Category: southisland

Fox

If you hear about Franz Josef Glacier, Fox Glacier might be mentioned as well. These two glaciers are like two peas in a pot but it looks like Franz is stealing the spotlights in most cases. But as both glaciers are massively retreating these days the only way to get a good sight of the glaciers now is on a helicopter tour (hiking up to the foot of the bottom of the glaciers is forbidden nowadays)

If you are deciding to make a stop in Fox Glacier and you want to explore the area, then Lake Matheson is worth a visit, preferable in the early morning when the clouds have not closed the curtain over the Fox Glacier. The fairly easy loop gives you some nice viewpoints of the area. IMG_9921Another great spot (if you got the time for the detour) is Gillespies Beach. Keep your mosquito repellent handy here because the sandflies are everywhere and they leave you with a nasty itch.IMG_0182

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There will be Rain

Welcome to Franz Josef Glacier, one of the wettest places on earth.

Be prepared to have a rainy day during your stay here in this beautiful place on earth that is squeezed between the mountains and the ocean and creates its own special micro climate.

This tiny village is a mandatory stop along the scenic Highway 6 between Greymouth and Queenstown and has a handful of great things to offer for everyone.

Going for a hike ?

Well, needless to say, this lush area has plenty of hikes to offer. If you have only a couple of hours to kill the most famous and visited one would be the Franz Josef Glacier Walk that departs from the village. If you don’t feel like doing the walk or don’t have the time you can take your car up to the Franz Josef Glacier Car Park. From there it is a half an hour walk to the end of the trail where you can have some views of the retreating glacier. The sights of the glacier might be a tiny bit disappointing to you so if you would like to see the glacier in full glory you’ll have to dig deeper into your pockets and arrange a helicopter tour over the glacier. These helicopters tours depart from the village and need to be booked well in advanced as on some days the unsteady weather might give the helicopter tour companies very limited windows to fly out to give you a clear view of the glacier. IMG_9867Got some more time and want to get away from the crowds on a more challenging track ? Great ! Two of my favourite hikes in Franz Josef would be Alex Knob and Roberts Point.  These two tracks are both considered a day trip and you should prepare well for these hikes (water, food, appropriate hiking gear). The views on top won’t disappoint. IMG_0092Thirsty ?

After you return from a day around the glacier you must be hungry and parched. The village offers something for everyone. The Landing and King Tiger might be your best options to fill your tummy while Full of Beans might have a good cup of coffee for you.

And at night ?

Looking for something to do at night ? There is even a brand new movie theater in town which is playing the newest movies out there and if you want to go for a good drink after then Monsoon is your place to go. You drink, they pour….

But always have a rain jacket handy… because there will be rain. But keep in mind, it is up to you to go outside with your rain jacked in the rain and have a laugh with your friends or complain in your room about the shitty weather outside. This place remains a very beautiful place, even with a little rain involved.

West Coast Drive

At the break of dawn, I am rolling myself out of a bed in a dark dorm room and gather my stuff into my backpack. Wouldn’t be survived if I lost a couple socks in there.

Time to get some fresh air during my morning walk to the bus station. This would be a long but very scenic ride from Nelson all the way to Franz Josef. A fantastic drive along the West Coast of Southern New Zealand. Filled with hugs between the highway and the coastline.

The bus ride makes its way Murchison, known for its whitewater rafting, and swings it way from there to the coast close to Westport. From there, your eyes get a six-hour treat on beautiful ocean views.

IMG_9638Make sure to make a stop at Punakaiki to see the famous funny shaped Pancake Rocks and get blown away by the thunderous sound of the blowhole (check the tides online before visiting but expect a higher volume of visitors during that time). I was lucky cause the rest stop of the bus ride was just during high tide and then you get the full spectacle of the blowhole. 

 

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From there the windy road continues until Greymouth, the biggest city on the West Coast. From here a lot of passengers transfer to the Tranzalpine. This train takes you through the beautiful Alps of New Zeland all the way to Christchurch. Beside from that the city seems to leave me with a rather sad impression. The once economical thriving city now seemed to have its better days behind it.

