Day 18: January 18, Makarora to Franz Josef–Updated

We woke to bird calls, as promised, as well as the steady patter of rain on the corrugated tin roofs of the “A” frames. We were on the road by just after 8:30, for a short drive to the Blue Pools. This is where the Makarora and Blue rivers meet, and are deep pools of azure, glacier-fed water. They are so clear that you can see the bottom, making the he resident brown trout appear suspended in mid air. There were two swinging bridges as part of the short walk, which provided a wonderful view of both the up- and down-stream sections of both rivers.

From there it was a bit of a long drive through the Haast Pass to the West Coast of the South Island. The clouds seemed suspended in the mountains as we drove through the pass. On the West Coast the flora and fauna changed — a veritable rain forest of tall and incredibly green trees and thousands of ferns. There are well over 200 types of ferns in NZ, and the one most well known is a tree with dark, almost black bark and an umbrella of fern leaves out of the top. Reminded me of one I have in my front yard.

We stopped at a stretch of sandy beach to stretch our legs, and admired the long expanse of driftwood-strewn shoreline. Some saw a few small dolphins swimming close to shore. And there were the ever present sand flies, which this area is known (and cursed) for. They are small and biting and just getting back into the van left us with miles of opportunities to smash those that joined our group. At another lookout spot, called Ship Creek, we took in the view and the story. In 1867 a large piece of a ship’s hull was discovered in the tranquil creek that ran into the Tasman Sea. Speculation ran rife about the unusual wreckage, described as being “2- feet long by 12 feet white consisting of three layers of planking fastened together tight brass bolts and screw tree nails of wood.” Since it was a modern construction style, it was suggested that it might be from the clipper Schomberg which was wrecked off the coast of Victoria, Australia in 1855. That theory was confirmed, and shows the power of the West Wind Drift — the eastern moving circumpolar current responsible for sweeping those timbers 1,200 miles across the Tasman Sea.

Finally arrived in the hamlet of Franz Josef we quickly set off for a hike to the glacier. Both the Franz Josef and the Fox glaciers are well known in part because they are the only glaciers that work themselves down to sea level. (The others that we’ve seen in the Mt Cook area were at 3-4,000 feet). It was about 2 miles each way out to the viewpoint, which is as close as you’re allowed to get unless you take a heli-hike, where a helicopter deposits you high on the glacier itself for a bit of a hike. They weren’t running today because of the foul weather. But that didn’t stop us from walking it, in the rain. I had hoped that we might get close enough to chop a bit of ice off for our evening cocktail, but they keep you at a bit of a distance for safety’s sake. There’s the rushing river and glacial run-off to consider as well, and many unstable rocks. And some lovely waterfalls with crystal clear water good to drink.

I passed on the next little walk and enjoyed the quiet of a lovely little cabin, keeping dry as the rain continues to come down. This is a rainforest and I guess I should’ve figured on the rain part!