More Good Stuff

Tue. Dec. 29: We drove from Abel Tasman to Motueka and took a side road (recommended by our lodge host--a great idea) through Tapawera to the main motorway. It was a very scenic and serene drive past beautiful pastureland.

We then stopped at the Buller Borge Swingbridge which we walked across. They claim it's the longest swing bridge in NZ and was quite "swingy" over a rushing river. Not for those who are afraid of heights! We returned walking over instead of taking the Superman harness, flying over the gorge. Looked like fun, but...

Swingbridge over Buller Gorge

Miles on swingbridge in Buller Gorge

Our next stop was at Cape Foulwind (don't know why it's called that--rather off putting--the air smelled fresh to me!) We saw a fur seal colony with many little pups and walked an hour to the lighthouse.

Fur Seal Colony in Foulwind, Westport
On the way to the lighthouse near Cape Foulwind

Next stop was Punakaiki which is a very well-known place on the coast famous for the Pancake Rocks. These are limestone structures that have eroded over time to form pancake-like towers. Just beautiful. And depneding on the surf and tide, there are blowholes that spray water.

Views of Pancake Rocks

We stayed that night at an unusual "tree house" set in the forest. This was a 4-unit building built right amongst the trees and had a balcony, very quiet and serene and we felt like Swiss Family Robinson.

Treehouse "motel" in Punakaiki

Wed. Dec. 30: We had a big driving day ahead of us: about 10 hours including stops (see below).

We left our wonderful tree house "motel" and drove to the Pancake Rocks one more time. The weather was a lot clearer and everything looked even better under blue skies. Another favorite place.

We then drove to Arthur's Pass summit (half way to Christchurch) and turned around and returned to Kumara Junction near Greyouth. (Our plan is to continue south and see Christchurch on the way up the east coast in a couple of weeks.) The pass was wonderful: we passed very high mountains, some with snow, waterfalls, rivers...visibility was great and we just loved it. There is a train trip through this pass that goes from Christchurch to Greymouth and it's supposed to be one of the world's greatest train trips. We can certainly understand why.

Arthur's Pass

At Kumara Junction, we headed south and stopped at Franz Josef Glacier. We walked about 10 minutes from the car park and there it was. The glacier is beautiful white/blue ice and the air crisp and clear. It was so refreshing. We then stopped briefly at a lookout to see the Fox glacier, too, but didn't have time to walk in.

Franz Josef Glacier
Fox Glacier

We arrived at our Haast Motel about 7:30pm, Haast is the last town before we get to Fiordland where we will really see some dramatic stufff. Stay tuned.

Knight's Point near Haast