In our last post we left you with the question of whether we got to see the famous glowworms on our night walk.
Yes, we did. And quite a lot of them, too.
We looked at glowworms in a bit more detail in the post "New Zealand South: The Sound of Milford". But as a short summary, suffice it to say here that glowworms are crawling larvae whose bodies glow more or less brightly depending on their age, and whose fishing threads hang down in the darkness. We wanted to experience this again in the dark on a walk. The Minnehaha Walk, which we did on the night we arrived, was very close to our campsite. We chose a time when we could walk through the dark forest all alone. We kept our torches dimmed so our eyes would quickly adjust to the darkness. After a few minutes in the dark, the first enchanting sight of glowworms appeared before our eyes around a bend. The first time, we had watched these fascinating insects from a boat. This time, exploring the forest alone, with the glowworms embedded in the moss of the trees, had a different, rather romantic charm. Sometimes only a few glowing dots could be seen on the trees, and sometimes you came very close to real colonies of worms that conjured a glowing picture into the night.
You have to see it with your own eyes. Our photography skills aren't good enough to capture it properly. But nevertheless, here's a long-exposure version too:
As dreamily as that evening ended, the next morning was all the more sobering. Our camper van had a flat tyre, which we only discovered after breakfast at the campsite. And it had started to rain, too.
On a Sunday we had to research and phone around to find a replacement tyre and a garage. Unfortunately, the nearest suitable tyre was only available 100 km away. So at least that day we learned how to fit a narrow emergency spare with the emergency kit on a car of a make we had never driven before. With two people it's not that hard at all – especially if you know a dedicated car mechanic in Vienna who can give great instructions over the phone while you're somewhere in the middle of nowhere with only sporadic internet. Thank you, dear Luki :)
It may not sound like much effort, but you mustn't forget that every centimetre of our camper van is used as storage, bathroom and kitchen. So it's not at all funny to empty out or rearrange your home in the rain to get to the emergency kit and make room for a broken tyre and rim for the next 100 km. Long story short: with solid trust in the universe, you can tackle another 100 km of adventure on sand and concrete roads on an emergency spare – as long as you don't drive too fast.
We were rewarded for our efforts with a really beautiful stop and a walk with lots of stairs at Lake Matheson.
As always, here too we came across the fairy-tale moss scenery, this time garnished with cool but poisonously blue glowing, fascinating mushrooms.
Of course our favourite ferns were the main component of the mixed forest. You
feel pretty small when the average fern frond is bigger than you are.
During a short snack stop for a camping-stove soup, we were finally able to watch a specimen of the famous, notorious, unique mountain parrot (the kea). Unfortunately only from a distance, but still!
Another great tip for a road-trip stop on the West Coast are the Pancake Rocks. Here you walk along marked paths through an impressive geological wonder of limestone formations that look like stacked pancakes.
These rock formations are connected by natural rock bridges and form huge pools in which the water foams dangerously and sometimes sprays out over the cliffs. Your imagination really takes flight when you look at the different layers of rock.
There are also beautiful views of the wide Tasman Sea here. During our visit there were also a few more tourists on the viewing platforms than you're otherwise used to in New Zealand.
In any case, the next day we made it to a somewhat larger town with a garage and the right tyre size, and quite quickly got an appointment for the tyre change.
All good again, everything stowed away again, and we could continue our journey with a better feeling.
It was exactly Christian's birthday. To celebrate the day and the new tyre, we treated ourselves to an unhealthy detour to Pizza Hut and enjoyed our meal at one of the many picturesque stretches of coast in the west.
Now we were ready for the supposedly somewhat bumpier onward journey to the region we were already super excited about, since friends had already told us great stories. At the very top of the South Island, between Golden Bay and Tasman Bay, lay Abel Tasman National Park, known for its rich flora and fauna. It was already getting noticeably colder than in the weeks before, but we didn't want to miss out on this special experience. So we set off for the famous bays. The crossing towards the national park first took us to the city of Nelson, where, after a long time with the camping stove, we could finally treat ourselves to a proper birthday meal at an Asian restaurant, since we hadn't passed through any big city since Wanaka.
As always, enjoy the pictures and the short video.