From Wellington to Franz Josef Glacier

  Franz Josef, New Zealand
Tuesday, February 19, 2008

  Saturday 9th February 2008 Sydney - Wellington
We're flying into Wellington, but spending the rest of our time in the South Island. As we'll be mainly visiting National Parks, we've hired a vehicle for 24 days - a JUCY Crib campervan (for NZ$71 per day) which is a Toyota Tarago fitted out with benches that make into a double bed, with a basic stove, fridge and sink. Hopefully we'll be able to sleep in it, so we won't have to worry about finding accommodation at the height of the season.
Spend the morning packing, then pick up Adam and Lavinia, who drop us at the airport in plenty of time. Wave goodbye to all, including our car, for a month.
Painless check-in, Macca's chips with the change from our SMH purchase. Decide against duty free with all the current restrictions, and on to the plane, which is an elderly 737, run by a contractor to Qantas.
We were too far up the front to see the screen, so are given DVD players, and a selection of DVD's. Think we have a good deal, but the earphones are typically crook, and the sound level too low to hear against the engine noise. MP gets to see, but not really hear, most of the 3.10 to Yuma, but misses the ending. DP gives up early, and concentrates on the usual monster pile of unread papers and magazines we've brought.
No problems with food or hiking boots at customs. As it's now nearly midnight, decide on a taxi for the short $NZ28 ride to the downtown YHA. Work our way through the late entry code, check in, and into bed after 12am, local time. Our NZ$80 room is tiny, and no bathroom. DP not impressed by bed bug information on the wall, but we seem to be OK.
Sunday 10 Feb - Wellington
Downstairs after the 10 am check-in time, but we are forgiven (there's a 2-hour time difference). Get our proper key cards, and pay cash, a bit more than we were expecting.
Out and walk north, pick up Courtenay St, the "strip", up to Cuba, the restaurant area, for two monster breakfasts and a jug-a -chino. Take a doggy bag, (remember about splitting meals when travelling). Walk through the commercial and parking station area, up onto the hill for a view, then back down to the Beehive and Parliament buildings, which are well located, and quite impressive. Have a drink across the road at the Backbencher Hotel, which is a well renovated old pub, with excellent political cartoons and caricature figures, and puppet heads of politicians. Requires a certain amount of local knowledge of the political scene, but its very existence is a good sign.
Walk further north to past the expressway, where the bush starts to close in on the town, then back to the harbour foreshore, looking at the old St Pauls Cathedral - all timber, painted outside, but fully exposed inside. A "save the Cathedral campaign is on, as it is coveted real estate, and, together with the bishop's palace next door, very inflammable.
The foreshore is quite accessible once you get past the ferry area. Take photos of a rusting hulk being reclaimed, wharf and eating areas, childrens' parks, like 100 other obsolete port areas around the world. It is now blowing and there are flurries of rain, not quite snow, but the jumpers are on and off, umbrellas up and down. Charming mid-summer weather.

01. Wellington waterfront

We hear what might be gunfire in a less civilized destination, turns out to be the local orientals celebrating the Year of the Rat. Get photos of some car-top rats, and celebrants.
Have a quick sortie into the Te Papa museum, but can see it will need a more serious look when we are less tired, so head for the New World supermarket, with the last of our energy, but have to walk right around the block to find the cleverly concealed temporary construction entrance.
After an afternoon sleep, head out south along the esplanade, past a boat harbour full of ageing yachts, with European style boat lockers along the perimeter, past some clean, but chilly looking harbour beaches, with a few brave souls taking the water. We encounter the giant, arctic-type seagulls , and darker seabirds, possibly skuas, as well as the normal seagulls. This tells us something about the latitude.
Walk to where the houses start to thin out, then back. DP is forced to break her different-way-home habit, and retrace our steps, as the alternative is up the precipitous slope which is dotted with wooden houses, built tall to minimise their footprint on the slope. Pole houses haven't arrived here, and the gingerbread-house style is quite appealing.
We get back too late to join in the mass-ordering of $8 pizzas, but walk out later for a good $8.90 Domino's. MP watches the Bionic Woman, DP to bed to catch up on reading. Restless sleep -room is a bit hot and stuffy, plus all the rooms have very squeaky doors, and no ensuites, so lots of coming and going.
Monday 11 Feb - Wellington
Up in time for the free bagel and juice breakfast, then out to catch the #20 bus to Mt Victoria lookout. Smart enough to take jumpers, but settle for sandals, and freeze our feet in the bus shelter. Given advise and a timetable by a friendly student type. Get off at the top into a gale of wind. Encounter two bus loads of fossil freight struggling to keep their feet. Look around and take photos over the town and harbour,

