Sorry no pictures on this one, we literally just finished this walk and I haven't moved the pics to the computer from the camera yet.
Well we decided not to rush anything today, this was pretty much going to be our last day of hiking and we wanted to take it easy. We slept in a bit, took our time getting ready and eating breakfast before heading south for a hike. We swung into the information center to ask if the walk we were planning to take was worthwhile, they actually recommended another one which was in the same direction so we decided to do that one. This walk was actually on another section of the same trail we walked two days ago when we got into town. Our driver yesterday told us they do an annual race along this trail and last year the winner ran it in about 4 hours and 30 minutes, which is pretty amazing since if you plan to hike this trail you are expected to take about 6 days. There are huts places throughout the trail that you can reserve if you plan to hike the whole thing, you can hike about 6 to 8 hours between these huts, which are basically bunk houses.
Since the walk was along this trail we could basically make it as long as we wanted since we were going to walk out and then turn around and come back along the same trail. It was a nice walk, nothing spectacular like at Rob Roy, or yesterday, but it was very nice and green along a riverside and through the woods. I still can’t believe how many ferns they have here, they coat the ground. We made it to one of the huts in about an hour and a half and decided to keep walking another 30 minutes to make our walk 4 hours total. Once we got to 2 hours we were feeling good so went another 30 before turning back, figuring on a 5 hour walk total. What’s odd is that we always make it back faster than we do the midpoint of our walks. This makes sense when we climb a hill or mountain or something, but this was a fairly flat walk the whole way. Despite that, we still got back about 20 minutes faster than we took to get to the turnaround point.
After the walk we just came back to the hotel for a bit and are now about to head out to do some email, where I’ll probably do the last blog update, and then we’ll head off to dinner.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Day 18 Boating through the Sound
We got up early because our bus was picking us up at 8AM in front of our hotel to take us on an all day excursion highlighted at Milford Sound with a boat ride. We were in a small van, not a big bus, with 6 other people. There was a couple from Massachussettes, a German guy, and another older couple, and one band geek college student from Nebraska. Our bus driver was very nice, he’d grown up in this area and knew a lot about pretty much everything. For the whole drive to the Sound our driver talked to us about the surroundings and he stopped at various 
spots along the drive for us to take pictures. About an hour or so in we stopped at a trail head and we had 2 ½ hours to hike to the summit if we wanted to, the driver gave the option not to do it if we chose and he’d drive those people around to some waterfalls. Marlo and I elected to do the hike up the hillside. It was pretty much straight up, but only took an hour or so to get to the top, so it wasn’t too bad. The views up there were fantastic. Once again we had terrific weather, and this area gets more rain than anywhere.
When we returned from the hike our driver was waiting there with some hot tea for us before we headed on to the sound. We came through a big tunnel to get through the mountain range, what made this interesting is that the tunnel was drilled through by hand back in the 50’s and they didn’t bother to put any siding on it, so the walls of the tunnel were just pure rock, looked really cool.
When we got to the sound we quickly boarded our boat which left in just 10 minutes. It was a fairly large boat, they use it for overnight trips and I guess it sleeps 64 people. Marlo and I found a spot up on the upper deck outside so we could see everything. The weather was great, but it was really windy when we got out in the water. There were countless waterfalls all over the mountainsides that plummeted into the sound. Several of these falls were really big, one in particular they told us was the height of Niagara falls. The boat took us all the wa
y through the sound, out into the Tasman Sea a bit, where the swells increased significantly, and then back through the sound. Along the way we spotted several fur seals and a couple of penguins in the water. I was actually inside getting coffee when everyone saw the penguins, but I got to hear about it from Marlo. When we came back upon that big waterfall the boat actually drove right up to it, I’d say about 20 to 30 feet from the base of it, close enough that we were all getting sprayed pretty good. It was really impressive to be at the base of a fall that large.
Once the boat ride was done we found our driver and began our trek back. One funny note, just before we got into the van we ran into the Folsom couple once again, the same people we kayaked with at Abel Talisman a week ago and ran into again at the glaciers. Turns out they were doing the overnight in the same boat we were on. We only had one stop on the way back, it was about 5PM at this point and most of the folks
were somewhat tired by now, not much talking going on in the van anymore. The girl from Nebraska had proven herself completely annoying. She was a band geek extraordinaire. We made one stop and a Kea (parrot-like bird) flew over to us, and she jumped out of the van and began feeding it, despite being told repeatedly that this was bad and the Kiwi’s didn’t want people feeding them. Our driver told her not to do it and she ignored him. She was more like a 13 year old than a college student. I hated her. I hope she never reproduces and makes more like her. She also asked ridiculous questions the whole trip, she needed to just shut up.
