The South Island Road Trip: Part IV: Good on ya, Kev!

Kia Ora,

07/12/2014 - 09/12/2014   Franz Josef Glacier

As the continued cry to play Christmas songs rang out, mainly from Adele's direction ;-), we plodded on towards Franz Josef. However, we found ourselves taking a small detour to the Blue Pools (which we renamed with the much more fitting title, the Green Stream). Let it be known that on this day, Liam showed his mettle and jumped off the bridge in to the Blue... I mean Green Stream. A good effort and 10 man points immediately awarded!

11.5 meter free fall. We did the maths!

After a gorgeous day driving we arrived in Franz Josef to find fog, fog everywhere. The intention had been to jump in a helicopter and hike along the glacier, but the weather would keep us grounded for the following two days. This also meant we couldn't get a view Mount Cook either (New Zealands highest mountain). A sad time for this bunch of explorers.

But we found other adventures (which weren't isolated to the "lovely" Adele asking us all dodgy questions in the pub). We visited a kiwi sanctuary and saw the Lesser Spotted Kiwi. No photos allowed though, so just trust me on this one ;-). In the information area we found an informative video about Kev the Kea as it revealed our catch phrase for the trip: "Good on ya, Kev!".

We also explored a glowworm cave in the area. The cave was designed to pass water from a lake to a river, but now it can be walked through at the expense of cold feet. We found a bridge-like structure connecting the cave to a closed cave at the other side, so were forced to turn back. We did the return walk with no lights and bellowing Christmas songs haha.

Our find at the other side of the tunnel

Can you see the glacier?

On the ascent

On the day of departure, the weather was still poor. But we walked to the bottom of the glacier so we could at least say we had seen it. Me and Liam dropped our bags on route and did some climbing on a path only open to guided tours (aka closed). It was a good view of the glacier at the top. Except some muppet forgot their GoPro and so the only image that exists is from my $9 phone. Not bad though, aye? For his foolishness Liam became the first owner of the Joker card (a rainy day creation). For the rest of the trip dumb acts would win you the Joker card, so this was passed around quite a lot. Needless to say that before we finished descending I had earned the Joker card back for falling on my arse :-/

09/12/2014 - 10/12/2014   Pancake Rocks/ Greymouth/ Westport

The Pancake Rocks were a great stop off point. The rock formations are created from dead sea animal deposits, mud and clay. They should exist underwater, but the recurrence of earthquakes in the area have shifted the rocks above sea level and for us to look on to. We even saw some blow holes, though they weren't very active at the time of day we visited.

We stopped in Greymouth for lunch and quickly decided it was the dullest town in the south island. Next!

One of a uncountable number of waterfalls at Franz Josef

When we arrived in Westport for the night the rain was heavy. But we sought evening refuge in a heavenly pub. $15 for steak, beer and a free pool table: winning! Although Liam was a little disappointed with his desert. It's not very often the chefs decide to throw in a piece of onion with an ice cream sundae! What visionaries! We were in stitches haha.

Praying for better weather (for some better photos!), we moved on with the trip. Abel Tasman was next in line. Ready or not, here we come!

Kia Ora,

Ben