Glaciers, Gondolas, Waterfalls, Rivers and Lakes

This Monday morning we were up early again, hoping to go to the Franz Josef Glacier, found the rain drumming on the roof really hard. This is an area that gets nearly 300 inches of rain a year, but even by their standards, a lot has come down all at once overnight. We decided to try the Fox Glacier about three mountains and 30 minutes away.

After passing over rivers and creeks raging down the mountains and spontaneous waterfalls cascading down every vertical surface as the rain continued, we reached Fox Glacier only to find both access roads closed. Our driver thinks it’s likely that streams have come out of their banks over the roads. We’ll have to wait to see a glacier at Mt. Cook later this week. [We found out later that rock slides had fallen into the roads, reportedly falling on tourists in the process.]

The terrain here is spectacular with tall trees and ferns filling the sides of the roadway on both sides. Occasionally we come out into wide valleys where we see sheep, cattle and, occasionally, horses grazing. Our guide and driver have promised that we’ll see a number of both weather and terrain changes as we make our way to Queenstown today.

Despite the rain, the lushness of the area we’re passing through is a sight to see. We’re not getting any vistas because we’re essentially in the clouds, but what’s in sight includes every possible shade of green and so many plants and trees with few signs of habitation. This west coast of New Zealand sparsely populated at best.

As I write this, some of our little group has fallen asleep. With a full breakfast in our bellies and the rocking of the coach along the road, it’s surprising I’m awake. We just crossed another roaring river right next to the little village of Jacobs River with its tiny primary school and even tinier community church. Our driver is talking about how children in rural areas like this get a secondary education through correspondence schools, now via the Internet, or they go to boarding school elsewhere.

Now we’re seeing Bruce Bay (the Tasman Sea) on our right. The surf is heavy, waves pounding the little bit of beach that is here. I can see an entire tree trunk washing against the shoreline. On the narrow roadside between the road and the ocean, people have created little cairns and sculptures from the rocks and debris. Some of them resemble the inukchuks we saw in Canada, while others are more fanciful creations including rocks and driftwood. Here and there are white stones with messages commemorating honeymoons or just travelers’ names. We’ve stopped so that everyone who wants can take pictures and Mike is capturing lots of images we’ll share.

On the other side of the road here is a Maori marae or community center. These meeting halls provide a place for tribes or subtribes to socialize or, more seriously, to discuss tribal business. As “pakeha,” the Maori name for white people, we can only enter a marae if invited. We had that experience in Rotorua.

We have a very compatible tour group. There are nine of us plus our guide and driver. Our guide Leigh will be with us for the entire trip. We’ll have a series of drivers and we’re finding that they are very knowledgeable and add enormously to the pleasure of the journey. One couple is from London and two brothers, one from DC and one from Chicago are traveling with their wives. We’re having a good time together because everyone is relaxed and pleasant, interacting easily. There are no prima donnas, just good folks. Because the coach is much larger than we need, we’ve been able to spread out and be very comfortable.

We’re stopping in a few minutes at a “salmon farm in the middle of nowhere,” our driver says, for morning tea. These stops are always a treat, both to stretch our legs and to experience yet more of this extraordinary country and its people.

The salmon farm was a hoot, not unlike many rustic places in the Southeast mountains at home. From there we went through long stretches of road with spectacular scenery and so many waterfalls rushing down the mountainsides. We’re hearing that there were 12 inches of rain in 24 hours. With relatively little topsoil on the mountaintops, the water just pours off, thus so many waterfalls and swollen rivers. Every stream and river we’ve seen is running rapidly and roughly, wave after wave of water and debris draining from the mountains.

We stopped occasionally for photographs of the canyons and waters. All around us for hours of the drive were dense forests with both tall trees and thick undergrowth. At one photo stop we took a short walk back into the forest to a waterfall and saw an incredible variety of plant life, including moss and lichens covering many tree trunks.

One of today’s short stops was at a place called Knight’s Point, the place where the work gangs coming from north and south to build the road met years ago as they completed the project. They named the spot in honor of the dog who accompanied them. It’s an ocean overlook with gorgeous views of huge rocks just offshore.

Today’s lunch stop was at an isolated place that had lost power in last night’s storm, but regained it by the time we got there. There was the typical array of meat pies, soup and sandwiches that are common here. In addition, the décor was interesting. The walls were covered with automobile license plates from all over the world, various handsaws AND a chain saw sticking out of the wall. We haven’t quite figured that one out, but someone thought it was a good idea.

The scene changed when we came over the Southern Alps at Haast Pass into a drier area. It seems that most of the rain stays on the west side of the mountains, leaving the middle of the country relatively dry. What this area has in abundance are beautiful deep blue lakes, gouged out long ago as glaciers retreated. These lakes and the lands around them are “crown lands,” owned by the government and occasionally leased to farmers who manage herds of sheep, cows and deer.

Our final stop in this area was at the resort town of Wanaka at one end of the huge lake of the same name. People were wind surfing and wandering the streets in shorts and flip-flops, quite a change from the rainforest environment we left this morning. Throughout the lake district, it was very windy, but the sun was shining and the breeze felt really good.

We came further south and east to Queenstown. The road wound through broad valleys where vineyards and orchards prevail. You can easily tell which vineyards are growing the red grapes because they are entirely covered in netting to keep out the birds. It was quite a sight.

We’re in Queenstown now for two nights and it reminds me of the Swiss lakes we’ve seen with the high mountains rising straight up out of Lake Wakatipu. The town itself is very much a tourist center, small and compact with lots of restaurants and hotels, boating on the lake in summer, snow skiing in the mountains above in winter

We took the gondolas up the mountain behind our hotel for dinner at a mountaintop restaurant with 300 degree views that are sensational. We enjoyed another overly generous buffet and endured a truly terrible singer who butchered any number of American song favorites with his “song styling.” We decided he must be the owner’s son or something or he wouldn’t be allowed to continue.

Tonight’s unfortunate news was that we can’t get to Milford Sound, the fiord we were scheduled to visit tomorrow. The storm that dumped so much rain on us at Franz Josef blew fiercely all along the coast and valleys doing extensive damage. Rocks and trees went down over the Milford road, the only way in or out of the area for groups like ours. In fact, there were apparently tourists stranded over there and the road isn’t expected to be cleared and opened for three or four days.

Actually, most of us are somewhat relieved because it’s a very long coach ride down and back. So, we’re sorry to miss the famous fiord and more awesome mountain scenery there, but our guide has already arranged an alternate activity that he says is “the best scenery in New Zealand.” Now, he has said this before on this trip, but the truth is that it’s all been pretty amazing, so we’re game for more.

I find myself struggling to find yet another word in lieu of spectacular, fantastic, fabulous, etc. We are saying “wow” again and again, urging each other to look at first one great sight after another. It is truly a wonderful trip. Our hotels have been universally well appointed. We wake every morning knowing we’re going to have at least one great experience that day, if not more. We go to sleep every night, weary and happy to put our heads on the pillows and sleep soundly till morning. And so ends another day in this wonderful place.

Photos by Mike Lumpkin (now being asked by our companions to take their pictures, too!)