Once we got back it was basically dinner time so we walked up the street to the town center and found a nice little restaurant to have dinner. We didn’t get back til around 9:30 or so and just got ready to go to bed since we were pretty knocked out by all the day’s events.
spots along the drive for us to take pictures. About an hour or so in we stopped at a trail head and we had 2 ½ hours to hike to the summit if we wanted to, the driver gave the option not to do it if we chose and he’d drive those people around to some waterfalls. Marlo and I elected to do the hike up the hillside. It was pretty much straight up, but only took an hour or so to get to the top, so it wasn’t too bad. The views up there were fantastic. Once again we had terrific weather, and this area gets more rain than anywhere.When we returned from the hike our driver was waiting there with some hot tea for us before we headed on to the sound. We came through a big tunnel to get through the mountain range, what made this interesting is that the tunnel was drilled through by hand back in the 50’s and they didn’t bother to put any siding on it, so the walls of the tunnel were just pure rock, looked really cool.
When we got to the sound we quickly boarded our boat which left in just 10 minutes. It was a fairly large boat, they use it for overnight trips and I guess it sleeps 64 people. Marlo and I found a spot up on the upper deck outside so we could see everything. The weather was great, but it was really windy when we got out in the water. There were countless waterfalls all over the mountainsides that plummeted into the sound. Several of these falls were really big, one in particular they told us was the height of Niagara falls. The boat took us all the wa
y through the sound, out into the Tasman Sea a bit, where the swells increased significantly, and then back through the sound. Along the way we spotted several fur seals and a couple of penguins in the water. I was actually inside getting coffee when everyone saw the penguins, but I got to hear about it from Marlo. When we came back upon that big waterfall the boat actually drove right up to it, I’d say about 20 to 30 feet from the base of it, close enough that we were all getting sprayed pretty good. It was really impressive to be at the base of a fall that large.Once the boat ride was done we found our driver and began our trek back. One funny note, just before we got into the van we ran into the Folsom couple once again, the same people we kayaked with at Abel Talisman a week ago and ran into again at the glaciers. Turns out they were doing the overnight in the same boat we were on. We only had one stop on the way back, it was about 5PM at this point and most of the folks
were somewhat tired by now, not much talking going on in the van anymore. The girl from Nebraska had proven herself completely annoying. She was a band geek extraordinaire. We made one stop and a Kea (parrot-like bird) flew over to us, and she jumped out of the van and began feeding it, despite being told repeatedly that this was bad and the Kiwi’s didn’t want people feeding them. Our driver told her not to do it and she ignored him. She was more like a 13 year old than a college student. I hated her. I hope she never reproduces and makes more like her. She also asked ridiculous questions the whole trip, she needed to just shut up.Once we got back it was basically dinner time so we walked up the street to the town center and found a nice little restaurant to have dinner. We didn’t get back til around 9:30 or so and just got ready to go to bed since we were pretty knocked out by all the day’s events.
Day 17 God Damn Right, it’s a beautiful day
Today was designated a drive day for the most part, we had about a 4 hour jaunt over to Te Anau which is at the edge of the largest park in New Zealand, basically at the bottom of the south island. We took our sweet time in the morning and didn’t get out of there until right at 10AM, exactly when we had to be checked out of our nice hotel.
Once again the weather was perfect for us, clear blue skies and great temperature, this is really unbelievable. We didn’t waste any time and just drove straight through w/o stopping anywhere other than a few viewpoints off the side of the road. We drove through the mountain range on our way there and it offered great views of Queenstown and other areas.
We got into Te Anau around 1:30 and walked up and down the lake front looking at hotels and finally settled on one that offered a full view of the lake from our room, very nice. We’re going to be staying here 3 nights so we figured it’d be a good one to be picky in selecting.
There was a fairly large (the biggest one in New Zealand) bicycle race coming through town right after we arrived and they were biking right down the lakefront drive which was between our room and the lake. There were groups of people along side the road cheering the bikers as they rode by.
