All Around the Country

We’ve had a very busy last few days full of driving over mountain passes and checking things off our list of must sees. We left our workaway on Friday morning and picked up our super saver deals rental car, which looked like it sounds. In the first few hours of driving it, the steering wheel would shake and it was having major difficulties starting. The last thing we wanted was more car problems, so after a call to the rental company they agreed to give us a new car and an upgrade at no extra cost. Our new car, Rhonda (we had to name the car) has been wonderful through our last few days of driving across the country. We finished off our stay in Canterbury with a hike around Godley Head. It was a beautiful coastal hike through old military bunkers used in WWII.

 

Old WWII bunker at Godley Head

We set off the next morning to drive through Arthur’s Pass to the west coast. Arthur’s Pass would’ve been amazing, but it was super cold and windy and my knee hurt so bad I couldn’t do any of the hikes we were planning on doing. Instead of staying the night there like we planned, we did a short walk to see Devil’s Punchbowl Falls and then kept driving west. It wasn’t quite Multnomah Falls, but pretty close in height! The sun was right above us, so we didn’t get a great picture unfortunately.

 

Blake with Devil's punchbowl falls in the distance

The west coast is rainy and gray 90% of the time, so we were shocked to get there and have a beautiful sunny day and weather that finally made it seem like summer. We read that at high tide we could see the Punakaiki blowhole go off, but due to the nice weather, the seas weren’t rough enough for the blowhole to go off that day. The pancake rocks around the blowhole were cool enough to make the trip to Punakaiki worth it though. We found out that the only free campsite in town required a two hour walk through the bush to get to. Being the bargain hunters that we are, we decided to go for it. It was already five when we got to the parking lot, so we rushed to pack up our backpacks and food for the night so we could set off. After about an hour of walking, I realize that I saw the pump for the stove fuel bottle in the car and never asked Blake if he grabbed it. As Blake is pondering how to cross a river, I ask him if he grabbed all the stove parts. Nope. We debated eating just a cold cans of beans for dinner and not having breakfast, but for those of you who know me well, that was not going to happen. We grumpily walked back to the car and paid the overpriced amount to set up a tent at the holiday park that night.

Pancake rocks

 

We continued to drive Rhonda down the west coast, stopping in various towns to visit the highlights. Our favorites- with pictures below- were Hokitika Gorge, a hidden coastal walkway near Greymouth, Lake Matheson, and the glaciers. Both Franz Josef and Fox glaciers were really cool to see, but it was really depressing to see how far they have retreated. They retreat 4-5 meters per day! They had a picture showing where the glacier was in 2012 and it has already moved back a significant amount. If I had to guess, I would say they would be gone in ten years.

The surreal blue water at Hokitika Gorge.

Lake Matheson. On a clear day the mountains reflect in the lake.

The closest we could get to Fox Glacier.

Franz Josef Glacier. The red sign is where the glacier was in 2008.

What's left of Franz Josef Glacier

Cool archway we found on the beach

Blake in a cave.

 

We are now in Wanaka and are both completely in love with this town. It is centered around the lake and surrounded by snowcapped mountains. In other good news, my meniscus isn’t torn and I got some kinesio tape that seems to really help, so I can keep hiking at least to some extent. We decided to stay in Wanaka for a few more days, so updates on this town later!