Fox Glacier and environs

Three cheers for The NZ Department of Conservation (affectionately known as DOC). No doubt Kiwis will have their criticisms of the department, as at home we do of the National Trust and English Heritage, but from a tourist's point of view they do a sterling job.  Take Fox Glacier for instance.  There is a 4km walkway/cycleway from the township that saves you having to drive your car or camper up to the glacier access car park along with the hordes of others.  It is level gravel underfoot and routes through very attractive rain forest. Not many were walking/cycling today but we appreciated not having to drive or walk along a busy main road to such a wonderful attraction.

As with all the DOC sites we've visited, there are good information boards along the way to tell you about what you can see.  We've probably already mentioned the DOC campsites with varying facilities depending upon the remoteness of their location, but all guaranteed to be in beautiful settings.  The Fox Glacier is very impressive, partly because it's so accessible.  The 30 minute walk from the car park is stunning in itself along the glacial valley with towering cliffs and a fast running stream.

 

 

 

Not much else you say about this, it's nature at its rawest. There was more of it today too.  We started off driving down the road to Lake Matheson - the mirror lake - famous for its reflections of the mountains behind.  Unfortunately it was overcast with periodic heavy showers so not the best conditions to see the phenomenon but even so the mirror image of the scenery was there.

 

 

After coffee and cake at the excellent café there we carried on down the road to Gillespie Beach.  12km of unmade road and we were wondering what to expect at the end.  A fabulous wild pebbly beach with masses of driftwood (not twigs but huge tree trunks) at the top of the beach. 

 

 

 

Whilst Nikki collected beautifully patterned pebbles................. (you'll have to make do with a picture as I can only bring home one or two).

 

 

Colin decided to treat the beach an outdoor gym pumping weights and doing push ups.  There weren't too many people on the beach in case you're wondering!



Other hardy types have tried to make a profit from the beach.  In the mid 19th century there was a dredger bringing up rock and soil from the nearby lagoon prospecting for gold.  The ship bringing this machinery in foundered on the shore, and after 7 years and no gold it was easier to leave the dredger behind in the swamp.

After a couple of hours messing about on the beach we thought we should head north again and made it to Franz Josef, being rewarded at the end of the day with this view of the Franz Josef glacier and the Mt Cook range in the background.

Insects - the most populous animal species

And they all seem to be here on the west coast of NZ!  In fact one major type - the sand fly.  There are thousands of them and they are very aggravating and have rather curtailed our activities in the last 24 hours despite application of vast quantities of insect repellent.

We set off from Queenstown yesterday morning for the west coast via the Haast Pass which is the main route across the southern end of the Southern Alps to the west coast.  So we were expecting some fantastic views.  We only had time for a picnic lunch on Lake Wanaka and it was tempting to stay there all day.

But we forced ourselves to move via Lake Hawea, another delightful spot.

 

To the Haast Pass and attendant glacial river.

 

 

Once this became navigable it was just asking to be swum in so Nikki obliged and this is where the insect problem started to manifest itself.  Although the water was icy the biting bugs were more uncomfortable so entry into the water was hasty, a quick wallow round admiring the view in the distance to Mt Hooker then an equally swift exit involving a sprint back to the safety of the camper van.

 

There then followed a couple of hours indecision about where to stay for the night.  We found several lovely wilderness spots, but all infested with insects.  Eventually we realised that we were going to have to live with them and chose this beach.  After a quick photo shoot it was into the van and batten down the hatches for the night.

 



Breakfast the following morning took place entirely inside despite the Tasman Sea almost lapping at the camper steps.  Colin served up venison sausage butties - delicious.  Apart from lamb and dairy products, NZ also exports venison and we have passed many herds of deer obviously being farmed for commercial purposes. Why don't we do it in the UK? Are we too sentimental? 

 

After breakfast we set off down a dead end road to Jackson Bay, a small fishing bay 25 miles from the nearest habitation, tempted by the Lonely Planet Guide's description of the Cray Pot restaurant and its fresh fish.

 

We had to investigate this signpost en route  though and found another lovely deserted beach.  Again plagued by bugs so just time for the photo shoot.