Once the bikes were through and we ate some lunch, we headed off to the other side of the lake for a 3 hr walk along the other side of the lake. It was only a 10 minute drive to the trail head,
which pretty much began at a damn that drew power from the lake waters. This was a very easy walk compared to most of the other ones we’ve done up til this point, pretty much flat the whole time. It was nice and the trail was well kept, more like a path than a trail really. There were plenty of spots where you could go out along the lake on long strips of empty beach, they were really nice but the one problem was sand flies. They bite. The bites hurt. So we didn’t stick around idle too long. On the return walk we came along the base of a small incline and a guy in his 40’s was coming over the ledge towards us, he had his camera out and he took our picture. I thought this was a bit odd and gave him a curious look like “what the hell was that buddy”. He turned out to be a very chatty, he was from the northern part of the south island and was here to see his son race in that bike race that was coming through town today. His wife had passed us j
ogging on the trail a bit earlier and he was just walking along waiting for her to return.
He actually turned around and walked back with Marlo and I the whole way back to the car. Along the way he told us about the area and the various birds and plants we could see around us. He also didn’t hold back in telling us all about himself, he was a big fan of himself obviously, but not to the point he was intolerable. Evidently he owns a car dealership up in Nelson, but what I found to be more impressive is that he used to be the head of sales and marketing for Tui beer!!!! My favorite Kiwi beer!!!! Anyhow, he walked with us back, chatting the whole time, once we got back to the car we thanked him for the company and drove back into town.
We went straight back and to the grocery store to get some supplies for the next few days and then headed back to our hotel to relax for a short bit before heading out to dinner. For dinner we strolled up the street to a bar/restaurant about ¼ mile up the road, also right on the lake. The place was packed with people from the bike race, which made it pretty lively. The food was good, but since we had arranged to be picked up by a bus at 8AM tomorrow to go see Milford Sound tomorrow we didn’t want to waste any time hanging around after dinner and just came back to the hotel to go down for the night.
We were able to watch the sun set over the mountain range and the lake before hitting the sack, since we’re so far south the sun actually doesn’t go down til around 9PM or so.
Once again the weather was perfect for us, clear blue skies and great temperature, this is really unbelievable. We didn’t waste any time and just drove straight through w/o stopping anywhere other than a few viewpoints off the side of the road. We drove through the mountain range on our way there and it offered great views of Queenstown and other areas.
We got into Te Anau around 1:30 and walked up and down the lake front looking at hotels and finally settled on one that offered a full view of the lake from our room, very nice. We’re going to be staying here 3 nights so we figured it’d be a good one to be picky in selecting.
There was a fairly large (the biggest one in New Zealand) bicycle race coming through town right after we arrived and they were biking right down the lakefront drive which was between our room and the lake. There were groups of people along side the road cheering the bikers as they rode by.
Once the bikes were through and we ate some lunch, we headed off to the other side of the lake for a 3 hr walk along the other side of the lake. It was only a 10 minute drive to the trail head,
which pretty much began at a damn that drew power from the lake waters. This was a very easy walk compared to most of the other ones we’ve done up til this point, pretty much flat the whole time. It was nice and the trail was well kept, more like a path than a trail really. There were plenty of spots where you could go out along the lake on long strips of empty beach, they were really nice but the one problem was sand flies. They bite. The bites hurt. So we didn’t stick around idle too long. On the return walk we came along the base of a small incline and a guy in his 40’s was coming over the ledge towards us, he had his camera out and he took our picture. I thought this was a bit odd and gave him a curious look like “what the hell was that buddy”. He turned out to be a very chatty, he was from the northern part of the south island and was here to see his son race in that bike race that was coming through town today. His wife had passed us j
ogging on the trail a bit earlier and he was just walking along waiting for her to return.He actually turned around and walked back with Marlo and I the whole way back to the car. Along the way he told us about the area and the various birds and plants we could see around us. He also didn’t hold back in telling us all about himself, he was a big fan of himself obviously, but not to the point he was intolerable. Evidently he owns a car dealership up in Nelson, but what I found to be more impressive is that he used to be the head of sales and marketing for Tui beer!!!! My favorite Kiwi beer!!!! Anyhow, he walked with us back, chatting the whole time, once we got back to the car we thanked him for the company and drove back into town.