A few miles further, at Kumara Junction, you have one last chance to decide  if you are making your way east to Christchurch over Arthur’s Pass or if you are further down the West Coast. The bus driver chose the latter one.

The next stop you will come across is Hokitika, a cozy little touristy town to make a stop for fuel for the car and for yourself. There are plenty of eateries and a big supermarket available to satisfy the stomach. There are a lot of artists in town that you can see at work during one of their workshops if you have the time.

From there on the road continues inland and after a couple hours we finally arrived at Franz Josef, my new home for the next three months. Of course it started raining when I arrived. If only I knew that it was just the start of it…

The bus driver waived me goodbye and I made my way to my new job in this little cozy village on the West Coast, one of the wettest places on earth. IMG_0020

Layover in Nelson

I woke up early in my dorm room in Picton. Today I wanted to reach Nelson as soon as possible to meet up with my good friend Julia (you might remember her from previous escapades).

Because the bus to Nelson was only leaving around noon I wanted to beat this by hitchhiking my way there. During my time on the North Island I’ve seen my share of backpackers hitchhiking along the way. So, I packed my bags again and walked down the main road in Picton that leads to the Highway 1.

I must admit the first ride was the hardest. Some competition further down the road and not a lot of traffic heading down this way is making me think of taking the bus after all. But then my first ride stops and asks me where I’m going. After sharing my final destination of the day he offers me a ride until Blenheim. Sounds good to me. At least I’m out of this starting point.

Meet Bill, an architect who has been on a lot of adventures himself but now settled down in Blenheim. He drops me off on a busy road at the intersection of Highway 1 and Highway 6.

Thumbs up ! Time passes but no car is stopping anymore. I decide to relocate to a better spot where they can pick me up and encounter another hitchhiker, Fritz. He looks agitated with my arrival but I follow the unofficial guidelines of the hitchhiker and wait in line until he catches a ride. Trying to make conversation doesn’t seem to interest him as he is keeping his eyes on the road and up to the morning sky that is getting darker.

As I am grabbing something out of my backpack Fritz seemed to have luck and got a ride. Without having me aboard he just flees with his new ride. Thanks for the invitation Fritz,  Auf Wiedersehen, maybe not…

And then it starts raining.

An elderly lady passes by and sees me getting wet and picks me up to prevent me from getting a nasty flu. I am grateful. 5 minutes down the road she stops the car and tells me she is home. At least she gave me shelter for a couple minutes and brought me to another place to catch a new ride.

Not much later a new ride stops to pick me up, Tyler. Tyler just finished his shift at the gas station and is on his way to the Pelorus Bridge where he is meeting with his dad to go hiking in the area. We talk about what great of country New Zealand is as we drive through Havelock, a town that dedicated its soul to the Green Mussel.

At the Pelorus Bridge, famous from the barrel scene with the dwarves in The Hobbit I thank Tyler and try to find my next ride. In the meantime the bus already left Picton so I hope to at least beat the arrival time of the bus I was gonna take today.

Half an hour of standing there around the corner of the bridge until a couple picks me up. Jessica and Lucas. They are on their way to Cable Bay and can help me a bit further. They give me really helpful tips about bars and please to go in Nelson.

They drop me off at a lonely gas station right before their exit to Cable Bay. It seems like a good spot to catch a ride and not much later Boris pulls over. I opened the door and asked if he was going to Nelson. He mumbled with a very low voice. I guess that was a yes. Boris was a man of few words and a road temper on a fuse but soon enough I learned he had a good heart when he wanted to drop me off in Nelson but I couldn’t figure out where the hostel was. He drove me through the town twice and tried to make some calls before I ended up at the right place. We say a brief farewell.

Time to check in my hostel. Really liked the atmosphere here at Tasman Bay Backpackers.  Not much later Julia knocks on my door and we go explore Nelson. We end up on top of the hill with nice views over Nelson. Enough exploring for today. Time for a drink before we go home as I have a early bus leaving tomorrow to Franz Josef, my new home for the new couple of months.

