From Fox Glacier to Queenstown

Trip Start Jul 20, 2004

157

Trip End Jul 20, 2012

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Where I stayed

Ivory Towers South Island

(Queenstown hotels)

Flag of New Zealand Queenstown, New Zealand
Friday, February 18, 2005

On the way to Fox Glacier, we stopped at Punakaiki for lunch. This was enough time to visit the Pancake Rocks. The Pancake Rocks, Punakaiki, are a unique natural attraction on New Zealand's South Island West Coast. Layers of water sculpted limestone, resembling stacks of pancakes, form a fantastic tableau - made even more dramatic by the shooting geysers of sea spray often evident at high tides. These geysers come from the blowholes - water worn passages through which jets of seawater are forced in high seas. Quite awesome displays of rushing spray can be seen on many days of the year - because of the Tasman Seas' powerful wave action.

Further south, we stopped in Greymoth and Hokitika. Hokitika is the gateway to the South Westland World Heritage National Park. The Arahura River, which enters the sea 8 kilometres (5 miles) north of Hokitika, is a traditional source of pounamu (greenstone) for the Maori people and still yields a large proportion of the Coast's continuing supply

Mt. Aspiring National Park

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Several shops in Hokitika sell expertly crafted greenstone jewellery and sculptures.

Glacier county was our next stop. There us Franz Josef and Fox Glacier and I elected to visit Fox Glacier. I stayed at the Ivory tower hostel for 3 nights (one night free for working three hours at the hostel). Here I visited lake Matheson and took a one day glacier walk. That was something I wanted to do in Argentina, but they did not have a one day glacier walk option. It was interesting though i wished we could have walked up higher onto the glacier.

The weather around glacier county was pretty wet so I decided to head to Wanaka, located on the southern shores of Lake Wanaka, in west Otago. Embraced by the Southern Alps, Wanaka is Otago's second resort town after Queenstown and the gateway for exploring Mt. Aspiring national park. I stayed at Holly's backpackers, a charming little place with a very helpful owner. From here, I hiked into Mt. Aspiring park crossing through West Matukituki Valley to stay for one night at Liverpool hut. The weather changed from sunny to rainy and when i finally arrived at the hut at 5Pm I was dripping wet. Though wet and hardly able to see where I was going, it was mesmerizing watching the weather change, one cold watch the rain moving from one side of the valley to the other, like and invisible hand is pulling a curtain of rain

Mt. Aspiring NP - view from Liverpool Hut

. The clouds trapped around the mountains waiting to unload their havey load into the valley. The huts can accommodate 6 people and we were three wet and cold people watching the rain and snow and hoping that the weather will be better the next morning. And indeed, we woke up to sun and blue skies with a few clouds. The mountains around us were covered in fresh snow, the view was just breath taking. A wonderful reward for the previous days hardship. The landscape is just so beautiful it could be the backdrop for many movies to come (including another Lord of the Rings movie). It offers everything from glaciers, to streams and waterfalls with crystal clear water, open valleys, lush forests, majestic peaks, keas and fantails (NZ birds).

Now I am in Queenstown and have booked my bungy jump for 3Pm today. Tomorrow, i will hike the Caples track to the Divide, stay in Te Anau for 2 days and kayak the Milford sound for one day.