From Abel Tasman National Park our journey led west to the Great Coastal Road. We stopped for lunch in Murchison, a small town with wide streets and hilly backdrops, making dad reminisce over time spent in Canada. A unique vintage shop housed within a barn had rusted trucks out front, setting the scene for the decor within.
Taking over the driving from Murchison, Dad took a 40 mile (accidental) diversion so I could see Victoria Forest Park (a mountainous region densely populated, surprisingly, with forest), which I thought was real nice of him.
We finally hit the West Coast late afternoon. Stopping at some viewpoints as we made our way south, our eyes were met with vistas of the Tasman Sea crashing against rocks and golden sand, all glinting under the setting sun.
After a night in Punakaiki campsite, we packed up and drove up the road to the Paparoa River Track. A lovely, winding, rainforest walk that ran parallel to the swollen river. With a busy day ahead we undertook a short two hour walk before making our way to the famous ‘Pancake Rocks’. Limestone stacked in thin towering layers creating an American pancake like appearance, this is a unique rock formation which puzzles scientists to this day.
By the end of the day we had made it almost halfway to Hokitika, a small town famous for New Zealand greenstone (a commodity precious to both Maori and European settlers). Sunday afternoon meant nothing was open in the centre, so we headed to Lake Kaniere where we planned to camp. The campsite was set up with the very basics: grass; a toilet block; and some bins. Oh and an amazing lakeside view.
We ended our night in town at Hokitika Theatre to watch Spectre, the latest James Bond film. What I hadn’t realised until we walked in to be seated was that this really was a theatre, or at least it used to be, with a large white projector screen sitting centre stage (literally).
The next morning was dedicated to the appreciation of natural beauty. On our drive away from Lake Kaniere we stopped at Dorothy Falls, where the flowing water almost seemed to twist from side to side as it cascaded to the pool below. Hokitika Gorge was our second stop, a brilliant blue feature created from glacial ice and rock floor.
On our way out of Hokitika we visited a treetop rainforest walk. A metal walkway 20m above the ground, with a 40m tower halfway round. It was an educational visit, interesting to view the landscape from that height, though we had to take their word for it that there were views of the Southern Alps as we saw little in the distance but misted skies.
The final stops for us along the coast were two glaciers, Franz Josef and Fox Glacier. This part of our journey didn’t quite go as planned, for which we have horizontal torrential rain to thank. We were starting to wonder whether the Southern Alps were a myth, as a white wall of cloud still blocked any hope of a view.
We braved an hour return walk to Franz Glacier, fighting against the elements as our feet crunched along the rock valley base. Assenting that it added drama to the powerful force that had carved out the valley we now walked in, the fact that we were only able to peek out from hat and hooded layers made us feel that a repeat performance to visit Fox Glacier was unnecessary and, under the circumstances, would be a little unrewarding.
All in all the West Coast had been a success, providing both urban and natural delights. We did however, breathe a sigh of relief as, making our way east, we were met by calm blue skies.
