Wild Western Shores, Part Three (Mar. 4-6)

Once we left Karamea, we figured we’d take our time cruising down the west coast, enjoying the fine weather and the drive (one of the many to claim to be the best in NZ, but definitely a contender in our minds). Our first stop was Punakaiki, home to a cool geological formation, Pancake Rocks (mmm pancakes), where if you’ve arrived at high tide and have a favourable wind you can see some awesome sea spray displays. Unfortunately we got there a little past high tide (blame staying up ‘til 3 AM on the beach the night before), and there was no wind, but we still found the rocks to be rather impressive.

Pancake Rocks formations

We crashed at a backpackers in the area that night, which was pretty cool since it was located in a rainforest, and our dorm was in its own building, complete with kitchen and bathroom. The kitchen was a bit odd since it was basically a greenhouse, a cool novelty even for us jaded veteran backpackers. We tried to check out the beach there, but had to leave after about 15 minutes as the sandflies were eating us alive again; I think we’ll make like everyone else here and give up on trying to sit on the beaches on the west coast at this point.

On the next day, we headed further south through Greymouth to The Old Church in Ross, basically in the middle of nowhere on the west coast. We had to make a stop in Hokitika to pick up a case of beer from Renaissance, and it was amazing to see the difference a week made in Hoki. The week before, there was literally one or two people on the street, but on this day there were at least a couple dozen, most of whom were probably there to catch the Hokitika Wildfoods Fair at the end of the week. Good to see there’s occasionally life in Hoki. As Brendon was telling us, it’s sure to get crazy this coming weekend at the Fair, with visitors more than quadrupling the town’s usual population.

The Old Church in Ross

After Hoki we continued down to Franz Josef, home to the famous glacier of the same name. Since the mountains here are tall and are so close to the sea, they trap rain clouds at high altitude, dumping heaps of snow into the incredibly fast-moving glaciers (1m/day usually). Unfortunately, we found bad weather, driving rain and fog, as we drove into town, which severely limited any views of the glacier and made driving pretty miserable. We did see heaps of senior citizens there, most of whom were dismayed at the weather and the brief hikes to the viewpoints. At some point we’d like to check out the glaciers, and will probably have to do guided glacier hike when Becky’s mom comes to NZ. The bad weather continued the next day as we made our way to Wanaka.

A view of the glacier... but just barely

When we got to Wanaka, we figured we’d be able to get a room somewhere, as we haven’t been shut out in other town previously. I mention that because of course, we got shut out in Wanaka, no room in the inn for Andrew and Becky. It seems that just about everyone staying at a backpackers in town had decided to stay in town and not go anywhere due to the weather. Not that we necessarily blamed them, but c’mon, we drove 4-5 hrs from the west coast, it couldn’t be that hard. Although when it was raining sideways on the coast in Haast, we wondered for a few fleeting moments if we shouldn’t have just hung out at the glacier for another day.

A rainy day at the Glaciers

I suppose we could’ve snagged a hotel room in Wanaka, but that goes against our backpackers’ ethics, as it would’ve run us at least NZ$80 for a night, so no thanks, and we drove on to the next town, Omarama. We did get a chance to check out Wanaka though, and based on our brief recon, we think we’ll try and do the winter there, getting jobs, a place to stay, and all the acoutrements. Methven was also a consideration, but the size and speed of Wanaka appeal to us, as it’s not a big and crazy resort town like Queenstown, and isn’t as small and quiet as Methven. Not to mention that Wanaka’s setting amidst the mountains and lakes is absolutely killer. Hopefully it’ll work out for us to winter in Wanaka, stay tuned…

They remove their own labels at Wanaka Beerworks. Just like Andrew does at home!