02. Wellington harbour from Queen Victoria lookou

out over the airport and West Coast, and over Cook Strait to the mountains of the South Island. The wind and the scudding clouds make it look pretty bleak, and it is not all that pleasant, so we head along to the Centennial Lookout for a better look down on the harbour, then pick up the Southern Path down to the harbour.
The first part of the path is steep, bare dirt, held together with tree roots, which makes us worry about the Milford Track walk we're going to do. The lower sections are tarred, although very steep. At the bottom, we exercise our Day Tripper $5 tickets, and get a bus to Lambton Quay and the start of the Cable Car to the top of the Botanical Gardens. MP gets a $1 discount on the $2.50 ticket for being over 65. Don't see a lot on the way up, mainly tunnels and high rise buildings, but they have good lookouts at the top. A quick look at the local terrain tells us not to go exploring the streets, so we have a look at the interesting Cable Car Museum, then take the Downhill Path to the City, a well made path, which takes us through interesting displays, particularly the wet forest areas. There is a good greenhouse at the Rose Garden, and an interesting cemetery area, which has been split in two by the motorway which runs right through town. Graves have been tastefully relocated, but it must have been a big deal at the time.
Walk back to the Beehive and the Backbencher Hotel, but the meals are pretty savage, so get a Zoo bus back to Courtenay Place, and split a double Whopper, before collapsing in our room.
We're heading to Featherston tomorrow to catch up with Dave, who was Dianne's boss at the Newcastle Morning Herald back in the early '70's, so in the PM, double check the Featherston train timetable, and organise our ferry to Picton and shuttle bus to Christchurch, where we pick up our vehicle.
Then out to the Te Papa museum. Only have an hour before closing, so take a quick, overall view. Could certainly spend a lot more time if we had it. Excellent wildlife, geology, Maori culture and artifacts. On the way back, check out a Jucy Crib camper in the supermarket carpark to see if we are going to like ours. Buy supplies, and have frozen dinners. MP pigs out on microwave coffee.
  Tuesday 12 Feb - Wellington - Featherston
We book accommodation in Picton, put all our bags in the large, $1 for 2 hours locker and head across to the Te Papa museum to catch up on what we missed yesterday.
Get the $1 bus downtown to the station, and buy the surprisingly expensive $NZ11 tickets to Featherston. Sort out the front-of-the-train baggage system, and wait for the train, which is parked right up the far end of the platform, to come back to us. Surrender our bags with some trepidation to the conductor, find seats fairly close to them so we can ensure we recover them at Featherston.
The weather is overcast, with wind on the water, so the route right around the water is not all that attractive. Steep hill right next to the train, covered with dense scrub. Entering the Hutt valley, the hills recede to either side of a wide, flat valley. The Hutt river is wide and shallow, the vegetation pretty dry, and the small towns we pass look, while not depressed, pretty functional, like Australia in the 1950's.
The second tunnel is really long, 20 minutes, at least, and we emerge into a different valley, with a wide, shallow-looking lake, yellow grass plains, and steep hills on either side. Get plenty of warning for our stop, and descend to greet Dave, pick up our bags in the luggage van, and out and into the car all in short order. It has been the best part of 35 years since we have seen him, (he's now 76) but pick up pretty near where we left off all those years ago.
It is a short drive to his house which is hard up against the steep rim of hills around the valley. Catch up with Lois, frailer, but totally recognisable, and settle in for a yarn and a quick drink, then out in their Mitsubishi van to look at the district. The van is a model which never made it to Australia, a high, five seat station wagon, with sliding side doors, and the back seat on slides, possibly a 7 seater in another configuration.
We drive to Greytown, a historic small town, now a tourist trap, with antique shops, a colourful pub transplanted from somewhere else, and old, weatherboard houses. It has started to rain so we forego a walk up the main street, look at a project by one of Dave's mates, a quite attractive timber home transplanted onto an acreage, presently obscured by an old shed which will eventually go. Like a lot of building projects, this one has seen a lot of conflict, but the result looks pretty good.
Call in on Eric, another of Dave's mates in his small, old, but nicely maintained home in the main street, then back for a lazy afternoon of catching up. We find that Lois still likes a gin, so present the bottle of duty free, which goes down well. Turns out that Lois, with her sister in Wellington, makes her own, and has for years.
Later in the afternoon, we take part in the ritual of answering the quiz in the daily paper, with the friend and long-time boarder as scorekeeper. MP delves into his trivia store to identify Emma Bunton as "Baby Spice".
After a BBQ tea, we watch the news, sort out the problems of the world in general, and NZ in particular, then walk up to the lookout on top of the hill after Dave retires.
Our accommodation is pretty snug, but it is nice and quiet, and DP, in particular has a very good night's sleep.
Wednesday 13 Feb Featherston - Picton
Sort out the shower operation, breakfast, then say goodbye to Lois, and head down to the lake for a look. The lake is wide and shallow, has a wind chop, and is reflecting leaden sky, so have a quick look at it and the farmland around it, then back to the station to say goodbye to Dave and wait for the 11am train to Wellington. It is pretty crowded, and have to wait for passengers,to get off before we can get a forward-facing seat.
The weather improves, and by the time we get to the bayside section, we have blue skies, light winds, and the harbour looks pretty flash. We give the supermarket in the station a miss, and head straight across to the ferry terminal and check our luggage. We are advised not to go back out looking for food, so find ourselves at the mercy of on-board catering.
We board after all the trucks and cars are aboard, so get last choice of seats and tables on the preferred after deck area, after climbing a really tight internal staircase. Dianne immediately has a deja vu moment, says she can smell cows, our nemesis on the 3-day Chilean ferry, and, sure enough, there is a truck full of them on the open deck below.
We get a grandstand view of Wellington looking its best on the way out. Take a lot of photos,

