Friday 5th August - Greymouth, Punakaiki and Nelson

We are heading north again and leaving Greymouth. Before we go we head to the beach and hunt for greenstone in the surf. Greenstone or pounamu is the local name for the nephrite jade that comes from the South Island of New Zealand. Greenstone has a long tradition of being used and revered here starting with the first Maori inhabitants who fulfilled an ancient prophecy by travelling over the seas to find 'the God stone' as it was known then. It was shaped into tools, weapons, and jewellery. This tradition for jewellery making has continued through to today and the girls are desperate to find some for themselves. We see many waves crashing on the beach but sadly no greenstone and so we head back to the car - Tiegan has a welly boot full of sea water and is not amused!

Some 45km north we make a quick stop to see the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki. These are limestone formations that began forming 30 million years ago, when lime-rich fragments of dead marine creatures were deposited on the seabed, then overlaid by weaker layers of soft mud and clay. The seabed was raised above sealevel by earthquakes to form the coastal cliffs and coastline. The sea, wind and rain have since etched out the soft layers to form the unusual rock formations we see today. Punakaiki is located near the centre of the “Coast Road”, one of the most spectacular coastal drives in the world. When conditions are right, heavy ocean swells thunder into the caverns beneath the rocks and huge water spouts blast skywards through the blowholes in a truly spectacular sight.         

At the visitor centre we find a local lady with greenstone necklaces for sale and the girls each choose one to buy.

The landscape is changing again and we are leaving behind the lakes and mountains. We can admit that we are a bit "lake and mountained out"  now having seen 8 out of the 10 largest lakes in NZ and many of the tallest peaks here. The coast has an almost tropical forest look about it and the drive to Nelson is as scenic and beautiful as we have been told.

Nelson, on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, established in 1841, is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island. It is ranked as New Zealand’s 9th most populous city and the geographical centre of New Zealand. It is also said to be one of NZ's most liveable cities. It received its name in honour of the Admiral Horatio Nelson and many of the roads and public areas around the city are named after people and ships associated with him - Trafalgar Street is the main shopping axis of the city. It is also one of the few New Zealand cities to have its own flag. We are planning a 2 night stay here and are looking forward to having a whole day to explore making sure we find a backpacker in the heart of the town so we can have a "car free" Saturday.

  

Thursday 4th August - Fox Glacier - a big adventure!

After a sleepless night in a very cold bed in Franz Josef village Nicole has a lightbulb moment at 7am and decides to melt some plastic and splash out on a mini adventure to treat the family. We had planned to do a little walk as far as we could along the National Park trail to within 200m of the terminal of Franz Josef Glacier, but in a moment of madness a guided walk is booked an paid for and we do the fastest exit from any backpackers and dash the 20 or so kilometres round twisty turny roads to Fox Glacier Village and make it just in time for our briefing. At 13kms, Fox Glacier is the longest of the awe-inspiring New Zealand West Coast glaciers. At its head, soaring peaks of over 3,000m (10,000ft) dominate the vista. These include Aoraki (Mt Cook) and Mt Tasman. This mighty moving river of ice falls 2,600 metres, or a little over 8,000ft, on its journey from the base of the Southern Alps to the West Coast. New Zealand’s West Coast glaciers are unique and probably the most accessible glaciers in the world, as they terminate amongst temperate rainforest just 250m above sea level. So special is this mountain environment, that it forms part of the South Westland World Heritage Area. The unique combination of climate and shape means that Fox (and Franz Josef) Glaciers move at approximately 10 times the speed of other valley glaciers around the world. At Fox Glacier this is due to the funnel-like shape of the glacial valley and the huge nevé, the snow accumulation area, at the top of the glacier. Fox Glacier’s nevé is 36 square kms, bigger than the whole of Christchurch City!

 

We get kitted up with thick woollen socks, leather hiking boots and a waterproof hooded jacket and board the bus which takes us to the beginning of the glacier walk we would have taken.

We get kitted up with thick woollen socks, leather hiking boots and a waterproof hooded jacket and board the bus which takes us to the beginning of the glacier walk we would have taken.  The girls are the only children on the hike and our guide Tyler tells us, as we hike to the terminal face stepping across icy blue streams, that Rowi is the youngest person he has ever taken out on a glacier walk. The terminal face is amazing and our guide explains each part of our journey in detail.

     

As we climb up the side of the glacier we see the old path used only a few days previously but now covered by a sudden land slip. We climb up the final path before stopping to attach our crampons. The girls have to wrap the strap around twice for their smaller feet and then enter via freshly cut steps through a narrow v shaped channel between two ice walls which turns out to be a filled in crevasse. We descend down more cut ice steps and are blown away by the blue colouring of the ice around us.

  

We venture out onto the middle of the glacier complete with alpenstocks, following in single file, stomping our crampon points into the ice as we go. It was all too easy to forget that we were walking on a glacier 100 metres thick.

 

. We stomp a while longer before reaching a hollowed out sun cup which has progressed and evolved into an ice cave which we are able to walk through.

  

At one point we have to slide on our tummies through an ice tunnel before emerging at the other side in an icy heap. Tiegan enjoys it so much she makes David have another trip through!

At the farthest point of our walk, having reached the other edge, we come across a small glacial pool and enjoy fresh glacial water to drink before heading back across the ice.

    

We feel truly lucky (again!) to have shared this experience - it was an amazing adventure!

We head north again to Greymouth -  the largest town on the West Coast, and the commercial centre of the region. We check into our backpackers - and head off for a swim at the local pool. 


While we are there we have a change of heart about our chosen place to stay - Greymouth is an industrial town, full of miners and dockworkers and during the winter our hostel is used more like a boarding house for some of the men working here. We have no web access on the laptop from where we are and predictably it is now raining and dark. We know McDonalds has free wifi so head to the drive through and sit in the car park to try and find an alternative. Mercifully the YHA has a room so we return to pick up our packs, make our excuses and decamp to much better surroundings. Phew! There are some lovely girls from the UK already staying here - they are travelling on a Magic Bus tour around NZ and they entertain the girls playing jenga after supper.