We went straight back and to the grocery store to get some supplies for the next few days and then headed back to our hotel to relax for a short bit before heading out to dinner. For dinner we strolled up the street to a bar/restaurant about ¼ mile up the road, also right on the lake. The place was packed with people from the bike race, which made it pretty lively. The food was good, but since we had arranged to be picked up by a bus at 8AM tomorrow to go see Milford Sound tomorrow we didn’t want to waste any time hanging around after dinner and just came back to the hotel to go down for the night.
We were able to watch the sun set over the mountain range and the lake before hitting the sack, since we’re so far south the sun actually doesn’t go down til around 9PM or so.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Day 16 Them there hills
We slept in til 8:30 or so today since we only had 1 plan, to head out to the Rob Roy mountain 
range and hike up it. It was about an hour drive out there, but a gorgeous ride through the open prairies full of cow and sheep and lined by mountains, water falls everywhere. Most of the road was actually dirt, and only one lane, and there were plenty of areas where you had to actually drive through flowing streams. The one hiccup we had on the way was due to the sheep, they were everywhere. Marlo was driving and a little baby sheep darted out in front of us and she slammed the brakes on but not quick en
ough, we hit the little guy. We were both horrified at first but quickly realized we luckily just grazed his back leg and he quickly jumped up and ran off to his mom, we watched for a while to make sure he was OK and he seemed to be. Lucky day for the little sheep.
The walk itself was about 3 to 4 hours total, the first ½ of it mostly uphill, making the return walk fairly easy and fast. The views were reminders of Yosemite, we winded through massive cliffs with waterfalls pouring off hundreds of feet in the air just to disintegrate into mist ½ way down the fall. Dominating the horizon is the massive glacier, Rob Roy. We ended up hiking right up to a viewing point that felt like you were in an IMAX theater staring at this unreal scenery. It
was so massive that I don’t think any of the pictures I took of it will do it justice. Parts of the ice were breaking away up on the top and causing huge landslides of ice to come tumbling down the mountain side, making bellowing rumbles as it crashed downward. It didn’t look like big slides 
from where we were, but when you heard the noise you realized just how much ice was crashing down the mountain side. Very cool.
Also amazing was that we ran into some Brits at the top of the hike, we’d passed them on the road out here on their bikes. I asked them how long it took them to ride out and they said 3 hours, then the 3 hour hike up, and now they were ready to bike 3 hours back to town. If I see them at the pub tonight I’m buying them a beer.
range and hike up it. It was about an hour drive out there, but a gorgeous ride through the open prairies full of cow and sheep and lined by mountains, water falls everywhere. Most of the road was actually dirt, and only one lane, and there were plenty of areas where you had to actually drive through flowing streams. The one hiccup we had on the way was due to the sheep, they were everywhere. Marlo was driving and a little baby sheep darted out in front of us and she slammed the brakes on but not quick en
ough, we hit the little guy. We were both horrified at first but quickly realized we luckily just grazed his back leg and he quickly jumped up and ran off to his mom, we watched for a while to make sure he was OK and he seemed to be. Lucky day for the little sheep.The walk itself was about 3 to 4 hours total, the first ½ of it mostly uphill, making the return walk fairly easy and fast. The views were reminders of Yosemite, we winded through massive cliffs with waterfalls pouring off hundreds of feet in the air just to disintegrate into mist ½ way down the fall. Dominating the horizon is the massive glacier, Rob Roy. We ended up hiking right up to a viewing point that felt like you were in an IMAX theater staring at this unreal scenery. It
was so massive that I don’t think any of the pictures I took of it will do it justice. Parts of the ice were breaking away up on the top and causing huge landslides of ice to come tumbling down the mountain side, making bellowing rumbles as it crashed downward. It didn’t look like big slides 
from where we were, but when you heard the noise you realized just how much ice was crashing down the mountain side. Very cool.Also amazing was that we ran into some Brits at the top of the hike, we’d passed them on the road out here on their bikes. I asked them how long it took them to ride out and they said 3 hours, then the 3 hour hike up, and now they were ready to bike 3 hours back to town. If I see them at the pub tonight I’m buying them a beer.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Day 15 Wednesday, Nov 7 All sunny skies with unlimited visibility
We got out of our hotel and on the road by 9:30 or so, the drive was going to be about 3 ½ hours to the next town we were going to stay in, Wanaka, but there were 3 or 4 stops along the way at different hikes that we’d use to break up the trip.
