Fox Glacier

Our accommodation at Fox Glacier was at the Mt Cook View Motel, just out of the main township.

We had a bit of a chat to the owners when we arrived and Harry got to know the resident animals. There was a cat ginger called Garfield, a mop dog called Bubbles and a miniature pony called Breeze.

When we checked in the evening before we couldn't work out where the view of Mt Cook and how they could use the name. Overnight the skies had cleared and the famous peak was obvious.

Maybe even more obvious was Mount Tasman.

After breakfast everyone piled into the car and we cruised half a kilometre down the road to Lake Matheson. We left Pat at the cafe where he had the view below to gaze at while reading the paper and have a coffee. The rest of up set off on the loop trail around the lake.

  

A New Zealand bellbird was going about it's business at the trail head just near the cafe. It didn't seem at all worried about what we were up to.

 

There's a suspension bridge just beyond the trail head that grants access to the forest.

The forest on the west coast is easily as lush as what we;d seen in The Catlins. Tree ferns were everywhere.

Half way around and at the end of the lake there are a couple of lookout points. The aspect is nothing short of stunning. We did notice a few clouds starting to creep in and hoped it wouldn't wreck our helicopter flight.

We wondered back to the cafe marvelling at New Zealand's two highest peaks.

We reset for the one event of the entire trip that we'd been talking about for months. After some stuffing around at the helicopter tour office we were eventually taken to the helipad. Harry was so excited that, once again, he went very quiet, particularly when the chopper came in to land.

 

We were all buckled in and ready. Harry gave the thumbs up to GO!

 The flight took us over the lake we'd hiked around earlier then north to the Frans Joseph Glacier.

We didn't land on the glacier but flew up the valley before crossing the ridge to the head of Fox Glacier.

We landed a bit below the head of Fox Glacier with some high winds keeping the choppers down below the ridge. It was a good spot with great views of the towering mountain peaks and for a while we were alone.

Time for some tourist snaps.

 So much for alone on the glacier. The first chopper came screaming in from where we'd come from.

Look mummy! A chopper!

More happy snaps.

Just a few more photos before having to get back on into the chopper.

We descended down the Fox Glacier valley back to the helipad. Everyone was buzzing after and exhilarating experience.

After lunch and some rest time for Harry, we all got moving again. Pat & Jeanette went across the road to visit friends while we hiked up to the foot of Fox Glacier.

The trail is steep in sections and has a lot of loose rocks. Harry did pretty well considering and I didn't have to carry him on my shoulders too much. The foot of the glacier is nowhere near as spectacular as where we'd been in the helicopter earlier.

There was a cluster of large rocks that were covered in a red lichen. It looks like paint doesn't it.

On the way back Harry decided he'd copy me and drink out of the crystal clear stream that crosses the trail. "I'm very thirsty Daddy."

It was a great day and a definite highlight of the trip. The weather came good for just long enough for us to enjoy it.

Haast Pass

It was New Year's Eve and we were off to Fox Glacier. We made the mistake of making a stop in Wanaka to pick up some maps and coffees. Wanaka on New Year's is a crazy place. Lots of fun if you're winding up for a big night, not so much if you're trying to do anything else. We finally got away from crazy town heading north between Lake Wanaka (below) and Lake Hawea.

 Leaving Lake Wanaka behind us at the start of Haast Pass, the grassy farmlands made way for dense rainforest similar to what we'd become accustomed to in The Catlins. The further we ventured into the mountains the heavier the rain became. The valley seemed to be leaking water everywhere and in torrents. The named waterfalls we absolutely gushing. We stopped briefly at Fantail Falls before the biting insects drove us straight back to the car.

Further downstream Thunder Creek Falls looked to be at full capacity and Thunder Creek itself was just down right dangerous.

The weather wasn't much help for the run down to Haast where we had lunch. We considered tracking south to Jackson Bay but with the rain setting in we decided it wasn't worth it and it was potentially dangerous with flooding and mud slides. The run through Haast Pass had made us nervous. Instead we set off north toward our final destination, Fox Glacier.

 

It didn't rain the whole time and even saw the sun on occasion including (and fortunately) when we were at Knight's Point Lookout (above & below). The forests on the West Coast were even more impressive than Coastal Otago. The Southern Alps squeeze the water out of any clouds that try to cross the coast, allowing the rainforest to flourish.

