Greymouth to Franz Josef

Monday June 12th – After a sleepless (for me) night of howling wind and pouring rain we woke up and discovered that 50ml (2 inches) of rain had come down between midnight and 6am. We headed over to the adventure tour place to see if our tour was still on and were disappointed to learn it had been cancelled. Bummer! We went back to the hostel and I slept for another hour before checkout time. It was still pouring as we began the drive south down the coast. We drove to the next town called Hokitika, which is an ocean side town famous for the Pounamu (Greenstone or Jade). One of the shops had local artists working on pieces there in the studio which was interesting. We browsed around some of the shops and ate lunch but the weather really diminished the experience. Then we began to hear reports about how bad this storm really was. First we heard that "Arthur’s Pass" which we had driven thru the day before, was closed due to snow. Apparently the city of Christchuch went from a comfortable 16 degrees Celsius yesterday to 2 feet of snow today! Then the north bridge into Hokitika, which we had driven over an hour before, was flooded. Fortunately the south bridge was still open and we decided to get out while the getting was good. We kept hearing reports that the storm should start clearing in the afternoon, and as we drove south it finally let up.
Our destination today is the Franz Josef Glacier in Westland National Park and if the weather permits tomorrow we will be taking a helicopter ride to the top, hiking on the glacier for a couple of hours, then flying back down. Keep your fingers crossed!
Once the weather cleared the drive was beautiful. It was weird seeing all the lush, tropical, rainforest ferns and plants with snow covered mountain tops in the background. Bodies of water abound in this area, small stream, to raging rivers, waterfalls next to the road and lakes everywhere. With all these bodies of water come a lot of bridges to cross them. So what, you say? Well bridges here in New Zealand are only wide enough for one vehicle at a time. When you drive up to the bridge there is a sign telling you which direction has the right of way. The signs have two arrows pointing in different directions; the right of way direction is larger and black with the yield direction being smaller and red. Keeps you on your toes!
We finally made it to Franz Josef and checked into another hostel. We are really enjoying them much more than a hotel mostly because of the comfy common rooms and the friendly atmosphere. We were here early enough to enjoy the afternoon, Grant by going for a quick run, and me by browsing in all the souvenir shops. The weather is funny in that I was comfortable in walking around in just jeans and a t-shirt, until it began to rain again! As I walked out of one of the shops, I looked up and saw the most beautiful full rainbow arching over the mountain and the base of the glacier. Of course, I didn’t have my camera as I had given it to Grant to take on his run. So I jumped into the car, sped off, located him, and dragged him back for a photo shoot.
We had a yummy dinner at a local restaurant then holed up at the hostel to relax. Grant took advantage of the Sauna in the hostel and right now I am blogging in front of a warm roaring fire. I just finished watching a movie in the TV lounge and there is a group of people playing a game of Monopoly nearby. The radio is playing in the background and the hostel cat is sleeping of the couch across form me. Hostels are the way to go, very homey!



This is the view of the glacier from our hostel.