View of Alps near Franz Joseph |
Swing Bridge over Young Creek |
View of Alps near Franz Joseph |
Swing Bridge over Young Creek |
Read Previous Episode Nelson to Arthur's Pass or Next Queenstown to Invercargill
Episode 5: Page 1 of 2 Greymouth to Makarora
Tuesday 29 January 2002, Queenstown NZ Skip to Episode 5: Page 2 Wanaka to Queenstown Pancakes, Ice and More Peaks
Ode to NZ Weather It rained and rained and rained
Just a note: some of you may have read about a Canadian woman from Montreal who was killed tramping in NZ. No, it was not me, but as you will read later on in this Episode, we were on the same tramp as the one that ended in disaster for the Canadian couple. Yes, we were very careful and we had no troubles at all. There was also news of a Canadian couple killed in a plane crash. Once again we are still alive and kicking, but we did enjoy a short, small plane ride (see later). Yes, the weather seems to have finally co-operated for us. Maybe NZ really does have a summer. We hope, for those of you who enjoy winter, that the snow has finally come and that it is not too cold to enjoy the outdoors. We are still doing well and enjoying life. We keep meeting great people from all parts of the world and enjoying all the natural wonders NZ has to offer. I can't believe we have been here for two months. We are starting to wonder if we can fit in all the rest of the places we want to visit. As we have been told, you can't do everything and there can always be a return trip. We left Arthur's Pass on Friday 18 January, picking up a young hitchhiker as we left town. We try to do this whenever we can and have always been pleased to talk to the mostly-young travelers. Hitchhiking is very popular among travelers in NZ and appears to be quite safe, unlike many other countries. The scenery just west of the town of Arthur's Pass was spectacular. The road goes up and down between the mountains on a 16% grade. We were behind a truck going very slowly so we had lots of time to admire the view.
The trip to Greymouth, on the West Coast, was only about 1-½ hours, so we were there in plenty of time for sightseeing in the afternoon. After lunch we drove a short distance up the coast to arrive at the famous Pancake Rocks and Blowholes just before high tide. The Pancake Rocks are like piles of thin crepes, formed by the compression of layers of limestone. The pressure was so high that some of the layers liquefied into mud and compressed the layers further. The wave action has carved caves, bridges and pools into the rocks. At high tide, the waves are so strong that the backlash against the rocks causes spray to shoot up through holes in the rocks to form mini geysers. We were there in time to witness the display through at least one of the blowholes. The area is rather touristy, but very well done, with well kept landscaped paths leading onto the rocks. The crickets in this part of the country are the loudest we have ever heard. It was a warm day and the noise was almost deafening on the path to the rocks.
We stayed in Greymouth for another day to relax and take in a day walk. Each town boasts several, so we like to take a sampling of the best. That day we took a short walk to Point Elizabeth for coastal views. From the point you can climb down aluminum ladders bolted into the cliffs to walk along the beach to the town of Rapahoe. Like many of the beaches on the South Island, this one was a driftwood collector's dream. It was littered with large logs and tree stumps. It would have taken some mighty storms to get some of those stumps up on the beach. The return path was through a rain forest; so dense you could see only a few feet into the trees. We have been told that this is coastal rainforest country, so hence the number of wet days. We hope most of those wet days are behind us. The local theatre in Greymouth was showing the Harry Potter film, so we went. The story was gripping and very well done. I read one of the books on our trip last year, but I hadn't read the first one, but it was fun. Seeing movies is a great bargain for us in NZ. First of all we get a good exchange on the NZ dollar and second, Ray has been asking for Senior rates. You have to take advantage of these little perks as you get older.
Our next stop was the Glaciers on the West Coast. We had made a reservation for an all day, guided tour on the Fox Glacier, but we stopped to see the Franz Josef Glacier on our own. The skies were clear and blue all day so we had good views of the snow-capped peaks from the time we left Greymouth all down the coast. We stopped along the way to take photos of some of the NZ bridges. Only in NZ, you say, good thing. Most of the bridges, even on the main roads, are one lane wide. Painted on the road as you approach the bridge is a big 'One Lane Bridge' or 'Give Way' warning. The road sign next to the bridge has an arrow in each direction. If the arrow is red on your side, you are expected to stop. The added extra on a few of the bridges south of Greymouth is the railway track going down the middle of the bridge and a sign to 'Give Way' to the train. One could hardly refuse. In Franz Josef we drove to a car park just out of town and walked along a stone river bottom until we were as close to the foot of the glacier as we were allowed. It was an impressive sight with waterfalls coming out of the rainforests on both sides and the big tongue of blue ice dropping to the river bottom. The Franz Josef and the Fox Glaciers are the only ones in the world that exist next to a rainforest. The end or terminal of the glacier had a large ice cave from which a rushing stream flowed. The water was too wide to cross, so the area is roped off to all but guided tours. We took lots of photos, and then continued on to Fox Glacier, where we booked into a backpackers hostel.
