From Glacier Country down to Haast and on to my most favourite place!

The drive from the Glacier Country down to Haast has some stunning coastal scenery as the road winds it way around towards Haast. There are a few places along the way to take some happy snaps and there's a particular place along the coastline of Haast where piles of white stones caught our eye. 

We pulled over to have a look and found that travellers from all over the world had been leaving their names, the date and where they were from written on the stones. Of course we felt obliged to add ours to the pile.

It's not a particularly long section of coastline, but it's certainly beautiful and we enjoyed spending almost an hour reading some of the messages on the stones and going down to the beach to leave some little piles of cairns.  Even the driftwood was a rich beautiful rusty red colour.  

Following the road some more and we came across more farmland, plus one place that had an honesty box with fresh farm eggs in the Makarora area.  Naturally, we couldn't leave those by the side of the road, so left some money for a carton of their delicious eggs.  

The farmland is so green and I never get tired of those views. A little further along and you cross another of those beautiful crystal clear blue rivers before you come to Thunder Creek Falls. The falls are a pleasant short walk from the car park area and the falls were living up to their name the day we were there.

Around the same area as the falls, is the turn off to the Blue Pools of Haast, however, they are still on my to do list so will have to look at those on a future visit.

A little south of Makarora on the right, you will see your first glimpse of Lake Wanaka, the 4th largest lake in New Zealand. Within a very short space of time on the left, you will see the top end of Lake Hawea.  The road then pretty much follows the lake around to the township of Hawea.  

From there you go through Albert Town which is the Clutha and Hawea Rivers meet. Albert Town had until recently been more of a farming settlement, however, population growth in the area has also seen Albert Town grow a little more.

Albert Town is just a 10 minute drive from my favourite place.. Wanaka!

A little more of the West Coast - Jade and Glacier Country

The West Coast is home to Jade Country - Pounamu or Greenstone as it is known to New Zealanders.  This beautiful stone has many variations in colour and there are some incredibly beautiful pieces to be found in the some of the shops and galleries along the West Coast.  

There are a few of these in Hokitika including one an open workshop where you can watch the talents of the crafts people. This place also had some larger breath taking creations as well. Pounamu has a treasured spiritual significance and was historically used by Maori people for weapons, tools and personal items.  

Hokitika is approximately a 35 minute drive south of Greymouth and is also home to the Hokitika Gorge which is one of those must do type of places. The gorge is about 33 kms from Hokitika and the road is full of twists and turns, however, don't give up on it because again, the scenery is spectacular.

There is a short walk from the car park to a viewing platform where the colour of the water below is something else! There is a swing bridge you can walk across to the other side where you will see the rugged ravine and be much closer to the extraordinary blue water.

From Hokitika, you drive down towards the Glacier Country where you will find two of the most accessible glaciers - Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers.

Franz Josef has a lovely little township with a number of places you can stay.  The West Coast Wildlife Centre is located there and you are able to do a tour to see the kiwi birds.

If you're staying a night or two in Franz Josef, then I'd recommend the Glacier Hot Pools where you can relax in the larger public pool or take the option of a private pool.  We had a private pool which was blissful and decadent.  

If you're a fan of Thai food then the King Tiger Eastern Eating House and Bar is the place for you.  The food is delicious and the atmosphere is great.

On the outskirts of Franz Josef, you will find the road heading towards the glacier. It's an impressive sight to see the terminal face of the glacier from the carpark! For those who are fit and adventurous, there is a walk to the terminal face and for those who don't feel up to the hike, there is a short walk to Peter's Pool Reflection. It's a beautiful peaceful spot where you can sit and enjoy the reflection of the terminal face and snow capped mountains.

A half hour drive south of Franz Josef will take you to Fox Glacier where again you are able to see the terminal face. The other thing you may notice is the sound of aircraft and if you look up, you will regularly see helicopters in the sky doing glacier tours.

There is a short walk from the car park to a space where you can get some great views of the terminal face of Fox Glacier and see some of the sheer rocks leading in.

I don't know that I'd quite have the courage to do a helicopter flight up to the glaciers, I love the idea but I'm not a fan of flying at the best of times and the thought of doing that in a helicopter is something else again. Who knows?  One day in my dotage I may find the courage!

The West Coast

The west coast of the South Island has a rugged raw beauty and according to Lonely Planet is one of the top 10 scenic coastal drives in the world.  I've not driven the entire length, however, have been up as far as the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes.

It was a cool cloudy and somewhat foggy rainy day when we visited, however, that didn't stop us from getting out and doing the 20 minute loop walk to view the rocks and the blowholes. Absolutely magnificent!  I'd love to also see them in clear weather one day.  