The 1st stop was about a 15 minute walk in to see a waterfall. It was pretty nice to see, but to be honest it wasn’t as large as one we say about 5 minutes earlier along side the road, I wish we’d
have stopped to take a picture of that one. This fall had a river running in front of it which was pure aqua in color, so that made for interesting pictures. This stop was about 30 minutes into our drive.
The 2nd stop was only about 10 minutes further along, this was another water fall, but the hike to it was negligible, about 5 minutes. This fall was a bit larger in height and there were a few more people gathered about looking at it.
Another 10 to 15 minutes down the road we stopped at yet another water fall which was also a 5 minute stroll through the woods. The trees here were massive compared to what we’d seen so far on the south island, I have no idea why they grow like that here and not anywhere else we’ve been. This was called the fan fall because the water fall fanned out as it came to the base and into the river. It wasn’t as high a drop as the previous one, but still pretty to look at. This was the last water fall we’d stop to see on this trip.
The 4th and last stop before getting into Wanaka was a hike that took us to the top of a peak in the mountain range we were driving through, it was about a 30 minute walk straight uphill to the top, it got the sweat flowing for the 1st time today. The view up there was pretty nice of the mountain range and valley we were driving through. The walk down that hill was about twice as fast as the walk up, for gravitational reasons. We were expecting an hour and a half walk here and ended up w/ the 45 minutes and felt slighted. Turned out that right across the street from
this hike was another marked hike that was supposed to go for an hour and a half, so we decided to stroll along that one. This was a nice level walk the only problem I was having is that they had recently trimmed the trail back and the walking path was littered with twigs and since I was wearing my Teva sandals I was getting twigs stuck into my toes all the time. This trail ended up w/ a decent view of the valley as well. From here we headed straight into Wanaka.
We drove along three separate lakes coming into town, it had a very Tahoe feel to it with the mountain ranges in the back with snow caps. Coming into Wanaka gave the impression of driving into a small mountain town, probably a ski town in the winter. Right on the lake and probably about 3 square blocks for the major downtown area. We quickly found ourselves a hotel to stay at tonight, this is probably the best place yet, we have a full kitchen, a living room area (part of the one room, but a couch and TV separate) and a small patio area out back, it’s really nice. I kinda just wanted to relax here but the weather was absolutely perfect out and we couldn’t waste that not being outside, so we drove to the outskirt of town to what is known as Mount Iron which was supposed to be another hour and a half walk.
The first 45 minutes of Mount Iron were straight uphill, and with the sunshine beaming down on us it didn’t take long to start sweating again. The views from the top were stunning, you could
see all 3 major lakes with the mountain range backing. The other side was a spectacular view of the prairies with more mountains off in the distance.
On our way back we swung into the grocery store to pick up some drinks and food since we have a full kitchen and plan to stay here two days, evidently our hike tomorrow is long and we’ll need to pack a lunch. The grocery store is about 50ft from our hotel, which is where I am right now writing this, now I think we’ll head out to find a pub with an internet connection and hopefully I can post this stuff since it’s been about 4 or 5 days since I’ve updated the damn blog.
The 1st stop was about a 15 minute walk in to see a waterfall. It was pretty nice to see, but to be honest it wasn’t as large as one we say about 5 minutes earlier along side the road, I wish we’d
have stopped to take a picture of that one. This fall had a river running in front of it which was pure aqua in color, so that made for interesting pictures. This stop was about 30 minutes into our drive.The 2nd stop was only about 10 minutes further along, this was another water fall, but the hike to it was negligible, about 5 minutes. This fall was a bit larger in height and there were a few more people gathered about looking at it.
Another 10 to 15 minutes down the road we stopped at yet another water fall which was also a 5 minute stroll through the woods. The trees here were massive compared to what we’d seen so far on the south island, I have no idea why they grow like that here and not anywhere else we’ve been. This was called the fan fall because the water fall fanned out as it came to the base and into the river. It wasn’t as high a drop as the previous one, but still pretty to look at. This was the last water fall we’d stop to see on this trip.