Fox Glacier is smaller than Franz Josef, with a permanent population of just 50 people. This swells in the summer tourist season with helicopter companies offering scenic rides and several hotels and restaurants. The town is built too close to the glacier to get any views. We arrived to see a cloud hanging low in the valley containing the glacier, but it started lifting in the evening. The best views of the glacier are from Lake Matheson, about 4 K away. We drove out after 7 PM and walked around the lake, stopping at all the designated viewing points. The highlight is to be there when the skies are clear and the waters are still to capture the reflection of Mt Tasman, the Glacier and Mt Cook in the waters. We got the best views possible for several days as the clouds lifted enough to uncover the peaks and the wind died enough for the reflections to be visible. We had a great day exploring the Fox Glacier. We reported to the guiding company office at 9:15 to join ten other tourists and get outfitted with boots and crampons. The day was nice and warm but our guide, Abel, warned us to bring warm clothes to wear when we were walking on the ice. We all piled into an ancient bus and drove a short distance to the Fox Glacier car park. Along with other tourists, we walked to the base of the glacier. It looked as if a front-end loader had just dumped a load of gravel and rocks onto the path, but this was the debris left from the recession of the glacier. Unlike the Franz Josef, you can walk almost, but not quite, up to the terminal of the glacier. The glacier had been receding at a rapid pace until 1985, when it started advancing again. This phase only lasted until 1999. Currently the glacier is receding again at a rate of 1 cm per day. Abel pointed out a huge boulder beside the glacier that he said was covered in ice when he started guiding just two years ago.
We followed Abel on a path through the rainforest on one side of the glacier until we came out on the rocks farther up the glacier. Here we put on our crampons and walked gingerly across the loose stones to a set of stone steps cut into the ice. With the warm weather, the ice is quite soft and the crampons dug right into the ice. I found it a lot easier to walk on the ice than over the rocks. Abel led us overthe smoother lower section of the glacier, cutting ice steps with his pickaxe as we went, to the more rugged upper section. He explained how the distinctive blue colour of the ice is caused by the refraction of light. Light reflects light, so is blue or grey,depending on the sky. We marvelled at huge holes, or 'moulins', bored into the ice by underground stream and Abel found us an ice tunnel to crawl through. It was like walking through a cold, blue igloo. We ate our lunch on a boulder the glacier had left on top oft the ice, then walked a bit farther towards the ice fields. These huge rectangular boulders, surrounded by deep crevasses are too dangerous to walk on, as they are constantly moving. Eventually we made our way back to the terminal of the glacier. We had heard a large boom while we were up on the glacier and the cause of the noise was before us at the base of a huge ice cave. Several huge chunks of ice had broken off and crashed to the ground. There are good reasons to treat the glaciers with respect.
We had read about an interesting tramp in Mt Aspiring National Park, south of Fox Glacier, so Tuesday, January 22 we drove to the small community of Makarora (landing strip for a small plane offering scenic flights, gas station, tearoom and cabins) to investigate. The Lonely Planet Tramping in NZ calls this the Wilkins-Young tramp, because you walk next to the Young and Wilkins Rivers, but the local DOC refers to it as the Gillespie Pass. The DOC office assured us the conditions on the trail were good and even the river ford, which starts the tramp and was not very appealing to me, was not very deep. We decided to go for it. We were glad we did. It was probably the longest and most demanding tramp we have done so far, but the views made it all worth while. The only negative was advice from the DOC to take our Thermorests with us in case the 10 beds in the Young Hut were full. We needn't have bothered as like many of the huts, they had plenty of extra mattresses, plus we arrived early enough to claim a lower bunk.