03. Beehive taken from boat as leaving Wellington

particularly of the vicious looking reefs guarding the entrance. The Eastern shore looks particularly dry and yellow, and only the top of the hills have any scrub. We sail almost due west along the coast, past the bay with the airport, then along steep, dry-looking hills dropping straight into the water. The built-up area ends very abruptly, and, apart from some quarries and a small power station there is no sign of human activity on all of the visible shoreline.

04. North Island from boat

We have been able to see the South Island from the harbour entrance, and it becomes clearer as we head west. A strong NW wind has arrived, making it difficult to stand at the rail of the forward viewing area. We have a good fish and chip meal, and settle in to watch the sea, sky and southern shoreline. There is a strong tide run in the Strait, and a low swell, but nothing to cause mal-de-mer.
Approaching the shoreline, it is difficult to pick the entrance to the channel until a ferry emerges from it. The entrance is well guarded by outlying sharp rocks and reefs, and we enter the channel cautiously.
The water is clear and green, with clumps of kelp floating. Each side has high mountains, at first scrub covered, but later planted with pine trees. Each inlet has a house or small settlement, with bare tracks above for power lines.
Not much care has been taken to keep these low-profile. Our map doesn't clearly tell us if we are in Queen Charlotte Sound. Finally work out that we enter through the smaller, Tory Channel, which joins Queen Charlotte. The waterway is pretty special,

05. Coming into Marlborough Sound on South Island

 but it is still blowing strongly, and starting to cloud over, so not all that pleasant. Pass only a couple of sailing craft, another ferry and a commercial landing barge, otherwise very little use being made of the waterway. Sight Waikawa, virtually a suburb of Picton, with a forest of masts at the marina, then around a point to Picton proper. The port is quite colourful, but also very commercial, with two ferry berths and a major wharf.
The ferry backs in, and we head down into the depth of the ship without much verbal instruction, following a blue line which runs both ways without direction arrows. Finally herded into the waiting area, and are off as soon as the vehicle blocking the ramp moves off.
All foot passengers are put on the shuttle bus and taken out of the controlled area before we get our bags. Give our destinations, and are dropped off at our accommodation. We are first cab off the rank, so don't get to see the town.
Sequoia Lodge is OK, good facilities, but we have a glass walled room, right off the driveway, so are worried about noise levels.
We get directions to the shopping area, and head in that direction, with DP fruitlessly scanning the air waves for wi-fi.
Buy bread, milk, tomatoes, a big steak, butter and bananas for the cost of a single meal at the local tavern, then look at the boat harbour.

06. Picton Harbour

Talk to a young couple from Parramatta, then head back to cook tea. On the way DP hits the wi-fi jackpot, so MP carries on to the hostel.
We take a while to sort out the TV control system, but don't have much success with the news. After tea, MP does Diary, reads paper, while DP catches up on Lonely Planet. Talk to a Pommy couple for a while, then off to bed. Pretty chilly at first under the thin doonas, so fire up the heater, but have to switch it off in the night. Pretty good sleep, all things considered.
Thursday 14 Feb - Picton - Christchurch
Up about 8, but hang around reading and talking till almost 10, and have to pack in a hurry. Do diary and read until we get the 11.30 shuttle to the wharf, with the Inter City bus office. Leave our bags and walk around the waterfront almost to the town, then back to hole up until it is bus time.

07. Picton - unusual clouds

When the bus driver arrives, DP does the time tested grab for the front seat, but is beaten by an even quicker Japanese woman. However, get good seats on the preferred left hand side. Has an encounter with two really slutty locals who are rude to the point of psycho, swearing and making sarcastic remarks about people in the aisle while they are making their way to the empty back of the bus.
Disappointed when told that only water is allowed to be consumed in the bus (it was 1pm and we'd been planning on having some lunch)and that our first stop, of half an hour would be a long way down the coast at Kaikoura.
As we get closer to Blenheim, see lots of vineyards, most of which have been harvested. The flats are pretty green, but the bare hills are sparsely covered in yellow grass, and look very dry.