A great place to go for a drink in town would be Sprig & Fern

Well… with Julia it’s never just A drink… before we know it we are into the seventh consecutive happy hour of the night… The last moments of the night are still a vague memory but I believe there was some pool games involved. See you next time Julia ! Together with Ron, a dutch guy from my hostel we make our way back to the hostel.

A few hours later the alarm goes off again. Did I even sleep ?

Oh these Nelson Nights…

Off to the Bus Station for a long but scenic ride to Franz Josef !

Gateway to the South Island

After a sunny ferry ride over the Cook Strait and along the Queen Charlotte and Marlborough Sounds I arrived in the little cozy town of Picton, a place that thrives on tourists on their journey through the beautiful settings of New Zealand.

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I walked out and luck was on my side when I saw the shuttle of my hostel parked outside. I didn’t know they provided a shuttle but the lady was more than happy to take me along with the other passengers. Tombstone Backpackers is a nice comfy hostel on the outskirts of the town of Picton. The owners Garry and Nikki are very friendly and make you feel at home immediately. A five minute walk brings you right into the city center where you have a great variety of foods. As I was in a harbour town my obvious choice was fish. I found a takeaway place called Kiwi Takeaways where they served great fish & chips for a reasonable price.

After I filled my belly with fishy goods I was ready for a evening walk. This place seemed to be filled with fantastic hikes, starting from half an hour up to a couple weeks through the Sounds. Since I had to be in Nelson the next day I thought it would be good to keep it light. I choose for the Upper Bob’s Bay Track. This track leads the way up to Harbour View Point. From there I walked down to Bob’s Bay to take in some more impressions of the beautiful Malbourough Sounds. I returned via the more flatter path of Lower Bob’s Bay Track to walk back into town by sunset.

Perfect !

Lake Pukaki

If you were impressed with Lake Tekapo, then you definitely will be stunned by the beauty of its bigger sister, Lake Pukaki.

The drive around the lake is very scenic and deserves some stops. While you are driving and if the weather permits it, you will see Mount Cook appear.

One of them is Peter’s Lookout along Highway 80 (also known as Mount Cook Road). From here you can take a bunch of postcard photos but make sure you save some space and batteries for your next stop, Mount Cook Village !

Lake Tekapo

We survived our first night with the three of us in a two person tent.

The summer is noticeably gone with much cooler temperatures at night. We wake up to a grey sky morning at Mc Gregor Lake, which is only a short drive from Lake Tekapo.

After our breakfast at the lake and getting a full tank we were ready to drive up to the rooftop of New Zealand, Mount Cook National Park.

 

The Grand Trip : The Kickoff

So the Grand Road Trip of 2016 has begun.

During the next six months I will be travel from New Zealand up to Mongolia and back.

It will be a roller coaster adventure filled with beautiful scenery, diverse cultures, meeting new people, trying new foods and go wherever your heart desires to.

The adventure started last Thursday when I finished my job in Franz Josef Glacier. My  friend Lotti and me left our little home away from home behind after working here for the last three months.

Destination : Christchurch !

A lot of driving on the first day but we had places to go still. The route went from the gloomy roads of the West Coast over the majestic surrounding of Arthurs Pass down to the meadows of Canterbury.

There we picked up our missing member of the new tripod and set course to Lake Tekapo.

A little after sunset we arrived at our campground at Lake Mc Gregor. We put down our tent for our first night camping. While setting up our tent we got attacked by a swarm of mosquitos. We dived into our tent and fell quickly asleep.

Year One Celebration in Franz Josef

Exactly one year ago I posted my first blog.

Cheers to that !

I must admit, one year ago I was pretty clueless about what would be next. I just came back home after living nearly a year abroad in Western Canada.

Today I am packing again. This time in Franz Josef, New Zealand and honestly, I still don’t have a clue what’s next.

But that is alright. Who does anyway ?

It’s the beauty of traveling and life in general.

What I know is that I’m getting ready for a new adventure through the land of hobbits with two new made friends, Fernando and Lotti.

I have been spending my time in this remote village for about three months to save up for my future travels.

It’s been a great experience but now it’s time to go back on the road.

And there is a question that suddenly pops up in my head :

Where will I be in one year ?