The 4th and last stop before getting into Wanaka was a hike that took us to the top of a peak in the mountain range we were driving through, it was about a 30 minute walk straight uphill to the top, it got the sweat flowing for the 1st time today. The view up there was pretty nice of the mountain range and valley we were driving through. The walk down that hill was about twice as fast as the walk up, for gravitational reasons. We were expecting an hour and a half walk here and ended up w/ the 45 minutes and felt slighted. Turned out that right across the street from
this hike was another marked hike that was supposed to go for an hour and a half, so we decided to stroll along that one. This was a nice level walk the only problem I was having is that they had recently trimmed the trail back and the walking path was littered with twigs and since I was wearing my Teva sandals I was getting twigs stuck into my toes all the time. This trail ended up w/ a decent view of the valley as well. From here we headed straight into Wanaka.We drove along three separate lakes coming into town, it had a very Tahoe feel to it with the mountain ranges in the back with snow caps. Coming into Wanaka gave the impression of driving into a small mountain town, probably a ski town in the winter. Right on the lake and probably about 3 square blocks for the major downtown area. We quickly found ourselves a hotel to stay at tonight, this is probably the best place yet, we have a full kitchen, a living room area (part of the one room, but a couch and TV separate) and a small patio area out back, it’s really nice. I kinda just wanted to relax here but the weather was absolutely perfect out and we couldn’t waste that not being outside, so we drove to the outskirt of town to what is known as Mount Iron which was supposed to be another hour and a half walk.
The first 45 minutes of Mount Iron were straight uphill, and with the sunshine beaming down on us it didn’t take long to start sweating again. The views from the top were stunning, you could
see all 3 major lakes with the mountain range backing. The other side was a spectacular view of the prairies with more mountains off in the distance.On our way back we swung into the grocery store to pick up some drinks and food since we have a full kitchen and plan to stay here two days, evidently our hike tomorrow is long and we’ll need to pack a lunch. The grocery store is about 50ft from our hotel, which is where I am right now writing this, now I think we’ll head out to find a pub with an internet connection and hopefully I can post this stuff since it’s been about 4 or 5 days since I’ve updated the damn blog.
Day 14 Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Well so much for the Wet Coast, we woke up today and peaked out the front of our hotel to see the mountain range shining through in front of a bright blue sky. Since our place had a kitchen Marlo made some eggs for breakfast and we were out the door immediately after. We wanted to get to a specific hike early because it was around a lake that gave great reflections of the mountains in the morning before the wind picked up and created some ripples in the water. The 1st people we see when we got there were our friends from Folsom once again, we’re seeing them everywhere. The actual hike/walk around the lake was fairly easy and quick, about a hour or so, but the views were fantastic of the mountain range and the glacier. We got there kinda late so the water wasn’t like glass, but as we waited a few minutes the wind died down and the water got pretty calm, so we were able to get some good pictures.
Our next hike was just up the street, actually it was right next to the walk we did yesterday out
to the glacier face. It was called the chalet walk and it went along the hilltop that ran along the gorge that the glacier was in, so you could look across at the glacier face we saw yesterday. It was a 2 hour walk total, all uphill on the way there. The weather was still really good but there were a few clouds coming in across the glacier, I think that is a common occurrence. The views we got of the glacier were fantastic and after 2 hours we were back in the car and heading south, hoping to end up in Haast, about 2 ½ hours away.
We stopped at a couple of places along the way, there was a scenic overlook that gave a great
view of the coast and we stopped at a beach and walked around there for 30 minutes or so. It was amazing to see beach as far as you can look, and no one was on it. There are supposedly penguins here but we haven’t seen any yet, I’d love to be able to see them sometime while we’re here.
We arrived in Haast at around 4PM and quickly found a hotel for tonight then decided to drive about 30 minutes down to Jackson’s Bay, which is the furthest along the west coast you can go. The town itself was VERY small, I’d say like 10 homes in all, I guess it’s a fishing village. We took a hike that left from there and went up over a hillside for about an hour each way. The walk was really nice since there was no one else there, but the ground was pretty muddy so it got messy at times, and since Marlo wasn’t feeling too well it didn’t go too well. I actually thought it was a great walk since the mud made it challenging, but I was concerned about Marlo at the time so it took the fun out of it.
After that was done we headed back to our hotel and walked over to the nearby tavern for dinner which was a pleasant surprise. I had what turned out to probably be the best ribs I’ve ever had, and Marlo’s lamb was great too. Afterwards we ended up back at our hotel having some wine out in front of our room and talking to our neighbors who were doing the same thing, they were from Boston so we could talk sports for a bit.