008. The hills are dry...

We follow the rail line most of the way, over the Blenheim hills and back down to the sea. Even areas in the hills are planted with vines, some of them very young, and not all that healthy. Wonder how long it will be until they are ploughing them in.
Pick up the odd passenger in hamlets and towns along the way, hit a long stretch of beach with the road and rail right on the edge. The hills drop sharply to a narrow littoral shelf. There is no surf, just flat, grey water on a shingle and black sand shore. Rivers running down from the highlands are typically shallow and braided, with gravel flats. Some have rugged eroded cliffs and badlands along them.
We pass through area known for its marine life, and the bus driver tells us he saw seals here on the way up this morning. Sure enough, spot the odd seal, take lots of hurried photos, later spot dozens, some basking on the sunless rocks, others in the water.
Stop for a much-needed loo and food break at Kaikoura, a small seaside resort town, which has a modified stream between the main road and the shingle beach, with duck feeding steps, and an ornamental bridge.
The french bread and banana lunch we have been anticipating is a bit of a disaster, but MP cleans up what is still edible, while DP goes to find food, eventually settling for a healthy meat pie lunch.
The beach ends in a bay and steep volcanic tuff headland.

09. Kaikoura Beach

The main road goes up and over, back to the sea on the south side, where another bay is better protected, and used for water sports.
The mountains come right down to the coast, with a narrow, rocky ledge for the rail and road.
Head inland over a range of hills, encounter a fair bit of rain. A couple of times we stop for level crossings, even when there are warning lights which are not lit up. The driver mutters dire threats about drivers who pass him when stopped thus. Maybe it is company, or Govt policy with busses.
Coming into Christchurch, DP plots our course, and MP checks out the motels. More than half have no-vacancy signs, not a promising omen for those without a room.
We stop right in the city. MP gets a mouthful from the rough sluts up the back for standing in the aisle and letting other passengers out. Manage to resist comment to them, as they are seriously nasty pieces of work.
Try the nearby YHA, which is full but directed to another couple some blocks away. Can get dorm beds, but not rooms. Walk a few more blocks, find an all-woman hostel, and another full backpackers. Even the large, new hotel is full, so walk toward the main street to get a NZ$11 taxi to Bealey Ave we came in on, where we saw some vacancies.
Stop at the first of several with vacancy signs. First one has a room, but a group are deciding whether to take it or dorm beds. They decide on the room, so DP heads up the road. Can't bring herself to pay $170 so carries on, and finds a backpackers/foreign students boarding house, and gets a basic room for $52, no bathroom.
Settle in, decide the mattress will HAVE to go on the floor, then take madame's direction up the street to the shopping area. Are surprised to find some reasonable restaurants, and over-order at the Great China Restaurant, but manage to finish the meal and a strange Strawberry Champagne. Have a quick look at the area, then back to rearrange the room, and get a surprisingly good shower. Pretty good night's sleep, although once again, have a too-thick doona, and have to average too-hot with too cold. Rains heavily in the night.
Friday 15 Feb - Christchurch - Lake Tekapo
DP rings up Jucy as soon as we get organised, and manages to catch the 9am shuttle on its way into town, so we have to hurry to pack and get our key money back. MP waits in the rain in his sailing jacket plus 300 Jacket, and doesn't feel over-warm. Girl turns up in the shuttle, we load our gear into the trailer, and into town to pick up two German girls at the Stoneyhurst Backpackers, retracing our quest for a room last night.
Go through the vehicle checkout procedure to pick up our vivid lime green, with purple trim, JUCY crib camper. Find we have been done out of the advertised DVD player, but cop it sweet. Get directions to the supermarket, and out of town, and set off with the heater on full blast, getting used to driving an automatic. Find the supermarket, just about to go in when DP decides to try the CD player. Finds no slot for CD's - we have been dudded again. Decide to give them a ring, find it will be 1 1/2 hours to fit a new one, decide at first to give it a miss, then say - bugger it! It is raining, might as well kill the time, and at least have a CD player as don't expect a lot of radio reception in the outback.
Back at Jucy, are told we will be getting a change of vehicle, so go through the inspection and changeover in the rain. Score a DVD player as well.
  In our flash new Jucy, head out toward the Banks Peninsular, miss the turn set out on our map, but find another signpost, travel through suburbia and out into flat farming land, getting drier and flatter as we get close to the coast, in spite of the now easing rain.
We can see the base of the massive volcano which formed the peninsular, but the top is shrouded in cloud. Take a "Jucy" on-the-road photo in the rain,