Not far up the road from Knights Point the rain slammed the coast. Driving was extremely difficult with visibility down to about ten metres. We made it to Fox Glacier in one piece but only just. The clouds were blocking any view of the mountain peaks that tower over the town so we settled into our nice motel and came up with a plan for the next day or so hoping the weather would cut us a break.

Dunedin and Cromwell

We were only in Dunedin overnight but it was plenty of time to have a look around the city sights. The morning we set off for Central Otago we went back to the Railway station to look at the architecture this time. It's a beautiful building both inside & out.

This time we literally did have the place to ourselves.

The interior of the station is as interesting as the exterior with tiles everywhere & some beautiful stained glass windows.

Many of the buildings in the CBD are of a similar style to the railway station. The dark local stone mixed with the whitestone from Oamaru has created some striking looking buildings.

 We then set off for Cromwell in the fruit growing area of central Otago. We had to track south before heading inland. It was the third time we'd covered that 50km stretch of road since the initial journey to The Catlins. We tracked through the hills for an hour as the brilliant coastal green we'd become accustomed to gradually faded. We found ourselves in the dry highlands that have ideal conditions for fruit growing. By the time we arrived in Cromwell, the skies were grey and the wind was howling.

Cromwell was always only going to be an overnight stop because our first preference, Wanaka is a madhouse over the Christmas/New Year period and finding accommodation is near impossible. As it turned out, the Cromwell holiday house we had for the night was luxurious and comfortable for us to wait out the poor weather for the afternoon and evening.

We did visit the Old Cromwell Town historic precinct. The buildings were moved when Cromwell was flooded by the dam.

After some troubles with getting hot water in The Catlins and some issues with the hotel in Dunedin, it was nice to have a nice place with nice comfortable beds, a nice warm shower (with water pressure) and even a bath. We were able to recharge for what would be a tough following day.

Dunedin & the Otago Peninsular

We packed the cars after breakfast and made tracks for Dunedin. It was a bit sad to be leaving this wild but beautiful place.

Once in Dunedin, we stopped off at the world's steepest street, Baldwin Street. The sign says so it must be true, but I'm not buying it for a second. Those from my home patch in Brisbane will probably agree that either Camp Street or Gower Street in Toowong are way steeper than this one.

Kerri, Julie & Jeanette thought it would be a good idea to walk to the top of the street.

 

 After lunch we headed to the Dunedin railway station because Julie had a bus to catch back to Christchurch. She had places to be and people to see and sadly wouldn't be coming with us or the rest of the adventure.

 

When we arrived, we had the place more or less to ourselves.

Soon after Harry's excitement escalated. Initially it was just a lone diesel idling at the station.

Then it was a freight s train being shunted past the us.

Before we knew it the station was inundated with people. Soon after, the Taieri Gorge tourist train arrived.

Then the Taieri Gorge Motor Rail appeared from the other direction. Harry didn't know which way to look or what to say.

Harry and I even got a chance to talk to Kevin, the train driver. The look on his face below shows his excitement and happiness. Harry talked about the trains at Dunedin railway station for a long time to come.

 

We said our final good-byes to Julie and went to the hotel to check in. We decided to drive out to the Otago Peninsular. It was long enough for Harry to get in a a recharge sleep and by the time we arrived he was ready to go again.

Immediately we were confronted with the smell of the bird rookery. There were seagulls everywhere in the air and on the land along with cormorants being blown around in the howling wind.

 
We had a bit of a look at the visitor centre and decided against taking the ridiculously expensive walking tour around the rookery. It turned out to be the right choice because the albatross that we'd come to see wouldn't have been near were we would have walked anyway. From the car park, we could see the giant birds with their 3m wing spans gliding over our heads. There was a viewing platform overlooking the open ocean where the wind was howling up the cliffs giving the sea birds the free lift they were looking for.

The albatross were floating on top of the ocean, drifting in until they were close enough to the peninsular to pick up the wind assistance before taking off. They circled just above the ocean with their wings outstretched until the wind quite suddenly drove them up to our level before they shot past us doing mach 3 (or seemingly).

Before we know it these graceful birds were soaring far above us en-route to the Southern Ocean.

This was yet another wonderful encounter with the Otago wildlife.

The next day we'd be on the move again.