 

 

Having arrived at Jackson Bay too early for lunch we applied repellent liberally and went for a walk to Ocean Beach where there have been reports of crested Fiordland penguins nesting. Sadly none sighted but this time the water was just too tempting and Colin abandoned Nikki with towel and camera and headed back to the Cray Pot.  Having finally "conquered" the Tasman Sea Nikki joined him for a highly recommended lunch.  Fish chowder and a mixed fish platter, although judging by our neighbours' plates fish and chips and lobster tail looked equally tasty. 

 

 

 

As there was little else to do in Jackson Bay we decided to head up the coast towards the glaciers (Colin's planning spreadsheet almost completely out the window now!), arriving at the village of Fox Glacier in time to find a bug free Top 10 site with all mod cons.

 



Queenstown and get out the mountain gear

A delightful 3 hours drive from Manapouri and we were in Queenstown on Lake Wakatipu and parked in another 'campervan city'.

 

However it was not your normal site and was littered with quirky bits of ironmongery - take a look at this BBQ.

 



The following day was the assault on Ben Lomond, the 1746 metre peak overlooking Queenstown. Queenstown is the home of bungy jumping and is peopled by adrenalin junkies running para gliding, rafting, jet boat, canoeing, river surfing, white water sledging, hang gliding and other manic pursuit outfits and inciting tourists to sample them.  However it was nice to meet a few like minded people going for a simple, albeit energetic, walk. Successfully climbed in rather blustery conditions some 6 hours later (we are getting fitter) we reached the summit with 10 minutes to spare until our self imposed deadline.  Here are a few shots of the ascent / descent. The views beat any adrenalin fuelled sport in our book. No wonder Peter Jackson elected to come home to film LOTR. We haven't seen any Orcs yet but keep an ever watchful eye out.

Didn't mention mountain biking in the extreme sports list - the first part of our trail was criss crossed by near vertical tracks with mountain bikers occasionally emerging from the forest in front of us.  They ascend by means of the town gondola (bikes slung onto the outside of the cable cars) then career down at high speed with much, rather disconcerting, whooping and yelling.



 



View over towards The Remarkables range of mountains which become a skiing winter playground and attract another set of adrenalin junkies.

North towards Mount Aspiring.

The view back down over the town.

 

Hanging on to stop being blown off the summit.

Billed as a Global Adventure Capital, Queenstown was attractive enough to us with just its natural surroundings of blue lakes and snow capped mountains thank you.

 

A day at sea

We woke up to a WOW dawn and it was all uphill from there - we were off early for a day's cruise in Doubtful Sound.  The Sound, like the better known Milford Sound, is part of the south west Fiordland National Park.  It gets its name from Captain Cook's exploration of New Zealand, when he said it was 'doubtful' that a harbour could be built in the Sound because of the strong westerly winds.



 

 

Checked in by 0730 we were off for our cruise, Nikki having taken her 'just in case' Stugeron!  Before we could start the cruise we had to cross Lake Manapouri and then a coach across the Wilmot Pass. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

This is the only way to access Doubtful Sound by road.  The coaches are taken across Lake Manapouri on a barge and ply the tourist trade between the lake and cruise ships in the Sound.  Even the coaches are patriotic with their kiwi radiator grills.

 

 

Looking down on the Sound from the Wilmot Pass.

 

 

 

 Unfortunately the weather wasn't at its best, in fact it was typical for this part of NZ so the photos don't show the Sound at its full glory - indeed the scale of the mountainous landscape and the WOW factor are almost impossible to capture with our small camera but here is a selection from the 200 plus we downloaded yesterday

 

  

 

 

 

To Nikki's great delight it was decided not to venture out of the Sound into the Tasman Sea given the sea state in the strong westerly winds



 

 

  

 

 

 

 

On the way up the Sound we stumbled on 3 small Blue Penguins going about their daily business - quite a special occasion that was not quite captured in the photograph. 

 

 

On the return trip over the Wilmot Pass there was an opportunity to see the Lake Manapouri hydro-electric plant.  A tunnel dug through the mountain from the Lake to Doubtful Sound drops 180 metres and drives the power station.  All underground with roads that can carry coaches it is a brilliant engineering achievement.

 

 

On the way back the sun finally came out.