010. Banks Peninsualr in the rain

head toward Little River, still getting used to the vehicle. Decide to go all the way to Akaroa, near the end of the peninsular. Get done in the classic manner buying cheap cherries from a farm (they are obviously seconds when we undo the packaging), then climb up into the hills which remain from the volcano. Hills is a relative term, as the vertical scale of NZ is such that these would be mountains in
Oz.
From the Summit road, we gaze down on a pretty bay, with islands, which turns out to be Akaroa, but we take the Tourist Drive on the Summit road, and it is an hour of windy and steep roads before we get back to it. Are reminded just how useless Automatics are for negotiating steep downhills, but finally sort out the gearbox to proceed safely. A lot of the place names here are French, but the rolling hills, indented bays and deserted beaches are pure Ireland.

011. Bay in Banks Peninsular

Try a gravel road through private property to a lookout point, but the road is muddy, slopes steeply down hill, and is single track, so call it a day at the first turning place. Pleased to find we have enough traction to get out.
Look at a camp by the beach at Okains Bay. This is typical geography, narrow, steep valley in the mountains widening into a flat valley floor and beach confined between high, steep headlands either side. Push on to Akaroa, which is a quaint little town, very French Provincial, with street names to match. Take photo of the changing weather across the bay, watch a wedding party add to the French theme with the Bride and Groom arriving by Citroen 2CV.
Certainly not worth staying around here while the weather is so atrocious, so decide to head for Mt Cook, inland. Retrace our tracks to the outskirts of Christchurch, then strike across country through Lincoln to the main south highway. It is fairly fast and busy -are pleased to be able to cut inland again after Ashburton to Arundel and Geraldine, through flat, fertile farming land, and clearing weather. Roads are good, and virtually deserted. Want to have a full tank for the mountains, so fill up at Fairlie, fairly late in the afternoon. Shock to the system at $1.69 per litre, $79 for 49 litres.
It is still quite light, so head for Lake Tekapo, through drier, upland tussock grass landscape, seeing snow clad mountains on the horizon.

012. Lake Tekapo with mountains in backgroun

See some suitable free camping areas, but push on, and book into the Lake Tekapo camping area while it is still light enough to see. Try 3 camp site before settling, get some good shots of snowy mountains reflected in the green lake.

013. Sunset over Lake Tekapo from our camping

Camp is OK, but has an impression of mean-ness - $26 for 2 people in a gravel, unpowered site, then $2 a shower, lights off in kitchen without warning at 11pm. We figure there has to be a better way to use our camper than this. Rains all night, but a successful first night sleeping in our van, comfortable and warm enough under the doona.
Saturday 16 February Lake Tekapo - Mt Cook
Check out at 10, down to the YHA for a DP nostalgia trip, and some internet - photos from and of the hostel. To our surprise it is a fine day, and get good views of Lake Pukaki arriving from the north. Stop at the visitors' centre, decide not to go into Twizel, and head up along the lake towards Mt Cook. DP last did this in 1971 on the back of a motorbike, over a boulder road in the wet, and cannot even remember the brilliant green lake. Stop for savagely priced bread at the Glentanner Park camping area, which is still 33 km short of the mountain. Hope we can do better than this, so carry on.
There are good views of mountains coming down into the lake with steep, deep gorges, but we can't see Mt Cook due to low cloud, even though it's nearly midday.

014. Morning sky at Mt Cook -not too good!

Closer to the village, we can see the bottoms of the glaciers on Mt Sefton, and the valley leading to Mt Cook.
Stop at the visitor centre, which is quite interesting, spend a long time there. DP tries to find out about camping, is told you can free camp outside the park boundaries, not all that flash, but better than Glentanner.
The best place to start walks is shown as the parking area for the White Horse camping area. We had previously dismissed the camping as being tent-only and a long walk, so jump in the car and head across to Whitehorse, to find a self-registration camp and campervan area with plenty of room, right at the start of the walks. Decide to take a risk on missing out later, and drive up the Tasman valley as far a the end of the main road. Beyond here is the Balls Hut road, one of the two forbidden in our van. Short walk past the murky green "blue pools", and onto a ridge overlooking the muddy grey lake below Tasman Glacier.

015. Tasman Glacier walk

The glacier is the real thing, with an ice cliff, but a fair way off. At this stage the cloud has lifted enough to see the top of Mt Tasman, and down the valley to the pale blue-green Lake Pukaki. Take some photos through our moon-roof, then head back to book into the camp site for $12, in a self-registration system which works here, yet has been abandoned in Oz.
Decide to leave the more ambitious walks till tomorrow, and head for the recommended Hooker Valley walk, past the Mountaineer's Memorial, past a viewpoint, and across the river on a long swing bridge. This loses our view of Mt Cook, now free of cloud, but gives good views of the glaciers and ice falls of Mt Sefton.

