Category: New Zealand and Australia

Travelling the west coast

Friday morning we had some sun as we left Greymouth and headed south. Today’s notes included two glaciers along the way.

Hokitika River
We had some grasslands at the base of the mountains.

We got our first glimpse of the Franz Joseph Glacier and decided to drive in on a secondary road to a parking area for better visibility. We took a hike in for better views – about a 30 minute round trip.

This was at the end of the trail to view the glacier. Like other glaciers it has been receding.
The Defiance Hut built in 1912-13, used by climbers and explorers.
Moved to current location in 2020 after an interim period nearby starting in 1978.

We tried to see the next glacier but it required a longer hike in so we passed by Fox Glacier.

We carried on further down the coast.

At Bruce Bay, NZ

Finally got to Haast which was our stop for the night.

At Haast – more clouds moved in.

Tomorrow we head back inland towards the east coast.

Arthur’s Pass

Thursday morning was cloudy as we left Christchurch about 9 am for a drive across the island. Our route would take us through some mountain ranges so we were hopeful not to have rain.

Lots of heavy cloud but no rain.
The pass is only at an elevation of 3,000 ft. so lots of trees on the hills.
First view of multiple snow topped peaks.

The Otira Viaduct is a four span cantilever bridge with a length of 1,440 ft and average grade of 12% on its deck. Each pier is about 130 ft high, supported on excavated cylinders 13 ft in diameter and 98 ft deep.
It’s a deep gorge through the pass

Our final section went through a little town called Moana that sits on the edge of Lake Brunner where we saw a lady enjoying a swim, even though it was only about 19 degrees C and we were in long sleeves!

Not appealing to us for a swim!

We checked in to our hotel for the night – the Sundowner Motel and had a quiet evening to read and get caught up.

Tomorrow will be a long day as we head down the west coast and past some glaciers.