Franz Josef is a small town on the west coast of South Island, arriving there by the usual mode of transport, the Atomic Shuttle bus, was both cheap and fairly cheerful. I decided to fulfil one of my lifetime ambitions of a helicopter ride, with, in this location, the opportunity to go hiking on the Franz Josef Glacier can be combined. The whole experience was unforgettable and added to the experience the weather was perfect, with clear skies and not too cold even on the glacier! Hard to beat the experience but the next day went on a three and a half hour 'tramp' on a local hike where the good weather held and I met a Finnish girl for company at the tail end of the hike. The day finished with a relaxing bathe in the glacial hot spring pools on the edge of town where I managed to ease all the lactic acid out of my weary and quite sore calf muscles. After 3 nights at the YHA in Franz Josef I returned to Greymouth (the cap fits the name here) and took part in a tour of the local brewery, Monteiths, and had a fine sampling of their many brew varieties, alongside a couple from Bristol, who agreed with my analysis of the beer as being too cold but otherwise as good as many English beers. After the tour we had a buffet dinner in the local hostelry, all for 6$, with a further sampling of Monteiths, but in larger amounts!
After one night in Greymouth I headed to Arthurs Pass, in the mountainous Southern Alps, central South Island. By the time I arrived at 10am the weather had greatly deteriorated and continued in the same vein for the next 36 hours, with torrential rain and very poor visibility. Predictably the local DOC centre advised against any hiking on the high paths, so over the next 24 hours I undertook one to one and a half hour walks on local paths into the bush and visiting the local waterfall, the Devils' Cauldron, aptly named and in full spate, so very dramatic and worth the soaking. Fortunately the YHA had a convenient drying room so no problem drying all my gear, but it did confirm that my hiking boots had developed a leak which I had repaired in Christchurch 2 days later. Spent much of the time catching up on reading and visiting the cafe next door which served very good coffee. I had pre-booked the Tranz Alpine train to Christchurch, on various peoples recommendation but the weather prevented the passengers from seeing very much, other than the fact that the rivers were beginning to rise with the heavy rainfall. Next day Greymouth (west coast)had severe flooding in the town and some roads to Christchurch (east coast) were closed due to raised river levels.
It was good to be back in Christchurch, where I spent 3 nights, at the same YHA, Rolleston House, situated near the town centre. Sadly the weather caught up with me on the second day when the ride in the gondola and Port Hills walk were a washout though I managed to get a full refund, so a free gondola ride.... The weather stopped me from going bellringing at Papanui, by local bus, which didn't arrive and I had another soaking! However all was not lost as I was able to go to the theatre and see a new comedy "The God of Warm Beer", funny, but definitely an 'X' rated play with some pretty bad language though I'd been warned by the ticket office and decided to take the risk.
The final stopping off point in South Island was Nelson, where I made plans to do my last 'great walk' in the south, the Abel Tasman Walk, primarily a coastal walk this time. This takes up to 5 days and DOC gave the weather the OK so after one and a half days in Nelson I would start this walk on the 2nd May. Nelson is an attractive town that reminded me of Queenstown without the high prices, and the YHA one of the better ones. The cathedral has a ring of 8 chimed bells and when I return from the tramp will go and have a look. Also was able to sample the swimming pool, and get more dive training practice.
The photo's this time are in random order, so keep that in mind when viewing!
Photo 1. A Moari street musician in Nelson High street.
Photo 2. Nelson Cathedral, a surprisingly modern building with chimed bells. The organist was playing during my visit and she agreed to play the fugue she was playing for morning service on the following Sunday, as well as giving me details of the steeple keeper.
Photo 3. The Devils' Cauldron, Arthurs Pass.
Photo 4. The west coast and the Tasmin Sea near Greymouth.
Photo 5. Franz Josef River of waters draining from the glacier.
Photo 6. Post glacial hike lunch with fellow hikers.
Photo 7. Exploring one of the many glacial crevices with our excellent glacier guide.
Photo 8. Walking on glacial ice, once adapted to wearing crampons it became much easier.
Photo 9. The great height of some of the ice flows.
Photo 10. Landing and walking on the ice before putting on crampons was tricky!
Photo 11. The first view of the glacier from ground level.
Photo 12. View of the glacier as the helicopter came in to land on the ice.
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