Fox Glacier and the We(s)t Coast

Though it was sad to leave the beauty of Wanaka, the West Coast was calling our names! After a couple days of nice weather, it was a little unnerving to see ANY clouds in the sky, but we had high hopes that the morning sun would be strong enough to burn off any that remained.

Whitebait patties on the grill!

Our first stop was to partake in a West Coast NZ delicacy. (Thanks to Al for the "heads up"). The first sign we saw for "whitebait", we pulled off the highway! Whitebait is the term for wee little fishies. Apparently they aren't just one species, but a family of wee fishies, including smelt. They are much tinier than smelt, which I've had and liked.

So they take these wee fishies and whip them up with some egg and make these patties which are served open-faced on white bread. The traditional West Coast condiment is a little dribble of mint sauce. Some people just have a little squeeze of lemon with salt and pepper. However you dress them, they are delish! I should mention the price of whitebait is $80/kg, so of course we all loved it. Yes, we could see the eyes and the tails.

Mmmm...Whitebait with a tiny bit of mint sauce -- the West way.

Our next stop was Fox Glacier. Bill and I had been to the Columbia Ice Fields, so we weren't too excited to see the glacier, but it's what you do when in the area. We were hoping to be able to see the backside of Mt Cook, but the clouds weren't cooperating.

The glacier really was pretty amazing. It was a pretty good trek out to the terminal face, and we worked up a good sweat. There were pretty graphic signs warning tourists to stay within the boundaries, complete with photos of excavators searching for the bodies of tourists who didn't. Eek. We could see other tourists who paid for a guided tour right on the glacier, but we paid a lot of money to get away from ice, so we were fine. And too cheap.

Fox Glacier

As we were just about to reach the uppermost part of the trek, guess who we saw descending from the glacier. Yup, Dutch guy. I was certain he said they were going to Franz Joseph Glacier, the bigger more popular one, but NO, here he was! We all just laughed and said hello and continued on our way.

We were staying at the Top 10 Holiday Park (we are members and receive a discount there) right in Fox Glacier village, and it was just a short drive away. Guess who we saw as soon as we pulled in? Yup, Dutch family. As I went to check in, I yelled to them, "We're here!!" The wife was red with embarrassment. They were so obviously following us and our well-planned itinerary!

As we were making our dinner in the communal kitchen, I noticed a steady parade of German people coming in and out. I looked out into the park, and this is what I saw:

So maybe I'm a little unworldly, but this looks like the worst possible mode of travel EVER! That's a tractor trailer filled with little slots into which these German people fit to sleep. You can see they're stacked up three high, and at least a dozen across. Does it not remind you of a morgue?! How dreadful! The canopy part at the end is where they all lined up to receive their food, which as far as I could tell, they all took part in preparing. That black part to the left of the canopy is the coach on which they ride from place to place. I would prefer to sleep on the bus than in the morgue!

We had a good laugh with an Australian family as we tried to imagine various scenarios that would drive these people to want to travel like this. None of them were good.

Afterwards, we spent a couple hours in the lounge (because the rain finally came) chatting with a young couple from St. Stephens, New Brunswick. We were travelling in opposite directions, so we had a lot of advice to offer each other. That's the great thing about staying at holiday parks; you meet a lot of same-minded (cheap) people.

The next day we had what we knew would be the longest drive of our trip to NZ -- all the way up the West Coast. We left dark and early, in the rain, as we knew there were a couple stops we wanted to make.

The nice thing about the drive was that it was relatively straight for the beginning. The ocean was to our left and the rainforest was to our right. The forest was so thick and lush that you couldn't really see through the trees at all. It was just a wall of green that sometimes even canopied over the road. There's no way you could walk through it without a machete.

Our first stop was Hokitika, which I've mentioned is the setting of my novel, so I was really, really excited to see some of the sites. Well, I was really, really disappointed. It's not much of a town and not much of the old city remains. It is, however, the pounamu or greenstone (jade) capital of NZ, and I was able to buy a pendant for a good price from a carver at the Sunday Farmers' Market. Pounamu is culturally significant to the Maori, and it is sold to millions of tourists! I knew before we came that it was what I wanted as a souvenir, so I was happy to get it. I chose the fish hook shape, hei matau, and it represents strength, good fortune, and safety in travels across the water. Appropriate, I thought. (It also looks like a J, as Bill pointed out)

Back in the car, we didn't stop again until Punakaiki, the pancake rocks. Again this was one of those things you do on the West Coast, but this stop was definitely worthwhile.

This picture of the boys (Brody has begun closing his eyes on purpose), shows the pancake layering of the limestone in more detail. For some reason, this one little strip of the coast has developed into an incredible assortment of pancake structures and blow holes. We spent an hour or so marvelling at the structures. It was very cool!

 

We thought this looked like an angry face!

Though we weren't too keen to get back in the car, it was soon time to go. Just as we were about to pull out, we noticed a pair of weka running around. They are another kind of flightless bird that can only be found in NZ, and they look like a cross between a chicken and a kiwi. They were very curious and, I'm guessing, not all that smart. The pair of them chased Brody and I around then hid under our car. We had to fish them out before we could leave.

 

 

The rest of the drive was mostly uneventful, until we approached our final destination: Abel Tasman National Park. The last hour of our 12-hour day was by far the most dangerous, and breath-takingly beautiful drive yet! Imagine a super squiggly line that zigzags back and forth, no guard rails, sheer drops down -- insanity. But, it was all worth it!

Next post: Pohara Beach, Golden Bay, Abel Tasman National Park.