Our next hike was just up the street, actually it was right next to the walk we did yesterday out
to the glacier face. It was called the chalet walk and it went along the hilltop that ran along the gorge that the glacier was in, so you could look across at the glacier face we saw yesterday. It was a 2 hour walk total, all uphill on the way there. The weather was still really good but there were a few clouds coming in across the glacier, I think that is a common occurrence. The views we got of the glacier were fantastic and after 2 hours we were back in the car and heading south, hoping to end up in Haast, about 2 ½ hours away.We stopped at a couple of places along the way, there was a scenic overlook that gave a great
view of the coast and we stopped at a beach and walked around there for 30 minutes or so. It was amazing to see beach as far as you can look, and no one was on it. There are supposedly penguins here but we haven’t seen any yet, I’d love to be able to see them sometime while we’re here.We arrived in Haast at around 4PM and quickly found a hotel for tonight then decided to drive about 30 minutes down to Jackson’s Bay, which is the furthest along the west coast you can go. The town itself was VERY small, I’d say like 10 homes in all, I guess it’s a fishing village. We took a hike that left from there and went up over a hillside for about an hour each way. The walk was really nice since there was no one else there, but the ground was pretty muddy so it got messy at times, and since Marlo wasn’t feeling too well it didn’t go too well. I actually thought it was a great walk since the mud made it challenging, but I was concerned about Marlo at the time so it took the fun out of it.
After that was done we headed back to our hotel and walked over to the nearby tavern for dinner which was a pleasant surprise. I had what turned out to probably be the best ribs I’ve ever had, and Marlo’s lamb was great too. Afterwards we ended up back at our hotel having some wine out in front of our room and talking to our neighbors who were doing the same thing, they were from Boston so we could talk sports for a bit.
Day 13 I’ll have the pancakes
We didn’t rush our morning and slept in a slight bit before just having breakfast in our hotel room. We just made some tea and some bread w/ honey on it. There was a hike along a river in
this town and the entrance to the trail was just about 100 ft from our hotel, so we just walked up the road and right up the trail. This was a nice walk, all along a river. Since we were along the western coast the terrain was much different from the other hikes we’d taken earlier in our trip, the far side of the river was a shear cliff that shot straight up about several hundred feet. What was different about the river is that the water was sort of a brownish color, not in a nasty way, but more like it had stirred up mud or something, although we have no idea why it was that color. We walked in for about an hour before deciding to turn around and head back, evidently this hike could go for days if you wanted it to.
After returning from our morning walk we drove up the road about 5 miles to what is known as the pancake rocks, which was the whole reason we’d stopped in this location. I have to admit they were pretty cool to see. It was basically a formation of rocks that was formed on the coast
due to the coastal tides and waves. What made this different from any other rock formation I’d ever seen is that they literally looked like pancakes stacked on top of each other. The rocks were basically in layers that appeared like they could just be peeled apart. From reading the plaques they had out there it seemed that scientists have yet to figure out why they actually formed that way. These rocks were just off the main road, so we were able to see them and get back to the car in about 15 to 20 minutes, it wasn’t exactly raining out, but it was misting and I didn’t feel like standing out in that for too long. Although we were told the weather
was going to clear up and it’d be a nice day today.
We continued our drive down Highway 6, winding down the western coast for another hour and a half before stopping in the 1st major town for lunch. There aren’t too many big towns on the west coast, so we took this opportunity to jump into the store and grab some road snacks, get some gas, and have lunch.
From here it was another hour or so til we got to Franz Joseph, which is where one of two big glaciers were that we wanted to see. As we drove into the town I immediately saw what I hate to see, a handful of massive tour buses. Tour buses equals mounds of people trying to all get to the same places and see the same stuff we want to see, so we try to avoid them at all costs. We went into the information center here and found out the next town (about 30 min away) was much smaller and less touristed and accessed the other glacier, so we decided to just head there.
We quickly found a hotel in Fox Glacier, which had a full kitchen, we were thinking of going to the general store to get some eggs so we could make our own breakfast tomorrow morning. After checking into the hotel we drove about 10 minutes to the base of the glacier which was supposed to supply us with an hour walk up to and back from the glacier ice. What has been funny is that since we’ve done a handful of 4 hour hikes, these one to two hour ones seem silly to us now. Anyhow, it was windy and cold up by the glacier, although not raining, which was good. We basically hiked 30 minutes up a very rough rock canyon which is the result of the glacier retreating over the past decade. There were high cliff faces on both sides of us, and many waterfalls toppling over the edges and down to streams that we had to skip over en route to the glacier. When we reached the end there was one other couple out there, and it happened to be the two from Folsom that we had met several days ago up at Abel Talisman for the kayaking trip. You couldn’t get right up to the glacier, but the trail stopped around 100 ft short of it, but the thing was massive and there were some spots where you could see the baby blue ice that these glaciers are known for.
