St Arnaud

E & K would have liked to stay a while longer in Greymouth but the sun (or lack of it) pushed them north and then east. Taking a side road they ended up by lake Rotoiti in something similar to a Swedish log cabin. Longing for a good hike E persuaded K to come on a hike round the lake. This is a trip of 22km if you can get across the river at the bottom end of the lake. The weather was perfekt so they set off with a picnic about 10 in the morning. the going was easy at first, a lake track through the beech forest. Then it got very muddy at times and a few streams to cross but no big problems. It took 3 hours to reach the hut at the bottom of the lake so after a short rest they set off to cross the river. the first one was shoes and socks off which E did without a murmer. the second and third were the same. Then they came to the river. Swift flowing and a lot deeper thanthe others. Not to mention wide. The story ends there except for a privilaged few. So lunch was eaten after retracing their steps across the three rivers. And then 3 hours back the same way. E ran the last 30min to save the time that was booked at the spa. And the spa was good.

Rain in Greymouth

The road went north without too many problems, only slight flooding. Arrived at Franz Josef and inteded to walk to the glacier but you had to walk across the river. Some people took their boots and socks off and walked, some people just walked across, and some lucky ones were carried. E was not feeling 100% and chose none of these alternatives so, regretting it now, there was no glacier walk. There was nowhere to stay eithor so they pushed on to Wai something or other where they also did the white heron tour. That was fun. On a diet of almost nothing E feels fine so, first, a bus ride to the river. Then a 20min fast jet boat ride to the estuary and a few slow minutes up an inlet. Then a walk through the forest to the hide and there was a colony of nesting white herons that the visitors could study for 30 minutes. It was awesome. There were royal spoonbills too and the coromants who are everywhere. Talking of birds look up a weka. Saw one at Shantytown the next day. E stood in the phonebooth trying to find somewhere to say and finally found a place north of Greymouth for a reasonable price. Arriving there it was panoramic double glazed (first time) windows and door with a fantastic sea view, the biggest and most modern place they have found. There they washed and dried out but the rain has started again. Greymouth has a couple of shops but also a very interesting tax office. E payed a visit, and had a long chat to the lady behind the counter. She had no other customers at the time.

Haast

As we were saying before we were so rudely interupted by lack of coins yesterday. E&K arrived in Haast. The trip as usual had taken all day , there is always plenty to do along the way. Often the DOC has built a sturdy wooden pathway covered in chicken net to a waterfall or lake of impressive beauty. Sometimes only 5 minutes, sometimes much longer. The blue pools were very beautiful. Over a swing bridge and through the woods to a rushing river so clear you can see the stones on the bottom and pools an amazing colour of blue. Our friends pushed on to Haast beach which is a motel, maybe a petrol station and a store which shut down a few months ago. The lady wanted $65 a night so there was no need to haggle. No micro and the hot plate is a contraption which they have never seen before. E remembers the type of bread knife from her childhood. But most things are clean. A short walk to the beach and that day was over. During the night it rained thundered, blew and stormed but it was warm and cosy inside. The next day started off misty so E just took a morning walk of an hour but arrived back in blue skies and sunshine. Drove to Jacksons bay which is as far as the road goes. This part of the country is on the world heritage list and is lush rainforest. The landslides had mostly been cleared away so K was able to enjoy fresh fish and chips while watching the dolphins in the bay. Today started with rain and continued with rain so an interesting visit to the information centre took a while and the local restaurant had a long queue so that took time. Computor takes time too as it is slow and is impossible to get pictures into, as most of the computors in this country. Mobile phones do not work, E's last contact with the outside world was a text which would have been at 2 in the morning on new years day when it was sent from Sweden. 

We forgot to mention the cinema in Wanaka which is world famous. The seating is mostly old sofas or car seats, if you prefere you can sit in an old car. The carrot cake in the cafe is better than E's (an admission not made lightly) the double chocolate cookie is out of this world and K became addicted to the ginger and white chocolate. The films were good too.  
Tomorrow the road continues north to the Franz Josef glacier. That is if it is open. If it keeps raining it will be closed as it is already flooded. So watch this space for more excitement.

Aoraki, the cloud piercer

The highlight of New Zealand for some is Mt Cook. Having been unable to book anywhere closeby E&K set off for Wanaka on 28th hoping at least to get a look at the mountain. Stopped in Queenstown for lunch where the holiday season hit them. People everywhere eating ice creams or sitting at cafes. It's a popular place, which is why they didn't stop. Wanaka was easy to find a room in. Arrived at the youth hostel and checked in to a double room, en suite, just over budget. The view from the panomara windows in the communal sitting rooms was over the lake with snow tipped mountains behind. Here it was holiday season too. The traffic was incredible, the heat just hits you and there's people everywhere. They spent an amusing first day stolling along the lakeside. The New Zealander takes his boat with him on holiday. Drives down to the lake edge, reverses expertley into the lake, drops the boat off, parks the car with trailer, enjoys a morning on the lake then pulls the boat out and drives back to the campsite for lunch. There were only two casualties that day, a lady who slipped, and a lad who had no buisness being out in a canoe, he hadn't sobered up from the night before. Next day was climbing. E took the high road and K took the low and they managed to meet up according to plan. The beauty of the countryside goes without saying. Managed to find a room in the hostel at Twizel, about 60 km from Mt Cook, for new years eve. Set off about 9 thinking that the journey would be hairpin bends up and down mountains. The journey was easy. This is McKensie country, there are big wide plains and it hardly ever rains, so the vegetation is not at all like the rest of the country. Went over Lindis Pass at 734m no bother . The hostel was closed so they pushed on to Mt Cook, E willing to spend the rest of her holiday money on a scenic flight, but K was surprisingly negative. After feeding him, (it usually helps) he was the same so they bout a walking map and set off up the Hooker valley, where good views of Mt Cook can be seen on clear days. this was a clear day. After 90 min walking they came to the beginning of the glacier which was thick. Not sure how many tens of metres. The water was an icy creamy grey colour with boulders of snow in it. Mt Cook or Aoraki which is the Mauri name was shrouded in cloud but it moved from time to time giving the turists time to get that photo. On the way back they witnessed an avalanche. Awesome as they say here. Back at the hostel they were informed that the kitchen was closed because otherwise the kids would trash it. It was the worst night of the year and they would be standing guard all night protecting their property. E got a bit sour about this, if they had to stand guard why couldn't people cook their food. In the end they let them in and they boiled their new potatoes and drank som wine with a guy from Switzerland. Took a cup of boiling water over to the room and decided to call off the cheese and wine. The festive spirit was dampened.  E sent off about 12 texts and received 5 which did not wake her up. Leaving early the next morning they heard that there had been a fight about 9 then everything had been quiet.  Beatiful warm day at Twizel but they were moving on to the west coast so back to Wanaka then up highway 6 to a tiny place called Haast. Haast is just a shop and three motels. 

E's favourite view

Dunedin railway station

Arthur's Pass

Organ Pipes south of Cristchurch

Christchurch

Kaikoura (crayfish) and a mountain E&K almost climbed

Collinwood and roundabout