As we head towards the crossing of the straits.

On our way out of Rotorua we paused for a walk through a redwood forest I’d run through earlier that morning. The story goes that in the early 1900’s foresters planted several trial crops of trees including redwoods and beech for a timber forestry. The radiata pine must have won because they are everywhere including on every second truck on rural roads. The redwoods must have not made the grade and they have grown into a forest of National significance and some really nice walking trails. After that we left Rotorua and it’s average weather and headed up into the hills over the spine of the North island and headed for Whanganui via Taupo. The weather was still intermittently showery with a solid drenching followed by periods of sunshine. At some periods we could see we were heading into heavy rain but it had moved on before we arrived. Very strange.

Along the way we found several places that had similar geothermal properties to Rotorua. Even even as far down as Fox glacier on the mid West coast of the South Island,on the walk up to the glacier viewing point there is a small warm pool. It is interesting to look out over the countryside as you drive and see steam coming up from a paddock.

We paused to have a look at Huka falls, where the water from Lake Taupo runs down the Waikato river and over an eleven metre drop. The amount of water is quite staggering and it has been set up so there some great views and walks nearby.

We spent two days in Whanganui. At first blush there isn’t a lot to do there but it was historically an important port town and at one stage had a tram line and a bustling port. These days it sits a little bit out of the way but retains some of the charm of days gone by. There are a couple of outstanding murals, some quaint gardens and their own opera house. Nothing on while we were there but we did have a look in the museum to get a feel for the area’s history.

There are a couple of beaches with dark sand which is a bit different and lots and lots of driftwood. It was coming up to Guy Fawkes night so I thought this might be an opportunity to clean some of it up but there didn’t seem to be any interest. The Whanganui river runs through town so I took the chance to run the couple of bridges where the Whanganui marathon runs but I don’t plan to be back for it.

We travelled on. To the National capital, Wellington. This was just a couple of days to prepare for the crossing of the Cook strait. Wellington is an interesting city. At about 420,000 population, according to google, it is smaller than any Australian capital bar Hobart. It is similar to Hobart in that it climbs into the hills rapidly as you move back from the water. It does give many scenic views of the harbour although going over the hills as I did on one run and you seem very remote very quickly. I did the Parkrun in Wellington and ran 21.54 for the 5 km without any stress so hopefully that showed that Auckland marathon hadn’t caused any significant harm. I found Wellington a very enjoyable place with lots of gardens and green spaces. Some fascinating houses built on ridges that you wonder how they stay up there. Impressive nonetheless.

To the boats: Go South.

Next stop, Picton on the South Island. We drove the little car on and retired to the saloon for the trip. It was very civilised with a view out the front window. We watched some of the other passengers brave the elements but watching them rug up for the Antarctic and have scarves fly sideways we decided to wait within. A very calm couple of hours during the daylight and a couple of left turns and there we were.

It doesn’t take long on the South Island before you realise that the scenery is more dramatic. A couple of walks around Picton looking down to the harbour and then a coastal sojourn and we were well underway. There are a couple of villages on the scenic route from Picton to Nelson which is probably just as well. It’s not far but there are roadworks on and off all the way along so a coffee stop every now and then is earned. We stayed in a place called “The Honest Lawyer” in Nelson. It is a quirky place on the Monaco peninsula just out of Nelson but has a bar and a restaurant and parking. Really enjoyable. I went for a run down to the Nelson athletics track for some track work but didn’t realise there was a 5 km series run from the pub every Monday night through summer. I got back pretty hammered just as they were drawing the meat raffle and giving out prizes.

We did a nice walk out into the Abel Tasman National Park. It was fascinating watching tractors used to launch and retrieve boats and kayaks due to the distance the tides move.

We move on and head underground.

Moving on from Nelson we headed over to the West coast. I had been looking for a place somewhere a couple of hours on from Nelson and we found the village of Charleston. It didn’t come up in the planning and is a tiny little place but it does have a tavern, a beach, beds, a train and caves. We sat up on the point next to the frayed New Zealand flag and watched the sun disappear into the Tasman sea a long way south and west at this time of year.

We were only overnighting in Charleston and had planned to move on but the opportunity was there to go caving and see glow worms. We ummed and ahhed for a while and then joined the 9 am tour. Very glad we did and highly recommended. A short bus ride takes you to the narrow gauge railway which chugs through temperate rain forest to the steps leading to the cave mouth.

Lights and helmets on and in we go. The guide, Ray, points out many fascinating insights into the formations and takes through several caves. At one point he says to switch off all of the lights and it is pitch black. No light at all. Can’t see your hand, can’t see anything. Slightly unnerving. Ray asks if anyone can point back to where the cave entrance is but nobody has any idea. It would be so easy to be lost down here. At another point we switch off lights and the glow worms appear as points of light. As our eyes adapt more and more become visible until it looks like a night sky but metres underground. Glow worms are the larvae of a mosquito like creature that spends its larval form hanging from cave roofs or under trees with a sticky thread extended to trap insects for food. They then pupate and have a short frenzy of adulthood where they mate, lay eggs and die.

From Charleston we had a pretty decent day’s drive to get to Fox Glacier. We stopped at several places along the way. It seemed every bend had another breathtaking view of the coastline or a pretty beach or such. We did the walk around the pancake rocks in Punakaiki and marveled at the geology and the power of the water. We passed through Greymouth, a bit too late for the Monteith brewery tour. More coastline and then up into the hills and through Franz Josef and into Fox.
Spent a couple of days here. Fox has more glacier than Franz Josef where the glacier face has retreated back up and around the corner from the viewing area. Fox also retreated back a long way so that face isn’t visible but there are a number of views from further away that show the upper parts of the glacier surface. I wonder at the future of the glaciers themselves but also as a tourist destination as the glaciers become all but invisible will they be the draw that they have been in the past. Is it worthwhile to extend paths so the face becomes visible or are they simply chasing a disappearing glacier? There are a couple of places where heavy rain and debris that washes down have taken out roadways so maybe putting in more paths is a fools bargain as the climate changes and flooding becomes more sudden and intense there are bigger problems than whether the tourists get a good view. I’ll leave that to brighter people than me.

Tomorrow we head onward to Makarora overnight and then into Queenstown for about five days including the marathon on Saturday. I’ll do one more New Zealand blog next week after the marathon to let everyone know how it went. It will contain Milford sound for those not really interested in marathons but I will leave you with a couple of bird pics. The weka is a very friendly cross between a duck and a chook. They’re happy to check whether you have anything spare you might want to share.

The kea is a whole other kettle of parrot with signs up around town saying do not feed the kea. Obviously the signs need to be translated into kea because they take no notice of them.