Mountains, lakes and glaciers
DAY 1 – On Route to Franz Josef
With the weather forecast for the day not great, we still woke to some sunny skies and after a quick breakfast in the room set off for our drive to Franz Josef on the west coast.
The first part of our drive took us between Lake Hawea and the top of Lake Wanaka. We stopped for a photo and could already see the rain ahead of us. Sure enough, as we reached the top of Lake Wanaka, the rain started and pretty much set in for most of the day.
I was not feeling great from my cold and with the rain I wasn’t keen on getting drenched so we didn’t end up doing a couple of walks we had planned. We did stop at Fantail Falls and braved the rain for the short walk in. There wasn’t a great deal of traffic on the road in either direction but we managed to get stuck behind a slow truck along a winding section over the mountains.
We commented at one point how many single lane bridges there are given that we were driving State Highway 6, one of the main routes in the country. Signs indicate whether you have right of way or have to give way to oncoming traffic. As we didn’t have much traffic we only had to stop briefly a couple of times however I wonder how much traffic bank up there is in busy periods of the year !
We reached the coast just past Haast and the ocean was pretty rough – even waves breaking over high rock walls next to the main road at one point ! We stopped briefly for a photo at Knights Point when the rain had eased a bit and again at Bruce Bay.
We arrived at Fox Glacier early afternoon and drove to Lake Matheson and had a late lunch at the visitor centre. Again, with the rain holding off again, we walked along the lake to a lookout over the mountains however the clouds were mainly covering the best of the view. After walking back we drove to Glacier Viewpoint a bit further on and although cloudy you could get a reasonable view of Fox Glacier.
We then drove on to Franz Josef and checked into our hotel – Legacy Te Waonui Hotel, part of the Scenic Hotel Group. After unpacking, we walked to the supermarket but then quickly retreated to the hotel again as the rain started and basically began to set in. We decided to have dinner in the hotel and had a nice meal – Adrienne had a rack of lamb and I had mushroom risotto. We got in early as the hotel had a couple of bus groups in.
Forecast not great for tomorrow so we will see what happens.
DAY 2 – A wet day in Franz Josef
We woke to the sounds of the bus group heading off early and the steady patter of rain outside. We had a slow start to let the big groups get through the restaurant and then had a relaxed breakfast.
Although it was raining, the forecast for the day was some improvement. We thought we would brave the rain and walk to the nearby Visitor Centre. We poked around inside for a while then decided go walk further on to the wildlife centre. Of course at this point the rain got heavier and we were getting a lot wetter ! We hung around here hoping the rain would ease – which is didn’t – and then made a break for it back to the hotel – and a change of clothes !
For now we decided to settle down in the lounge and do some blogging and see how the weather developed. By lunchtime it was still raining but we ventured out in the car to a local cafe – much as the rest of the town seem to have done ! We tucked into a tasty steak and cheese pie, sausage roll and ham cheese and tomato toastie and are still seeking a good coffee – though today’s weren’t too bad. The rain seemed to get worse initially but gradually eased off for us to look in a couple of shops. When we came out it was a bit brighter so we decided to bite the bullet and head out to the glacier and walk to the lookout.
When we got to the carpark, it was evident others had the same idea as many who had been in the cafe were also there. We walked to the first lookout point initially then on to the next.
The second viewpoint was essentially as close as you could get to the glacier as the path beyond had been damaged. The glacier itself is quite unusual compared to others. It is only one of three in the world that descends into a temperate rainforest. It is also the steepest and fastest in New Zealand, sometimes moving several metres per day. Whilst many in the world are consistently in retreat, overtime Franz Josef has actually grown at times. In fact, between 1965 and 2010 it moved little however since then it has been in significant decline.
We had a few light showers but nothing major so it was good to get out to see the glacier. We headed back to the hotel before venturing out again at dinner to a nearby restaurant called Monsoon. It is part of a large accommodation complex and was fairly busy however we managed to get a table. We both had tasty fish and chips and a quiet drink and strolled back to the hotel. The hotel is pretty busy tonight as there are three bus tours in.
We are getting closer to the end of this tour and tomorrow we move up the coast to Punakaiki and we hope the weather will be a bit better.