Back in 1992, Tracey had visited Switzerland and held good memories of a glacier she'd seen and walked within its ice caves with life size ice sculptures. When we tried to return in 2010, we found that it had melted. Something that can exist since the ice age, disappearing so quickly...So what would we find in NZ?
First up: Fox Glacier. As we drove and then walked towards it, signs showed where the glacier had previously extended to. The 1995 mark must have been at least a kilometre from the currrent limit.
The valley on the way up was what we've come to think of as classic west coast: a broad strew of grey boulders, and a most exquisite azure-coloured water. Perhaps this was a reflection of the perfect blue skies above :)
We then drove up the road a short way to Franz Josef, where we elected to spend the afternoon lounging around in the rather warm (not a word of exaggeration) tropical afternoon. We sated our spice craving with some decent Indian at Priya (the saag lamb was very good, as were the garlic naan and the Jaipur beer), but some wifi snafus prevented us calling Don for his birthday. In true tradition, we of course toasted him regardless.
The next morning we hit Franz Josef glacier itself. A pleasant 45 minute walk up a (surprise!) boulder-strewn valley got us to the head of the glacier. More impressive from the foot than Fox. It is difficult to describe the magnitude of the glacial valleys you are hiking through, the sheer volume of the glacier that had carved it out.
Lunch was a little further up the road, at Hokitika. The selection of eateries wasn't overwhelming, so we ended up at Stella's cafe. What a suprise that it possessed the only cheese room we've so far seen in NZ! Fish & chips seem to be a national staple, so we succumbed. They were pretty decent really, with the blue rock cod being sympathetically, lightly battered and pleasingly fresh.
We liberated some cheese - of course - before heading up to the mountains, and little-Andrewland (literally Andrew's shelter, creek and track) where we dined on aged gouda (in Hokitika, this rhymes with chowder), Neudorf aged ewes cheese and Distinction Blue from the Puhoi Valley. The NZ cheeses started to show their quality.
The soundtrack of NZ had become, as we descended from Arthur's pass, the sound of low and aggressive cloud pelting down on poor Bertha. We were optimistic that this would pass - after all, we'd just negotiated the west coast with little more moisture than some perspiration at Franz Josef in the benign autumnal heat and we were heading the the driest parts of the country.
Little Andrewland was a highlight of freedom camping: complete isolation down a fair bumpy dirt track, pleasant cows mooched past us, Andrew's Creek rushed along (swelling by the minute as the cloud became more and more aggressive and rain-like) and we savoured the absence of other campers.
Sandfly update: We were now into day five since the spawn from hell feasted on our unsuspecting selves. The itching bites appear to have taken up permanent residence, will they ever end. They have been around so long each have their own names and personalities, #%^ and &$@# have started a civil war to be the most agressive. Still wine taken orally appears the most effective treatment, particularly when taken liberally.
Tomorrow we head to the east coast, normally drier, warmer and sandfly free.
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