016. Mt Cook -start Hooker Valley walk

Walk up the north side of the river to a steep, narrow path around a rocky headland, and onto the second, shorter bridge. From here we head upstream, along the north side of the lake below the Mt Sefton Glacier, then to a viewpoint showing all of Mt Cook and the valley.

Mt Cook - Hooker Valley walk

Easy walk up the valley on good paths and boardwalks to the lake, where we watch a bunch of young men from Minnesota swimming out to climb on an iceberg. They are bright red from the cold, stand on rocks and gravel to avoid the ice. Reward the gathered crowd of young girls with a mass moon-shoot.
All this walking has been done in brilliant sunshine - about 27 degrees, and clear skies, so we've definitely been lucky.
Walk to a point halfway along the lake, then back to the car to sort it out a bit more before dark. See several Jucy Vans at the park.
DP stays at the van, MP back to the Mountaineers Memorial to wait for sunset, taking photos of the plaques on the memorial. Mt Cook is a seriously dangerous place, with the register of victims, in the visitor centre, going into two volumes. The last one was an American last week.
Details of the 14 million ton rockslide which took 10m off the height of the mountain, show that the rock the mountain is made of is more like a giant gravel pile than solid rock, so that it is steep and unstable, and prone to avalanches and anchor failures.
The sunset takes forever to occur, so MP goes back to the car, then both walk out across the flats for photos of the distinctly pink mountain, which changes instantly to stark white as the sun leaves it.
It is pretty chilly cooking our staple chunky soup, with burnt white bread, then we settle in to a warm night after cracking out one of the sleeping bags.
Sunday 17 February - Mt Cook - Omarama
Lying comfortably in bed, thinking of getting up, when rudely surprised by someone whipping back our sliding door. Turns out to be an embarrassed Jucy driver who thought this was his. Later we are quizzed by another Jucy user as to how the bedding platform works. He has been given one without the plywood sheet which covers the centre well. Fortunately he is on his own, so makes do.
After breakfast, with brilliant cloudless skies,

018. Morning at Whitehorse camping area

we decide to repeat what we thought was  DP's 1971 climb up towards Mueller's Hut, which she remembers as having a scary scree-slope crossing (later find out that it was Hooker Hut, which is no longer easily accessible due to a landslide). Decide to do the 15 minute Kea Point walk first, as this gives us a look over the lake and up towards Mt Cook, and we fear we won't have the energy for it after the other walk.
The Point is quite good, but we feel the need for some real hardship, and start the other walk. We can see ant-like figures high on the steep slope, but no discernable path or track. Decide to see how we go, which inevitably leads to a major expedition.
The lower track is a good path cut through dense bush, but soon becomes a rock and made-wooden step climb straight up a rocky gully which looks suspiciously like an avalanche chute. We quickly gain height,
progressing from vantage point

022. Dianne & Murray-Mt Cook in background

to vantage point until it is obvious we are going all the way to the Sealy Tarns, if not the hut. Towards the top we can see a traverse and level ridge which we hope is the Tarns.
We are pleased to confirm this, and see that the track to Mueller's Hut continues straight up, so are happy to call a halt, leaving rediscovery of DP's scree slope to another lifetime. The tarns are quite pretty,

021. Sealy Tarns

and we get some good reflection photos, plus excellent views of the valley, our van in the camping area, the village, Mt Cook and Mt Sefton.

019. Mt Sefton

020. Mt Cook- showing moraine we walked over

Encounter a generally friendly bunch on the mountain, including a 60ish Dutch immigrant who has been dragged up the mountain by his 40ish younger, Dutch brother.
The descent is considerably quicker and easier, but DP in particular suffers jellied knees due to the excessive height of the made wooden steps.

023. Looking back to where we climbed

 
Back at the van, we load up and head into the village to the shower in the public shelter. Find they are Unisex, which is always handy in term of not having to divide up the toiletries, but also has the bonus that the $2 shower lasts long enough for two, although DP get a nasty cold surprise when the time runs out.
We check at the Visitor centre, as the DOC office is closed, and get a booklet with all the DOC (Department of Conservation) free or low-cost basic camping sites. We get a $5 serve of chips at the cafe, take photos through the window, then head up to the flash Hermitage Hotel for a look and photos. The Hillary Centre looks interesting, but have a cursory free look at it then head out on the road. Get some good photos of Mt Cook and Lake Pukaki on the way out.

