New Zealand: Winding Through The West Coast

Frank Josef Glacier

On leaving Wanaka we settled in for a long, rainy drive to Fox Glacier through some of the most incredible terrain I’ve seen yet (genuinely felt like we were in jungle book with lush greenery blanketing the mountains and misty clouds swirling around them).

Thankfully, the rain stopped as we arrived at Fox Glacier. We filled up Carol and then our bellies before deciding it was pretty dull weather so we may as well go on to Franz Josef. It did seem a pretty place with lots of hiking options but it just wasn’t the right day for that (we all agreed our trainers would probably be submerged in mud within a few minutes).

Franz Josef was only a short drive away (which I was especially thankful for having already driven for three hours down windy, rainy roads). We found a fab little campsite called the Franz Josef Campervan Park (a very inspiring and creative name right)! The sun began to shine and we explored the town which had some lovely bars and restaurants to offer. As we made our way up we approached the sky diving centre and the time had come to book our slot. I was bricking it (massively) but the weather the next day was due to be sensational and I couldn’t chicken out when the other two were doing it. Plus I’d done a bungee jump so what’s a 40 second free fall at 13,000 ft having been pushed out a rickety plane compared to that!?

When the time came, I was absolutely terrified. We arrived at the airfield and before I knew it my instructor, Calvin, was ushering me into a small plane. The three of us and our instructors got inside and even being cuddled up next to a hunky New Zealander (actually Calvin was South African but tit for tat), didn’t calm my nerves. I was going first. At 3,000 ft they asked us how high we thought we were and we all guessed about 10,000 ft, how naive we were!

Calvin pointed out all the scenery and where the glacier, rivers and Mt Cook were. It was beautiful seeing it all from a plane but far too quickly it seemed the door was being opened and I was pushed to the edge of the plane. No turning back now!

I have to say it was amazing. As soon as we were out I felt at ease free falling through the air. The view was like no other and after 40 seconds or so we were jolted up by the parachute. Phewwwww. We landed on our feet (what a pro ey) and when everyone was down safely we went for food at a place called Snake Bite.

There was also a Kiwi museum and more hot pools which looked far better than the Lake Tekapo ones, but still not worth £15, so we went and spent our time and money at a bar drinking cocktails instead (classic).

We also went on a riveting glow worm tour at 10PM through the forest as the campsite offered it for free. It was interesting seeing them illuminate patches of the forest but we did consider how it felt a little dodgy following a man into a pitch black forest late at night (we survived though and the glow worms seemed legit. Plus now we didn’t need to go out of our way to book onto a glow worm cave tour).

Punakaiki

Punakaiki is home to some of the most stunning pancake rocks. They jut up from the sea and the whole walk round is a real treat. We found a fab low cost campsite run by a lovely couple, Bruce and Denise. There were loads of birds around us which I was convinced must be Kiwi’s but Lauren crushed my dream pretty promptly and told me they weren’t. They were in fact Weka’s (whatever they are)! Other than the Weka’s and Pancake Rocks there wasn’t much to do, though, so it was perfect just as a stop off for one night.

Nelson - Tahuna Beach - Abel Tasman

The drive to Nelson was seriously long which almost killed me off (5 hours from Punakaiki to Nelson)! When we finally arrived we had a drink on Trafalgar Street then went to Queens Gardens which was so pretty (lots of little bridges and ducks and ducklings and a Japanese garden). Very zen.

We camped just down the road at Tahuna beach and went for a walk as the sun set but we were pretty shattered so that was about as much excitement as we could muster.

The following morning we headed down the road to Kaiteriteri which is on the edge of Abel Tasman National Park. The beach was gorgeous but we started off by doing a walk to Little Kaiteriteri Beach through some jungle terrain. It was fairly steep but had a lovely lookout and wasn’t long. We chilled on the beach reading and sleeping for a while then Grace and I ventured in the water.

All of a sudden we realised we all resembled human drumsticks as we’d gotten fairly burnt (not the best look) so we headed back to Nelson soaked in after sun.

We found a free car park that we could stay in for the night (seriously glamorous right)! As it was the eve of my birthday we decided to go for a meal and drinks. We ate at East St Vegetarian Bar which was insane! All 100% vegan and my Kissadear (a vegan take on quesadillas) was to die for. After that we had drinks at the Vic and then the Free House which was a Church converted into a bar (pretty funky).

The following day we went to Flock Board Game Cafe for delicious waffles and (as the name suggests) board games. It was another scorcher so we went on a walk to the centre of New Zealand. It was one hell of an uphill hike but getting there was brilliant (even if I had sweated out my weight in water). Next up was going to the Maitai river where we’d heard there were water holes you could swim in.

That afternoon consisted of diving into the water, swinging from ropes dangling off trees and plummeting into the water hole below and drying off in the scorching sun (avoiding at all costs any more sunburn)!

We then drove to Picton as we had an early ferry crossing at 7AM the following day. We’d completed the South and were going on to the North. Let the adventure continue...