town on the sides of Mt. Hood back home in Oregon.

After checking into our backpackers and making a bit of lunch and a cup of coffee, we joined back up with Magic Nick, who drove us up to the carpark near the foot of Franz Josef Glacier, and we all walked up to one of the viewpoints from which we could see the glacier. The glacier was named after Austrian Emperor Franz Josef by an explorer by the name of Julian van Haast. He named quite a few places in Westland, and has a town further south named after him. We’ll pass through Haast tomorrow.

I had thought we were a bit unlucky to have a cloudy day, but Magic Nick said it was a really great day to view the glacier, and that last time he was here, the cloud and fog was lying so low in the valley that they couldn’t see the glacier at all. The narrowness of the glacial valley, as well as the steepness of the valley walls and the glacier itself, was absolutely astounding to me. There were waterfalls coming straight down the mountainsides, and a river flowing out from underneath the glacier (pronounced “glay-see-er” by everyone who isn’t from the States…).

I hiked a short additional distance by myself up to the floor of the glacial valley, for some more views and photos. From the bottom of the valley, even at a distance from the glacier itself, the steepness of the valley walls and the ice were magnified, and totally awe-inspiring.

In the hour before sundown, the clouds cleared and we walked outside to incredible views of unbelievably sharp peaks above us, and glaciers and snowfields we didn’t know were there in the fog. Having finally gotten the zoom lens working, I got some good detailed shots in the fading light:

 

 Unreal.

Later in the evening, after dark, we met up with Magic Nick and a few other Magicians, and were led by Nick on a short hike out of the village to view amazing constellations of glow worms along the trail. It was pitch dark, and the clouds and rain had closed in again, and Matt and Nick and I were the only ones who were cool with hiking without torches (flashlights) on the totally flat, straight trail. Nick insisted that it would be a better experience, but some of our companions got really freaked out by being in the dark without a light, and Matt and I couldn't help but give them the ultimate night hike experience: we quietly stole ahead down the trail in the dark and climbed off into the bush, and then loudly and suddenly yelled "Boo!" at our fellow hikers as they went by. They were great sports about it, and we all about died laughing. Matt and I felt very proud of ourselves; after all, there's next to nothing in a New Zealand rainforest that can hurt you besides your fellow humans, and we thought it useful to teach our friends that lesson :)

The village of Franz Josef thrives on guided glacier hikes and heli-hikes, as well as scenic flights over the glaciers and the Southern Alps, but as they’re really expensive and we’ve already gotten great views of the glacier, we’re heading out tomorrow morning to Wanaka with Magic Nick, as there’s not much else to do in the village. Everyone else that came up with us today is staying here to do activities on the glacier, so tomorrow we’ll be traveling onward with those Magic-ers who have been up here since the last bus came through. One of the unanticipated effects of riding a hop-on, hop-off bus is that you make friends on one leg of the journey, then part ways as one person hops off and the other stays on, and then a couple legs later in the journey you end up on the same bus again! We’re very much enjoying the company and the opportunity we’ve gotten to travel with Magic, with endless chances to admire and savor the grandeur of this country. 

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Quick update from Wanaka (WAH-nah-kah), where we arrived this afternoon (Monday). We are now on the sunny side of the mountains, and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful view as we arrived into town, seeing Lake Wanaka spreading out before us, with craggy peaks behind, and surrounded by the brightest fall colors I have ever seen.  It all just keeps getting better. Just to prove it, here's the view from our dorm room at our backpackers here:

And our gear where we ditched it by the lake to soak up the sun as soon as we climbed off the bus:

Yes, it really does keep getting better.

Land of Greenstone

Written Saturday, May 7, 2011

Hokitika, West Coast, South Island

Posted Monday evening, May 9^th, 2011

Wanaka, Central Otago

Hokitika, just south of Greymouth on the West Coast,  is the Greenstone Capital of New Zealand, home to the vast majority of the country’s Pounamu, or nephrite jade, a beautiful green stone used to make traditional pendants, weapons, and sculpture. Greenstone is the literal translation of the Maori Pounamu, and Hokitika contains about 10 different shops and studios specializing in greenstone jewelry and artwork. See Matt’s blog for more details on greenstone and the significance of it in local culture. 