The blowholes were big and very impressive, probably due in part to the weather the day we visited.  There is also lots of bird in the area and some of them nest among the rocks. Mother nature sure is amazing! 

After our walk in the cold and wet, we were able to go across the road where there is a little roadside pancake cafe.  Their pancakes are delicious and it was a great way to round off the visit.

Greymouth is one of the larger towns on the west coast and is where the train line goes to when you catch the Tranz Alpine Train.  It's a bit like the landing point for arriving on the west coast.  

There is a walkway along the coastal side of town where there is a monument and memorial to miners who died in a mine accident.  We spent a little time there reading what was written and counting our blessings.

I thought I'd try doing a slightly shorter post this time as many of my posts so far have been quite long, so will continue on with the west coast in my next post.  Although, having said that, I tend to keep writing when I'm on a roll so I can't guarantee my next post will be a shorter one too!

Christchurch to the West Coast

There are a couple of ways you can do this trip - by car or on the Tranz-Alpine Train. Both have stunning scenery to enjoy along the way, so you won't be disappointed which ever way you choose to get there.

Last year, my partner and I drove to the west coast, starting out from Akaroa and staying overnight in Arthur's Pass, which is the highest and most spectacular pass across the Southern Alps.  It climbs to more than 900 metres through Arthur's Pass National Park.

As with most parts of NZ, the scenery is diverse and simply beautiful.  There are a couple of little towns you can stop at along the way to Arthur's Pass and I recall one where there was a lovely park area along a creek or river.

The scenery out of Christchurch was lush green fields with snow capped mountains in the background (we were travelling in spring) and the road is initially fairly straight. Along the way, you will see the wide shingle filled river beds and vast swathes of beech forest as described perfectly in the 100% Pure New Zealand website.

Eventually as you make your way closer to Arthur's Pass, the road becomes more winding and the scenery changes as you head into the Southern Alps.  For those fascinated by engineering, this is definitely the road (or rail trip) for you!  It has viaducts, bridges, rock shelters and waterfalls channeled into chutes. 

If you are planning to do this as a road trip, my #1 tip is to ensure you fuel up your vehicle before leaving Christchurch as fuel was a staggering $10 a litre in Arthur's Pass in 2015.  

The township has approximately 30 residents and while there is a store, it only stocks a limited supply of the basics which are also quite expensive.  This brings me to my #2 tip - if you're planning a stay, then buy whatever you think you may need from Christchurch before leaving.

You will find the Wobbly Kea Cafe in Arthur's Pass, which has a limited but reasonably tasty menu.  Again, a little pricey, but in line with what you'd expect in the area.  

We stayed at the Arthur's Pass Alpine Motel which I'd highly recommend.  The people there were warm, welcoming, friendly and helpful! They recommended places to go and things to see.

It had been raining heavily on and off during the time we were there which limited us somewhat as we'd originally had plans to do some walks in the area.  However, we did manage a relatively short walk to a gorgeous little waterfall up behind the church in town and a visit to the Tourist Information place before getting rained on again. Arthur's Pass is on my list of places to go back to so I can enjoy a bit longer walk in the area.

The remainder of our road trip across to Greymouth on the West Coast, was also somewhat rainy so we didn't really stop as we'd anticipated we might.  

I did the same trip on the Tranz Alpine Rail this year (2016), although I traveled about 2 months earlier than the trip we'd taken last year.  There wasn't a great difference in the amount of snow about, however, this year's trip was taken in sunshine rather than rainy weather which was a little friendlier for taking photo's.

That said, I found it somewhat challenging to take pics on the train that weren't too blurry!  The train is a lovely relaxing way to travel and while I don't know that you see much more scenery than you do by road, the difference is that the road isn't alongside the rail track the entire way so you may see the scenery closer up and you're not driving so you have time to gander out the windows.  On the train, you also get some great views of some of the engineering feats I mentioned earlier and the scenery around them.

There is an open air carriage on the train especially for those wishing to take photos, but it does get a little chilly at times! Some great views to be seen and take photo's of but again, the difference between a road trip and a train trip is you can stop whenever you want to take pics on a road trip (providing there's somewhere to pull over), so there's less of the blurry factor.

There is a brief stop at Arthur's Pass where you can get off the train to stretch your legs, take a pic or two, then get back on the train.  There is another stop at Moana which is on the Lake for people who wish to get off, enjoy a walk and/or a picnic and catch the train on it's return journey about an hour or so later.

I found the train trip really enjoyable, the staff were great, they had a reasonable selection of food on board (I enjoyed a cheese board) and they come around towards the end with delicious NZ ice creams.  It's only about a 4.5 hour trip from Christchurch across to Greymouth so if you're wanting to do a return day trip, then it's quite do-able.