024. Lake Pukaki -different to yesterday

Stop in Twizel for take-away.
Can still see Mt Cook from here, then on toward Omarama, past large, clear blue-green canals of the Hydro system, which are also used for salmon farming.
We come to the DOC free camping area at the Ahuriri Bridge, on the Lower Ahuriru River,

025. Our camping spot at Ahuriri River

just coming on dark. There is a large flood warning notice, and we get the impression they would rather us camp somewhere else, but we stop a decent distance from another camper and MP goes to look for the river. Finds another camper, and a clear, fast running river with camping right beside it, so we move the van. The weather looks completely clear by now, so we take a risk on the floods.
It is pretty dark when we set up camp. DP sees some small animal near the van, but can't identify it.
During our setting up, put our box of kitchen stuff on the ground, accidentally pick up a hitch-hiker. MP sees it briefly climbing out of a pillow slip, but not fast enough to catch it. Probably a small rat. Half empty the van chasing it, to no avail. Woken numerous times in the night by rustling and chewing sounds, can't scare it or get rid of it, think we will have to buy a rat trap. Otherwise a quiet night, not much traffic on the highway.
Monday 18 February Omarama - Pleasant Flat, Mt Aspiring NP
More rat hunting in the morning, to no avail. Talk to a fisherman we met the night before, who says he had to poison mice infesting his van when in WA. On the way out, he shows us a very nice trout he caught. Omarama seems to be a fishing base, motels in the middle of nowhere, billboards for gliding and flights. Pass eroded moonscape scene, possibly like the "Mud Cliffs" local tourist trap, then over the steep, dry, treeless hills of Lindis Pass to the Lake Hawea/Lake Wanaka area.
The roads are fairly confused here, but find the DOC visitor centre for our morning ablutions and information. Buy a map of highlights of Haast Pass area , on to get another savage fill of petrol ($73.10 - $NZ1.789 per litre), then to the supermarket, where we manage to break our glass salad bowl when we open the van door, directly attributable to our rat search. Shop hungry, but manage some good buys, then down to the waterfront for breakfast, then out along the road towards Mt Aspiring for a look. Decide it is too far to the Rob Roy walk, so turn around just short of Glendhu Bay, where we get good views of the lake and mountains.
Stop at the YHA on the way back, having failed to find wi-fi, internet, then on the way north towards Haast Pass. Get good views of both Wanaka

026. Lake Wanaka

 and Hawea lakes

027. Lake Hawea

 on the way. Stop for a rest at Boundary Creek camping area, which is well placed on Lake Wanaka, has a large supply of driftwood firewood, but it is too early to stop, so press on, entering the Makarora River valley, passing Makarora without feeling the need to stop,
Stop at the carpark for Blue Pool

028. Blue Pool

and the Blue Valley walk. It is a nice walk in, across another swing bridge across the clear, fast river, and along the bank to where the Blue River emerges from a narrow canyon. The pool is a beautiful blue colour, quite deep, with a big group of people swimming or thinking about it. The water temperature is bitter, but probably acceptable to European and Japanese.
Have a look at Cameron's Flat camping, but too early, and not all that attractive. Carry on to cross the Haast Pass, which is only a saddle in the same valley, only obvious because the river flow is with us instead of against. Stop at Fantail Falls, with the remains of a hydro plant used in the road construction. The construction was remarkably recent, in the 1960's, but conditions were pretty basic. Most of the bridges are single lane.
The next stop is the bridge over the Haast River, which has a strong flow over boulders, with the water clear and green, then Thunder Creek Falls, a long drop from a hanging valley into the river. We cross a long trestle bridge at Pleasant Flat, and find out why it is called thus. The river is wide, and fairly shallow, with crystal clear water, and on the north side you can see right down the Haast, and up the Landsborough to the snows of Mt Hooker, in the direction of Mt Cook.

029. Our camping spot at Pleasant Flat

The DOC campsite is pretty full, but we manage a reasonably private spot beside the road in, with dense scrub one side, and a mowed grassy meadow the other. Set up camp, then get out the groundsheet for a relaxed apple and cheese snack with our evening Gin and Coke. The setting is quite idyllic, with a choice of sun or shade, and the grass soft, but not soggy. Unfortunately, we have unwelcome guests, the famous West Coast sandflies, which attack unmercifully. They are held at bay by Deet and Rid, but not before scoring on DP, who retires to the van while MP takes a walk across the bridge and takes photos of the snow capped mountains.
In the late PM we walk across the bridge and down a side road through dense rainforest to a deer hunting clubhouse, then to the river, where we surprise some large duck sized birds.
English may be the language of New Zealand, but it is not the language of the camping areas, hostels etc. There are LOTS of young German and Dutch tourists travelling around in vans, and it is unusual to hear English being spoken. There are also a lot of older English tourists as well, but they tend to be staying in more upmarket areas.
Back at the van, cook a soup tea, and to bed for a night' sleep, surprisingly rat-free (he must have jumped ship) but punctuated by DP itching from sandfly bites, in spite of a vicious eradication campaign. The road is pretty quiet in the night, DP less so.
Tuesday 19 February Pleasant Flat - Franz Josef Glacier
Do the short bushwalk around the back of the camping area before heading off. Stop at The Roaring Billy carpark, and walk to the river through rainforest with lots of treeferns to wide river flats with the falls on the far side. The river is deep and green below the falls, good views up and down the valley, with rainforested mountains going up to above the tree line.

