New Zealand Part 2: Hokitika and Franz Josef

 We arrived at our next hostel, which was all surf themed and offered surf lessons, in the town of Westport. We ate some quick dinner and then called the lady we'd be housesitting for in Australia to make sure everything was set up. - more on that in the next blog!

We didn't spend long in this town, as straight after breakfast we had a quick visit to the supermarket and then were off to visit another seal colony, and this time it was sunny! Despite it being called Cape Foulwind, it was actually a very pleasant walk and we saw plenty of seals swimming about in their coastal pool and lying on rocks. 

A little further along the coastline, we stopped again at Punakaiki or Pancake Rocks. This was an interesting geologic formation, as you could see all the layers of the rocks, but they were out at sea, showing off all their layers in tall columns. Because of holes in these formations, the sea would burst through, making blowholes and shooting spray. We ate our lunch here - we'd picked up a "scroll" at the supermarket, which is a cheesy swirled roll, and then were off again.

Our final destination that night was Hokitika. This is a cute seaside town and we ate some chips on the beach when we arrived. We then went for a walk along the beach, looking at all the driftwood which had collected, until we were hungry for proper dinner. We got a pizza to share and went back to our accommodation, but just for a few hours. 

At 10pm we went out to visit glow worm dell. We'd heard the main one in town could get busy, so we found what we thought was a quieter spot. We parked along the road and then walked along until we saw a small sign leading us into the trees. We had to duck through a small cave opening, but then as we came out, we were surrounded by tiny lights. Trees hung overhead, so there was no light from the stars, just these little bugs. There were a couple of other groups there with us, but when we went to the main glow worm dell, we were all alone. We walked up the trail in complete darkness, and when we reached the end, we were surrounded by glow worms. It was magical. 

The next day, we went to the National Kiwi Centre to see some kiwis! We caught them at feeding time, so we were able to see the funny little birds hop about in their dark room. They don't have any substantial wings at all, so all you see are legs and body. We also got to learn some of the Maori legends about how the kiwi came to be. 

As well as kiwis, the wildlife centre also had fish, turtles and eels. The eels were fascinating, and they had them at 3 years old when they were only 10cm long, and fully grown when they are 2m. Apparently they are found in all freshwater environments in New Zealand, so I will be thinking twice about going swimming in any lakes! 

After the kiwi exhibit, we drove out to Hokitika Gorge, a small hour long hike which took us along a river until we reached a swing bridge over some incredibly blue water. There were some great views from here and it really was as blue as it looked. Because the water comes from glaciers, the minerals inside give it a cloudy blue appearance. 

 

We stopped at another lake to eat our lunch, and then we were into glacier country. We were staying in Franz Josef so we could go and visit the glacier. We made dinner in the hostel and had another cosy night in. The hostel made free vegetable soup every night and had a popcorn machine you could use, making it another lovely cosy accommodation. 

Our hike the next day was a little damp, but it was very atmospheric to see all the clouds lying low over the mountains. We went to a few different viewpoints of the glacier, but even from 2010, it has retreated so much. The photos they had comparing now to even the 1950s showed much more. We also passed by a lake which had incredible reflections of the surrounding mountains in it. Another lake we stopped at for lunch was very calm, but as we ate, we saw an eel suddenly slither up and over a log by the water's edge. 

Here is the glacier

It started to rain on the way back so we decided we were done with the day and would probably stay in and do some work that afternoon. We also got a flat tyre as we pulled into a petrol station, so that put a pause on any further activities anyway. 

Luckily we were staying another night in this town, so in the morning when the local mechanic was open, we went to go and get the tyre fixed. It took a while, but we were back on the road and eating pies for lunch at Lake Matheson.

Read on for part 3....