We rose at sparrow’s fart (well, they might have accomplished that a little before we rose), but waking up was really forced upon us by the incessant drone of helicopter after helicopter taking tourists up to the glaciers. We decided to walk the dogs and at the same time to see what tours might be on offer for Franz Joseph Glacier. Unfortunately everything was booked up so we decided to drive the motorhome up to the glacier carpark and do our own thing. Apparently the walk to the glacier was 1 1/2 hours return and I decided my joints could manage that amount. We were a bit hesitant about whether we would fit the motorhome in the carpark but when we saw buses and other motorhomes coming back down the road we felt reassured that all would be well.
We prepared ourselves for a good walk and set off, leaving the dogs esconced in the motorhome. The tracks were well laid out and the walk was obviously very popular as the carpark was packed. Bruce recognised every person coming towards us as European tourists because they walked on the wrong side of the path. He made a bit of a sport of holding his ground to see which ones would change sides, but he lost that battle more often than he won it.
The walk was very pleasant and the terrain was fairly easy although very uneven so I had to watch my foot plant with every step which slowed us down somewhat. There were also the frequent camera stops. The terrain just had to be admired and massive forces of nature were very evident with cliffs having vertical rock layers, and other cliff facing looking just like waterfalls, although the water has long since dried up.
There were deep vertical crevasses, and waterfalls falling huge distances straight down. The terrain glistened with the sparkles of mica in all the rocks.
The river was flowing pretty swiftly and was a milky grey colour with all the sediment it was picking up along the way. We could also see the waterfall at the base of the glacier where the river underneath all the ice was escaping. The views looking back down the valley were beautiful, but the views looking up at the glacier became more and more breath taking with every turn of the path.
We stopped for a short time at the end of the path, had a drink and an apple before making our way back again. We deviated off the path somewhat to get to the base of the waterfalls and I decided that we would have a drink of glacier water, so Bruce was dispatched, water bottle in hand to fill it from one of the waterfalls. What beautiful water it was too and the bonus was that Bruce did not get drenched.
We made it back to the motorhome, having been walking, deviating and photographing for three hours but we both felt uplifted by the experience. My joints were protesting somewhat though!
After refreshments we headed off down the coast towards Haast. We stopped of at Lake Mathieson which is supposed to have picture perfect reflections of the mountains in its still waters. However, the waters were not still, the mountain views were becoming obscured through low cloud, and dogs were not allowed on the walk around the lake (even though there are cattle grazing in the field next to it), so we decided to continue on.
We had been told by fellow motorhomers that the scenery on the road to Haast was just “more of the same”. We did not find this to be the case. True, there was still native bush next to the road, mountainous rocky streams, rivers that were startling shades of blue, and funny one lane bridges, but we just could not get tired of the views.
The road to Haast eventually found the coast again and the coastal views were also lovely but not dis-similar from the Coromandel.
There are not many places to stay around Haast, so after giving the dogs a big run on Haast Beach we booked ourselves into the Top 10 Holiday Park. The ratings for this camp weren’t great but I don’t know how old they were because we found it to be lovely. All the facilities were in good order, clean and tidy and the grounds were well maintained. The people running it were very busy, but unfailingly friendly and helpful. I don’t know where they could do better really.
Away From Home NZ 