After the hour walk by the glaciers we came back into town and walked up to the local tavern for dinner, turned out the Folsom couple was there as well, it was becoming funny seeing them everywhere we went. The food was decent but I really wanted to find a wireless connection since it’d been about 4 days since I’d been online and I wasn’t able to find a connection that’d work.
After dinner we made a quick stop at a pub for one Tui and are now back in our room for the evening. Tomorrow we’ll take a relaxing morning for breakfast and then go on a couple more hikes around here before heading down to Hast which is only about 2 hours away, further down the coast.
this town and the entrance to the trail was just about 100 ft from our hotel, so we just walked up the road and right up the trail. This was a nice walk, all along a river. Since we were along the western coast the terrain was much different from the other hikes we’d taken earlier in our trip, the far side of the river was a shear cliff that shot straight up about several hundred feet. What was different about the river is that the water was sort of a brownish color, not in a nasty way, but more like it had stirred up mud or something, although we have no idea why it was that color. We walked in for about an hour before deciding to turn around and head back, evidently this hike could go for days if you wanted it to.After returning from our morning walk we drove up the road about 5 miles to what is known as the pancake rocks, which was the whole reason we’d stopped in this location. I have to admit they were pretty cool to see. It was basically a formation of rocks that was formed on the coast
due to the coastal tides and waves. What made this different from any other rock formation I’d ever seen is that they literally looked like pancakes stacked on top of each other. The rocks were basically in layers that appeared like they could just be peeled apart. From reading the plaques they had out there it seemed that scientists have yet to figure out why they actually formed that way. These rocks were just off the main road, so we were able to see them and get back to the car in about 15 to 20 minutes, it wasn’t exactly raining out, but it was misting and I didn’t feel like standing out in that for too long. Although we were told the weather
was going to clear up and it’d be a nice day today.We continued our drive down Highway 6, winding down the western coast for another hour and a half before stopping in the 1st major town for lunch. There aren’t too many big towns on the west coast, so we took this opportunity to jump into the store and grab some road snacks, get some gas, and have lunch.
From here it was another hour or so til we got to Franz Joseph, which is where one of two big glaciers were that we wanted to see. As we drove into the town I immediately saw what I hate to see, a handful of massive tour buses. Tour buses equals mounds of people trying to all get to the same places and see the same stuff we want to see, so we try to avoid them at all costs. We went into the information center here and found out the next town (about 30 min away) was much smaller and less touristed and accessed the other glacier, so we decided to just head there.
We quickly found a hotel in Fox Glacier, which had a full kitchen, we were thinking of going to the general store to get some eggs so we could make our own breakfast tomorrow morning. After checking into the hotel we drove about 10 minutes to the base of the glacier which was supposed to supply us with an hour walk up to and back from the glacier ice. What has been funny is that since we’ve done a handful of 4 hour hikes, these one to two hour ones seem silly to us now. Anyhow, it was windy and cold up by the glacier, although not raining, which was good. We basically hiked 30 minutes up a very rough rock canyon which is the result of the glacier retreating over the past decade. There were high cliff faces on both sides of us, and many waterfalls toppling over the edges and down to streams that we had to skip over en route to the glacier. When we reached the end there was one other couple out there, and it happened to be the two from Folsom that we had met several days ago up at Abel Talisman for the kayaking trip. You couldn’t get right up to the glacier, but the trail stopped around 100 ft short of it, but the thing was massive and there were some spots where you could see the baby blue ice that these glaciers are known for.
After the hour walk by the glaciers we came back into town and walked up to the local tavern for dinner, turned out the Folsom couple was there as well, it was becoming funny seeing them everywhere we went. The food was decent but I really wanted to find a wireless connection since it’d been about 4 days since I’d been online and I wasn’t able to find a connection that’d work.
After dinner we made a quick stop at a pub for one Tui and are now back in our room for the evening. Tomorrow we’ll take a relaxing morning for breakfast and then go on a couple more hikes around here before heading down to Hast which is only about 2 hours away, further down the coast.
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