In Kaiteriteri we finally rejoined the kiwi bus. Had a bus driver who was new to the job and was filled with enthusiasm. I got to be an additional guide on the microphone and I naturally excelled at this. We decided to stop in Westport so we could hire a car to explore Karamea. Before we got the car we had a couple of spare days. There isn't much to do in Westport without a car but fortunately Marielle got talking to a German called Sven. "So you have a car and don't know what to do tomorrow? Well there's this place you can see the seals..." I mentioned seal clubbing and Marielle just ran with the idea so much I almost believed we were actually going to club some seals to death. Sven was probably too scarred to say no. Anyway we had a lovely day out and no seals were harmed although one got a bit annoyed when we got too close and did a grow which terrified me and Sven.
Now for the fun stuff. The area around Karamea has some caves where we found heaps of glow-worms, a cave spider and an unidentified life form. It looked like a white ball of slime clinging to the wall. There was also a place of the map called Durins gate. It turns out this isn't a LOTR filming location but is a beautiful limestone arch over a river. We still had fun shouting Mellon in the hope a secret door in the rock would open. I'm not entirely sure what the rules are regarding wild camping so obviously we had to wake up super early in the morning before anyone could arrive. While in the area we had a look at the Heapy track and got a full blast of west coast rain. After our wet day we checked out the start of the old ghost road. This has some old abandoned mining huts which we couldn't find and bridge that was destroyed in an earthquake nearly 100 years ago. The weather had picked up again so we had a swim in the river. There was no sign of human habitation in the area other than a destroyed bridge and the path we were on. It is not everyday you can gaze upon such a wilderness. On our way back we encountered a fun looking trail called wonderland. It took us through a dense mix of streams, ferns and trees. We thought it would be a nice diversion on the way back (which it was) but it turned out to be way longer than we expected and we had to rush back. We dropped the car off with ten minutes to spare!
We took the bus down the coast. On a stop at Punakaki we bumped into Sven again who simply happened to be going the same way in his car and was totally not stalking us. I also bumped into two of the Israelis who I played taki with back in Rotoroua. While in New Zealand I have made the ground breaking discovery that you can eat kiwi fruit whole. Now Marielle was sceptical at first but soon saw the light. Now while on the bus a German guy was pondering how to eat a kiwi fruit on the bus. I was only too happy to help and even demonstrated to lessen his skepticism. Sure enough he saw how easy it was and there I go. Changing one life at a time.
We were stopping off in Greymouth purely because it had free kayaks. And true to it's word there were kayaks and a lake to paddle in plus free bikes. We also had a white wine that was not fit for drinking and could only be used for cooking. So obviously we made a lamb risotto which was so good a Chinese girl in the kitchen took a picture.
On out last full day in Greymouth we tagged along with a German called Robin who gave us a lift to Arthur's Pass. It was about time I went up a mountain. We had some amazing views until the cloud came in. We got raining on constantly during our descent. Robin was actually driving to Franz Josef after Arthur's Pass so we were dropped off at a roundabout to try hitch hiking for the first time. It actually went well and soon we were picked up by a a Taiwanese group who were on a two week holiday. They seemed really happy just because they were on holiday and were full of smiles and enthusiasm. They hadn't picked up hitch hikers before so it was a first time for everyone.
Our next stop on the Kiwi bus was the Franz Josef glacier. We had a full day to walk up to the foot of the glacier with all the other tourists. Franz Josef has been in retreat for a long time now and climate change is speeding up that process. It may be gone completely in 20 years. It is a good opportunity to observe how plants reclaim the barren land and over the course of centuries transform it into lush temperate rainforest.
Our next journey on the bus had stops at beautiful waterfalls and scenic views. I could have happily spent a day at any of them. Eventually we arrived in the alpine resort of Wanaka. We had a swim in the glacial lake before departing to Queenstown the next day.
So I'll stop there for now. Next up will be our adventures in the deep south which I haven't got round to writing up yet. Merry Christmas everyone.
