Franz Josef Glacier, Picton, Christchurch

For the last leg of my trip, I continued up the west coast to Fox and Franz Josef glaciers. As always, the scenery was stunning! High mountain peaks covered in snow, brilliant blue glacier lakes, and plenty of dense forests. I stopped at a few waterfalls, did a short hike, and had a nice picnic lunch. There had been a terrible storm in the area and it washed out the only bridge on the main road, which was just before the tiny town of Franz Josef Glacier, where I wanted to stay. They completed a temp bridge a few days before I arrived and construction crews were racing to build a proper bridge. The west coast is sparsely populated, and this is the only road connecting the north and the south.

My first adventure was a hike around Lake Matheson and it was as stunning as I had heard. There were a few stops on the trail where Mt Cook and Mt Tasman were perfectly reflected in the lake. Even though there was a bit of wind causing a ripple on the lake, the reflection was still beautiful.

I wanted to go hike around on the Franz Josef glacier, but access was blocked by all the heavy equipment, so I settled on another trail that got you to a point where you could look over at it. Or so I though. Nope, it took you into the forest by the river, but it was still beautiful. Like the other hikes all along the west coast, it was a dense, wet forest with a spongy moss growing on everything.

It really seems like a place that time forgot, with very little evidence man had ever been here. There is a creature here called the tuatara. It’s what most would call a lizard, but in reality, its closer to a dinosaur. Wikipedia says “…tuatara is the only surviving member of its order, which flourished around 200 million years ago. Their most recent common ancestor with any other extant group is with the squamates (lizards and snakes). For this reason, tuatara are of interest in the study of the evolution of lizards and snakes…” Oh, and they have a 3^rd eye. You can see it on the young, but at a few months old, the 3^rd eye is covered with scales. Its thought to be used as a sensor for ultraviolet rays. They are really odd creatures who do everything at a very slow pace. They don’t hunt for insects; they can’t be bothered. Rather they just sit in one spot and wait for a bug to pass by. They take 10 to 20 years to reach sexual maturity and are thought to live to over 200 years old. They can slow their heartbeat to about 1 beat per hour.

I drove up the coast to check out Pancake Rock, a really cool rock formation near Punakaiki. These unique formations are limestone that have been pressed like pancakes when the sea bursts through nearby blowholes in the rock. This combined pressure causes pancake like layers. There is a really nice boardwalk through the area.

My last stop before heading back to Christchurch was Picton. I was there before and decided to spend a few more days, since I had to pass it anyway. Its right on the Marlborough sound and absolutely beautiful. If you remember, I regretted not hiking on the Queen Charlotte trail, so I made sure to get in a hike. Unfortunately, it had been raining and the trail was quite muddy, but still everything I hoped for. Lots of birds, a relatively flat trail, and wonderful viewpoints over the sound.

I took another boat trip with E-Ko tours, this time for dolphin spotting and another Motuara island visit. On the way, we saw a group of small hectors dolphins, but they didn’t seem inclined to come close to the boat. We next saw a group of fur seals feeding and that was quite the sight! They basically herd the fish into a tight ball then speed through the middle and jump out of the water. I was able to get some great photos as well as video, but it was fun just watching them.

We made our way to Motuara island, where there is only one fresh water source. When I was there last time, you could sit on some nearby benches and see so many different bird species drinking and bathing in the small pool. Alas, this time no one was there. Because of all the recent rain, there were plenty of puddles for them to choose from. There were a group of silver eyes, so it wasn’t a total loss.

There is another island I didn’t get to last time that I made sure to check out this trip. Kaipupu is a wildlife sanctuary. Like some of the other islands, it was made predator free for some of the rare birds. To get to it, you have to take a water taxi, so I put my name on the list to share the ride with others. There ended up being 11 of us, so I would have plenty of company. There is one trail that circles the island and we had 2 hours; plenty of time. I waited and let everyone pass so I could take my time in a quiet forest. There was one lady who seemed to be matching my pace. When I stopped, she stopped. I asked her if she was bird watching too, she said no and offered no more explanation. She just kept stopping and looking where I was looking. Strange. I tired striking up a conversation, but she gave short answers, so she wasn’t looking for a friend to hike with. After a few minutes we caught up with some of the other people who had stopped to admire the view. She decided to stay with them and I though ‘good idea’. I wasn’t concerned, but she just seemed strange. She was American, so it certainly wasn’t a language issue. Anyway, I enjoyed the rest of my hike alone. This was the first place where I didn’t see a single bird, so that was disappointing, but it was still a nice walk.

I finally made my way back to Christchurch, a few days earlier than expected. I stayed for 2 days in a studio apartment. I can’t tell you how luxurious it was to be in a room with my own private bathroom and kitchen. For the past 3 or 4 months I’ve stayed in a variety of hotel or hostels with my own private room but shared kitchen and or bathroom. Much cheaper, but it gets old. After what seemed like a decadent splurge, I made my way to the Bristol Club where my original reservation was. I’ve stayed there each time I was in Christchurch. I really like this place; it’s clean and well maintained, but what I really love is how friendly it is! The staff, Andy, Gay, and Andrea (the latter two a lovely mother and daughter team) are outstanding, but it seems to rub off on the guests as well. The place used to be a home for the disabled. There are wings of rooms and 3 different kitchen/sitting areas. The main room has a large table that 12 people can fit around. In the evenings it’s not uncommon to have it full of guests, all taking to each other. On my last night, a lovely young German girl named Sara and myself made a batch of cookies to share with everyone. I love baking and it was fun to be back at it.

Since I had been in Christchurch several times, there wasn’t much I still wanted to do, but one was the International Arctic Center. It isn’t really a museum, it’s more of an interactive center to show people what arctic life is about. There are displays including a room filled with snow. They use wind machines to create a blizzard every few hours, so visitors can go inside and feel what it’s like. I didn’t go in; having lived in Alaska; been there, done that… I was talking to one of the workers there and he said they get so many people who have never seen snow. Some of the other attractions are a blue penguin rescue program. They take in rescues and rehabilitate them for re-release. There are some who live there permanently because they couldn’t survive if released back in the wild. One is terrified of water, one had brain damage, one is partially blind. One had some sort of issue where she couldn’t get a fish turned around in her mouth. She climbed up in the keeper’s lap and they hand fed her by positioning the raw fish halfway down her throat so all she had to do was swallow it. There are films and displays giving the history of the research programs in Antarctica, penguins, and climate change, etc. It was an interesting way to spend the morning.

I had one free day, so I headed back to the botanic garden to see some of the areas I missed on my other visits. I even photographed a few birds I hadn’t seen before.

I’ve had the most wonderful time in New Zealand, but its time to leave. I had planned on going back to Australia, but I decided I really wanted to be back in Europe for the summer. Some of my good friends from Malta are going to Rome, so I decided to join them. I was headed home.