Hokitika has proved to be a great little town, with plenty to keep us busy for the last two days. The weather even cleared up yesterday afternoon as we were walking around, so we got some great views of the mountain ranges to the east, although it wasn’t clear enough to see Aoraki/Mt. Cook, New Zealand’s tallest mountain, which stayed hidden in the clouds. The town contains a lot of gorgeous views of the river and mountains:

 (Click on Photos to Enlarge)

 A lot of neat old buildings:

 An Antique Sock Machine Museum:

And the National Kiwi Centre, where we fed giant 100-year-old longfin eels, and got just a glimpse of a kiwi (of which we weren’t allowed to take photographs). Even a glimpse was good, to know that we were in the presence of one, one of our goals before leaving New Zealand.

At the Kiwi Centre, we also got a chance to see two Tuatara, New Zealand reptiles known as "living fossils" because they have not changed or evolved since the time of dinosaurs. They are endangered now, and can grow past a metre in length and to ages around 300 years old.

We also had a great time walking Hokitika’s beaches, which we had been told contained the occasional piece of greenstone. I had thought it would be a bit of a wild goose chase, but as soon as we walked onto the beach, we started finding it everywhere. Greenstone comes in all different shades, from palest green to black jade.

 Just a fraction of the Pounamu we found on the beach.

 A photo we found in one of the shops, of a greenstone boulder found in the Arahura River some time ago.

Matt and a couple specimens in one of the many greenstone shops in town.

We are both glad that we decided to spend two days here, as we have seen and “done” Hokitika thoroughly and enjoyed ourselves doing it. Our hostel, Mountain Jade Backpackers (which appears to be the only backpackers in town), is one of my favorite places that we’ve stayed. It’s small and cozy and quiet, with only about six people staying here. We’ve made some delicious dinners in the well-organized kitchen, watched a few movies, and got a great night’s sleep last night. Tomorrow, we head out early with Magic, heading for Franz Josef glacier, a couple hours to the south. Here’s hoping the weather improves a bit, so we can actually see the glacier and the mountains as we head south. 

Coastal Magic

Written 5:30 PM, Thursday, 5 May, 2011

Greymouth, South Island

(Posted 10 AM, Friday, 6 May, Hokitika)

I’m writing from Neptune’s International Hostel in rainy Greymouth, having completed the first leg of our trip with Magic Bus. After a hectic day yesterday, we managed to get everything squared away and ready to go, even on such short notice. I baked a chocolate cake and a batch of peanut butter cookies to use up some baking ingredients, we cooked up as many of our perishables as we could for dinner, booked all of our hostels for the trip, sold the van, signed our end of employment paperwork at Kathmandu, and did a million other little jobs and errands before actually managing to get our packs packed and everything else coalesced for storage (Nickola was generous enough to store our extra stuff for us until we return to Nelson, as we’ll be staying with her again for a couple nights when we get back there). We were up at 6:30 this morning to get all the last things packed and sorted out, and got our bond (deposit) back from Nickola, who was also generous enough to drive us to Nelson City YHA to catch the bus at 8 AM. So, after almost seven weeks of living in Nelson, we climbed aboard the bus with about 15 other travelers on a gray and slightly damp morning and began our final southern adventure. As Matt says, it feels like we are headed home now, because we’ve gotten rid of all of our excess belongings and have everything packed up, and are on the road from now until we arrive home in Portland. If that’s the case, we are definitely taking the long way home :)

 

(Click on Photos to Enlarge)

Nickola snapped a photo of us and our packs at the bus stop.

From Nelson, we headed southwest on Highway 6 down the Waimea River Valley, and then up over the ranges to the village of Murchison, where we had our morning break, and Matt and I went to say hi to some local cows. 