We stayed overnight in Makarora and left our cabin early the next morning at 8:00 AM, in nice sunny, but not too hot, weather. The hardy kiwis just paddle across rivers in their boots and but I dislike hiking in soggy boots. I decided to change into my sandals and was glad of it. The water was glacial cold and came up to my knees in places, but I was wearing shorts and found it easy to walk across with my pack on my back. Ray had read that you should take off your socks but wear your hiking boots, so of course his boots had to be emptied of water on the other side of the river, plus he had to stop a little further on and wring out his now soggy socks. It was a long day, but pleasant, mostly through the trees beside the rushing Young Creek. The trail was mostly level until after our lunch break when we began climbing. We had gained 650 M by the time we reached the Young Hut (1000 M) at 4:40 PM.
Young Hut was just above the tree line at one end of a valley surrounded by snow capped peaks. The glacier on Mt Awful at the far end of the valley made a dramatic subject for photos, especially when the sun first hit the peak the next morning. By the time the last person arrived at 8:00 PM that night, there were 13 of us the hut, but everyone was in a good mood after their long day walking and we all slept well.
You don't sleep in too late in an alpine cabin. Everyone was up and out shortly after 8:00 AM to tackle the Gillespie Pass. We hiked for 1/2 hour across the valley and stood looking at the trail leading to the top of the pass. No easy, but twice as long switchbacks here, the path led almost straight up the steep slope. Ray estimated the incline was 60% at times. I had started from the hut in my raincoat, but it only took five minutes of climbing to be down to shirtsleeves. We took it easy, stopping to rest now and then and drinking lots of water. By 11:00 AM, we joined some of our cabin mates at the top of the pass (1580 M). The view was superb. The glacier on Mt Awful spread it tongue of ice down towards us and the Gillespie Creek snaked along the bottom of the valley on the other side. We still had a bit of climbing left before we could start the descent, but that was easy. The forecast was for rain later in the afternoon and clouds were gathering over the peaks, so we hurried down. We stopped to eat our lunch beside the trail at the edge of the tree line at noon. From there it was a steep descent through the forest to Gillespie Creek, then down further to Siberia Creek in a broad valley. We were warned that the sand flies lived there and sure enough they were there to greet us. I said at one time that I thought black flies were worse than sand flies, but I think it is a draw. We dug out the DEET, but still ended up with itchy reminders of our visit. Another 45 minutes of hiking across the valley and we were at Siberia Hut. It was about 2:30 PM and I just wanted to sit down and take off my boots. One of our fellow trampers who arrived before us said there was a note on the table asking if anyone was interested in taking a flight back to town rather than walking. I perked right up. A small plane company in Makarora offers to take people on the 'Siberia Experience'. You are flown to an airstrip near the Siberia Hut, walk out along the Siberia River for about three hours, then ride a Jet Boat down the Wilkins River back to Makarora. We had been told that you could hitch a ride back in the plane for $30. I was definitely interested, as a scenic flight sounded more appealing than the Jet boat ride. Liz, the hut warden, appeared just then and announced that the flight was coming in at 3:30 PM. She was walking down to meet it and if anyone wanted to leave on the plane, they should follow her. I made an instant decision and convinced Ray we should put our boots back on and walk just a little further to the airstrip.
The only thing separating us from the airstrip was the Siberia River. This was a shallow ford, but I was an expert now. Both of us changed into our sandals and waded into the water with our packs on our backs. It only came up to ankles, but it was as cold as the Atlantic in spring. Thank goodness it was only a few minutes across. We joined Liz in the grassy meadow beside the airstrip and waited for the plane to arrive. Liz is a middle-aged schoolteacher from Auckland who volunteers as a hut warden for a month of her Christmas break. She gets a different hut eac year and loves it. We had plenty of time to relax and chat for the plane didn't come. Liz said this often happened if prospective customers cancelled, but I was disappointed. There had been no flights in for two days, probably a reaction of reports of a small plane crash elsewhere. I knew we could always stay overnigh and walk out the next day, but those sand flies at Siberia Hut were not very appealing. At 4:15 PM we reluctantly forded the Siberia again and slowly got our boots ready to put on. We were in luck. We were certain we heard the sounds of an airplane engine and sure enough, a small white plane came into view and made a circle around the valley preparing to land. We got our packs on our backs again and forded the river for the third time. I didn't even notice the cold this time. After the pilot, Steve, saw his three passengers safely across the Siberia to start their hike, we loaded up and took off. Steve made another circle past Siberia Hut, where we could see everyone waving goodbye to us, and we were off following the rivers down the valley back to town. It was only a fifteen minute flight, but we were low enough to get a good view of everything below us. It was a fitting end to our tramp. We even managed to get our same cabin back and celebrated with a hot shower and a glass of wine. |
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