030. River- Roaring Billy

The valley widens out nearing the coast, but the river is still fast, deep and green. Haast town is spread out, DP can't recognise anything, which is not surprising seeing the through road was only finished in 1965, and she was here soon after, in 1971. Stop at the visitor centre, which has a good display on Fiordland penguins, and a not-so-good manufactured concrete "natural" wetlands.
We head in the direction of Jackson's Bay to the south, but after a look at the grey sand, grey water and grey skies at Haast Beach, decide to give it a miss and head north, over the long Haast River bridge, heading for better things.
The road has low scrubby grass to the seaward side, and an incredibly dense scrub, with taller trees pushing through, inland. Take a photo, but can't find any track, or path into it.

031. After Haast- dense scrub saround tree

At Ship Creek there is an excellent walk, the Kahikatea Swamp Forest walk, inland under the bridge along the tannin stained creek, then through a wetland area choked with moss-grown trees, as in "The Piano".
On the beach side, take the Dune Lake walk through the sort of dense scrub we saw earlier, to an inter-dune lagoon, and out to the beach to see the local Hector's dolphins with unusual rounded dorsal fins, and a strange object out at sea. Through the telephoto we identified it as a seal with its flipper up in the air, but looked very much like a skindiver in a wet suit.
Take a lot of photos at the very attractive Knights Point,

032. View from Knights Point

 which overlooks a beach and rocky point to the south, from high on the rainforest-clad shoreline hills. Using the telephoto, we can identify the objects on the beach as elephant seals, taking it easy as usual. There are similar beaches and headlands to the north, but harder to see from here. Lots of tourists and tour busses
Next stop was the rainforest walk to the coast at Monro Beach from Lake Moeraki Wilderness Lodge. Missing the start of the path, we have to get the shoes off to cross the creek on the 4WD road before finding the pleasant bush walking track along a stream to the small bay with rock headlands each end. We check out both ends of the beach, and rockhop around to look at the next bay. The shingly beach is pretty hard on socks and sandals, but probably worth it. Not encouraged to linger and have a rest, although we're ready for one, as the sandflies are pretty savage.

033. Monro Beach

Use the proper path on the way back, and find the swing bridge over the creek.

034. Walk back from Monro Beach

Carry on through to Fox Glacier, stopping to take photos of each suspension bridge to compare with DP's 1971 photo. Do the forest drive up the south side, stopping at the view point,

035. Fox Glacier

 then going to the end for a longer walk. Work out that once we get past the view here we are in for a long walk right across the river or head back and drive to the north side carpark, just short of the glacier. In spite of drizzling rain, do the short walk to the first viewpoint, decide it is not enough, and walk across the falling-rock zone, across the side creek on stepping stones to a viewpoint from which we can see the foot of the glacier.

036. Fox Glacier

 It is an hour return from here to the glacier proper, so call it a day. Back at the carpark have our first sighting of the local parrots, keas, as two are fighting over a yoghurt container.

037. Keas fighting over yoghurt container

Head out, stopping at the old suspension foot bridge, then carry on north, figuring we have been there.
By the time we arrive in Franz Josef it's after 8'oclock, and we're exhausted, though we've only driven a couple of hundred kilometres, but we've done plenty of walking. Check out the town, look for our preferred campsite, find it in the back street, but it is full. Glacier View, further north has a spot in the "rain forest" for $15 each. It is new, with roads and camping bays built up gravel in a tree-fern swamp. Looks nice enough now, but wonder if the tree ferns will like being so exposed. There are no laundry or kitchen or lounge facilities, and while the two new toilet/bathrooms are nice enough, they are each a single room with an L-shaped shower curtain, so the whole floor gets wet. Semi-fashionable, but not particularly practical, especially in the morning with people having long showers while others are desperate for the loo.
Walk back to our preferred Rainforest Retreat to see if we can book a helicopter flight for tomorrow, but now after 8pm and the helicopter office is closed, we are told. Drive the town looking for action and food. Glad we did, as it is a long way, and we take a while to find anything. Settle for a good roast pork and a fair salmon fillet for $61. This is not a cheap town. Good rat-free night, although DP awake for long periods with the sand-fly itches.