Our driver, Alan (for some reason I am inclined to call him Magic Alan), kept a running commentary going, giving us all kinds of information on the history and natural history of the places we were seeing, on plant and animal life and conservation efforts, and various other useful tidbits of information. As we drove through the southernmost reaches of Kahurangi National Park, we learned that “Kahurangi” translates from Maori as “treasured place,” and later we learned the the “poison” 1080 that is used for killing possums is actually a naturally occurring compound that is found in Acacia trees, and is not harmful on its own but becomes lethal when combined with hydrochloric acid, which is present in the stomachs of mammals. Here I must give appreciation to my self esteem and the fact that it allows me to be completely content as the nerd sitting at the very front of the bus with a small atlas and journal on her lap, taking notes on the route and commentary the entire way so I don’t forget any of it! That should make my parents smile, as my inclination in this direction is probably down to their fascination with natural history and the fact that my mother read aloud from the Roadside Geology books on every road trip of my youth (my brother and I pretended to hate it, but you’d be surprised by how much of that information I’ve retained…)

The weather today was consistently gray and rainy, sometimes heavy rain but mostly just drizzly. This made for incredible fogscapes, with constantly moving mist lying in the valleys between the very steep hillsides in the ranges. We started seeing beech forests almost as soon as we left Nelson, and all through the hills were immense, gnarled old beech trees, which look unlike anything else. Going over the mountains, the roads got pretty exciting as well, down to one lane in places, with a tiny traffic light at each end to send the appropriate traffic through.

 One lane and a 15km/hr curve in a full sized bus.

 Check out the overhang on the lefthand side of the (one lane) highway. 

 Just one of many beautiful views of the Buller River, which was running high from lots of recent rain. 

As soon as we reached the West Coast, we hit the coastal rainforests, full of tree ferns and huge numbers of Nikau palms. I haven’t seen this concentration of Nikaus anywhere else in New Zealand.

We took a side road near Westport and visited the fur seal colony at Tauranga Bay, where we could see orange tags on the seals’ flippers, showing that they are being tracked or studied for some reason.

 The rock formations at the seal colony were extremely unusual. 

In the carpark we also got to know some friendly Wekas, flightless native birds that are endangered and have a taste for garbage. We hadn’t seen any in our entire time in New Zealand, but they must love this habitat, because we saw 6 or 8 of them just at Tauranga Bay, and other three down the road in Punakaiki. They look and act a bit like chickens, and weren’t at all shy about coming over to see if fingers were edible. It was really exciting to see these birds, they are fun to watch and their plumage is really beautiful.

From a short walk down to a unique sandstone beach:

Down the coast at Punakaiki (poon-uh-KAI-kee) we stopped for most of an hour for a tea, toilet, and sightseeing break. Punakaiki is home to the Pancake Rocks, a really unique formation of limestone that isn’t seen anywhere else. There are several blowholes in the formations that send up massive geysers of sea water at high tide, but we weren’t there at the right tide so missed out on that phenomenon. I’ll just post a few photos of the rocks here, but check out Matt’s blog at http://thegreatselkie.blogspot.com for a more detailed post about the Pancake Rocks. It was a genuinely cool spot. 

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Update from Friday, May 6th. 

We spent last night in Greymouth, at Neptune's, a BBH Hostel that was comfortable enough, although a little rundown. It was such a cool building though, an old hotel and tavern, built in that uniquely New Zealand architectural style:

Greymouth is a coal mining town, and definitely feels like one, nestled up against the hills with a lot of industrial things going on in town, and loads of buildings that speak of company housing and the like. The hostel itself had a coal powered water heater, stoked regularly by staff from the big hod of coal in the kitchen. The Pike River Mine disaster last November occurred very near here, and it wasn't hard to feel the way a town like this would come together during such a tragedy. There are only 22,000 people living on the entire West Coast, and 12,000 of them live in Greymouth. 

We were up bright and early this morning for the 45-minute drive south to Hokitika (hoh-kih-TICK-ah), pop. 4,000, where Matt and I disembarked and will be staying for the next two nights. Magic Alan gave us some recommendations of things to see and do while we're here, and enlightened us as to some of the history and politics of Pounamu, or Greenstone, which is the main economical factor in Hokitika. Because we arrived at 9 AM, we were too early to check into our backpackers, but we were able to store our packs there and had a nice chat with the friendly owner. The place is really sweet and cozy, on the upper story of a jade factory on the main drag. We're now at the adorable little public library around the corner from the hostel, once again taking advantage of New Zealand's awesome network of free Wi-Fi at libraries. Our first impressions of Hokitika are really good, it's got a cute little downtown area, loads of greenstone shops and places where you can see work, a beach right next to the city centre, and a cozy, sleepy feel to it all. I'm really looking forward to getting to know this place better over the next couple of days.