Sitting at the computer in Chiang Mai, I find it hard to believe that it is just a month since I was travelling the South Island. I’ve only been back a week and it feels like a looooooong tme, though I’ve achieved very little as I almost feel as if I’m still on holiday. That could be dangerous! I need motivation to finish the courses I’ve been doing and MUST find it next week! It looks as if the next few days are already accounted for with things I want to do!
January 4 dawned grey and cloudy. Long white clouds covered and fringed The Remarkables and I decided to forgo the cablecar trip which I had intended to do that morning. As I’m not too keen on the things, that was really no hardship, but the views are amazing and I would have liked to see them; was just never there at the right time.
I set off in the drizzle for Arrowtown, which my friends had declared ‘worth a visit’, and found I could have spent perhaps a whole day there – there was lots to look at in the High Street which might still be inhabited by those gold diggers of earlier times and there were also cultural bits and pieces – the Chinese community, panning for gold. I ventured into a few shops, resisting the temptation to buy and, thankfully, not really finding anything that was just what I wanted, though two shops did have a great range of lambskin jackets!!
Best of all for me was a lovely welcoming restaurant serving devonshire teas – great scones making a lovely lunch before I set off again over the hills to Wanaka.
After a lovely drive, despite the rain, and much shorter than I had expected (note to self: do more homework next time before leaving home!), I arrived at the lakeside town in mid-afternoon. IThe skies were still grey and people were braving a chill wind out in their motor boats or kayaks or just walking along the shore. When the rain came, everyone dived for their car or the shops and cafes across the road. I drove around the lake a little way and then decided maybe I should find somewhere to stay. Clearly, this was a pretty place to be based and had all I needed on a rainy day.
But Wanaka was even fuller than Queenstown and there were reports that the weather would get worse. Best advice was from a motel owner I spoke to: push across the mountains to Haast today and take the chance that I might see some good lakeside views. That might not be possible tomorrow. So it was that by 7.00p.m. I arrived at a motel in the very tiny settlement of Haast. It seemed almost that there were more passing tourists than regular inhabitants and the solitary pub/restaurant was doing a roaring trade. The food was better than most I had had in mid-range hotels and the service was fast and friendly.
The drive over the mountains past Lake Wanaka and Lake Huwea was lovely and very reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands, with just that hint of a menacing sky making the shapes darker and somewhat more mysterious. This was another occasion when I was grateful for the length of the antipodean day at this time of year.
Driving over the mountains along side the lakes was another reminder of the grandeur of creation: the size of everything, the constant changes in light and the shape and moods of flowing water. There’s lots of scope here for photos when I get home: I look forward to finding the time to use my camera well.
On a different train of thought I was always surprised that something calling itself a ‘State Highway’ seemed little more than a country road. Guess it makes sense when most of the traffic is seasonal with the annual influx of tourist vehicles. I was pretty impressed with the signage, though, and with the number of stopping places in just the right places for a photographer. Whooever was responsible for that did a really good job!
Next morning, the rain was heavy and the cloud very low as I set off from Haast for what I had expected to be one of the most scenic drives on the island. Up to Glacier Country. Even on a really dull day the road was fun to drive with some horrendous hairpins and some stunning vistas. Much of it was way flatter than I had anticipated and, yet again, there were moody seascapes.
The piles of stones with messages are to be found (I think) at Bruce Bay, the only real beach along the road and it is right on the road. The sea there can be vicious or inviting depending on the winds and the tides but tourists have made a point of writing a message on the stones. The next landfall would be Australia.
From there to Fox Glacier was not a long drive. By this time the rain was bucketing down (and I really felt I understood the word for the first time!) and I decided to make for a cafe in the village that seemed to have an interesting lunch menu. It was a good decision. The rain continued – and so did I, driving the windy road to Franz Josef township, finding a comfortable room and enjoying the hotel’s hot tub for the afternoon. I was COLD!
Once again, the weather the next day was different. The clouds had lifted and there was even some blue in the sky. I ventured as far as Lake Matheson where I thought there would be enough of interest should the weather improve and coffee if it didn’t.. Up and down the hillsides and round the hairpins I drove to the spot famed for its views. Occasionally, I was able to see glimpses of snow-topped peaks between the clouds but eventually headed off to Gillespie’s Beach along the narrow, narrow road hoping against hope that I wouldn’t meet anything coming the other way. I did and it was OK.
The beach itself was disappointing. Everything worth visiting was a couple of hours walk away and the weather wasn’t going to support that. So I drove back and had lunch at Lake Matheson. As I did the skies cleared and I decided to do the walk around the lake. There was enough protection from the rainforest foliage if it began to rain and I just wanted to do SOMETHING. Even though there wasn’t that much to see until the end, I really enjoyed the opportunity to wander and look at the various plants and just to enjoy the peace of the place.
And finally, the view that sent me off to see the glaciers:
I was delighted that the clouds had lifted and the rain had stopped and felt really energized after the walk around the Lake Matheson, so set off to Fox Glacier. I remembered seeing signs along the road the day before so retraced my steps and was there in no time. The first stop was at a viewpoint, making the full extent of the smaller glacier clear to all who stopped.
It was not possible that day to get too near to the Fox Glacier as there had been flash floods overnight, the river was running fast and there were safety precautions in place. Interestingly, a few miles along the road, the valley was safe and it was possible to get within 100 yards of the Franz Josef Glacier.
As I walked along and watched others in large parties or family groups I was reminded of my first visit to Himalayan China with the group from Lampang Holidays. We walked up the mountain alongside the glacier for quite some way. This was different. Just observing the way the glacier suddenly stops; the fact that a sign about a kilometer away indicates the point where it stopped in the 1700s; being able to walk up to one and not the other when they are so close together: all of these things reminded me that the earth is a living planet – and unpredictable at that. This season’s strange weather with such heavy snow for such long periods in the West and, in the Southern Hemisphere, Australia recovering from ten years drought only to be set back by the worst floods in living memory (or at least since 1974) conspire to make me ask ‘What’s going on?’
People walking towards the glacier look as small as ants against the glacial formations.
That night I went back to the hotel happy: I had really enjoyed my day and was beginning to think about new places to visit a bit nearer home. The alpine scenery and that of the Otago Highlands had made me think more about places I’ve missed.
Those mountain views followed me through the remainder of my journey along the West Coast, constantly reminding me how narrow the island is.
Living the Journey 