Dear readers, it's been a while since you last heard from us, but rest assured, the world-trip diary will be completed right up to the stories of our return to Vienna. But good things take time, and everyday life as non-travellers can really catch up with you and keep you busy. For us it's also a good opportunity to gather all the mental images and combine them here with the "best of" photo moments.
We're also happy to share our tips and experiences with you. Every world traveller appreciates learning from the experiences of others to make decisions easier. So now we're doing our part for the travel community too. Meanwhile, two TV channels, one from Japan and one from the Philippines, have asked whether they may use clips from our travel videos. That makes creating videos twice as much fun. Of course we're glad you like our videos.
But now to our journey:
We set off from Wanaka towards Fox Glacier – as the name already gives away, a place a little higher up on the west side of New Zealand's South Island.
Normally we combine several experiences and days in one post. But since this route, which we interrupted with just a single overnight stop, is lined with great places and views, we're dedicating this one post to exactly that great 2-day route we covered not too long ago in our Mazda Premacy camper van.
Here's a quick summary up front: the route took us past the ice-cold Blue Pools, glacier streams flowing into a river, the Fantail Falls, Thunder Creek Falls, the Gates of Haast, Roaring Billy Falls, Ship Creek – a great first stretch of West Coast beach – Monro Beach and other remarkable stops. So you see how much we had packed into this crossing from the middle of the island to the west. And all that in almost a single day. And still we didn't get tired of the masses of water and waterfalls.
Right on our first short hike to the Blue Pools, Chris proved how much his urge to jump off things outweighed his aversion to cold water. And when I talk about cold water, I don't mean the cold that comes out of the tap after 2 minutes when you turn it all the way to the right. I'm talking about a cold that stabbed like knives into your ankles as you waded across the gravel banks of the mountain stream in front of us. This had nothing to do with a Kneipp cure or anything similar any more. It was like dipping into a tub full of ice cubes. At the end of the mini hike you found those very gravel banks and a fork in the river with a big pebble beach, where all sorts of tourists were already gathered.
Some wore swimwear that hinted at their plan to swim, but very few seemed to go through with it in the end. The rest of the people, like me, amused themselves watching the few who made it into the water for seconds, only to let out a cry of shock and come out with totally reddened skin. But overjoyed and proud. My courage only got me to wade back and forth in the shallow part with my tracksuit bottoms rolled up – which I did often, and also proudly. Besides, I still had quite a cold, if you remember. On the other side of the bank, on the other hand – it could only be a hardened local Kiwi – a man calmly swam back and forth in the icy current, exercising. Since a bridge at an estimated height of 8–9 m led to the other side, the brave also had the chance to jump in from high up.
My husband was once again one of those daredevils who intended to do exactly that, so I grabbed our camera and trudged bravely through the ice water once more to get into position.
Almost in vain. Perhaps it's good to mention the following at this point: being the camerawoman for Chris's various stunts is always a bit stressful for me. The fear of not finding him in the viewfinder from far away, not recognising his "GO", missing the jump, shaking the whole thing or even not coping with the camera functions at exactly that moment is ever-present and hangs over me like a cloud. Maybe also because this has happened quite often, and there are much better videos of me (because he made them) than of him. In my defence, I also stand still much more often. None of these are things that can simply be repeated.
So I paid meticulous attention to making sure everything would work this time. After a failed attempt, Chris certainly wouldn't feel like swimming through the icy stream again for another take. The jump was on time, the camera was running – and then a tourist walked right through my chosen frame, so besides the jump we now also have a great close-up video of her swimwear, instead of just the blue ice water with the bridge. You can see the still-great result in the video summary.
We continued to the equally impressive gravel banks at the Fantail Falls, named after an ultra-cute feathered New Zealand fellow. This bird species really did cross our paths almost everywhere. Here too I got to dip my little legs into the cool water. After the Blue Pools it didn't seem that bad any more, despite the icy stabs.
We also found a communal visitors' land-art work of stone cairns here, to which we contributed too.
The drive continued right across the bridge over the Gates of Haast. Right afterwards we stopped to marvel at the crystal-clear, roaring masses of water making their way down through the rock here. Water is probably the element that fascinates us most – whether as a dreamy ocean or a raging waterfall, it's always impressive and worth a long look.
But the Thunder Creek Falls and the Roaring Billy Falls also invited us to stop briefly. These waterfall spots couldn't compete with the masses of water the Haast was carrying as we drove over it, but the mini hikes there are also worth mentioning for their impressive giant ferns, and we always enjoy walking around in nature.
After so many minutes and hours in the car seat, you're glad about every stop where you can stretch your legs anyway. But New Zealand is so densely studded with picturesque natural sites that it's never necessary to stop at a car park or petrol station just to stretch your legs. You can imagine the South Island as a map full of spots worth discovering that you simply want to tick off. Which of course is impossible, unless you have many months for it. So on the hike to the pebble beach we were really amazed by all the great giant ferns that are particularly abundant here. Silver ferns, which can officially grow up to 10 metres tall, are, after all, part of New Zealand's coat of arms and have already been discussed as a motif for a new New Zealand flag.
We also stopped in the Haast area for the night. This time it was a very spacious, modern Kiwi campsite that had probably once been a huge farm or livestock operation. We found the sanitary facilities and kitchen in converted silos and corrugated-iron livestock or storage sheds. Very rural, very New Zealand.
The next day it was time to clock up kilometres and get as far towards Fox Glacier as possible. Rain was on its way again, and slowly we noticed how winter was gradually announcing itself during our 6-week New Zealand tour. The showers politely kept short, though, and we were cosily sheltered in our moving home anyway. And loudly singing along to our favourite songs always helps anyway.
Our first longer, wonderful stop was Ship Creek.
Ship Creek, a river, flows (with a brown colour resulting from the area's geological and ecological conditions) through a picturesque landscape of dense rainforest and light sand dunes, finally flowing into the Tasman Sea. The area around Ship Creek is known for its diverse birdlife and its beautiful walking tracks along the river.
Right next to the car park there's a lookout tower. You can stroll along a wooden walkway here that winds through the dunes to a viewpoint near the reed-covered wetland.
The beautifully built boardwalk, with its tranquillity, invites you to take photos as it runs along the white sand dunes with the sea in the background.
Of course we left the marked path to explore the other side of the coast a bit too. Luckily we made that decision, because soon we could see Hector's dolphins arching their backs in the water very close to the beach. So we passed the time running left and right after the dolphins, until a small, probably younger dolphin even did a few great jumps for us. Travelling is such a subjective thing, since every stop has something different to offer every traveller. We feel blessed, because we apparently were very often in the right place at the right time. The picture with mountains, jungle, dunes, pebbles and sea was simply too perfect. Even a driftwood cobra decorated our way.
Hector's dolphins are a unique dolphin species found only in New Zealand's waters. They are the smallest dolphin species in the world and are characterised by their distinctive grey colouring and striking rounded dorsal fin. The species is endangered and protected, as its population has declined sharply in recent decades. Tourists usually have the chance to watch these fascinating dolphins on boat tours, where strict rules of conduct are followed to ensure their safety and well-being.
On the way back to the car, the local fantails also put on a great flying show for us. Here we could even photograph the rare black fantail for our bird collection. Right time, right place.
After this great first West Coast beach stretch came the second hike to a beach.
You reach Monro Beach after a short walk through typical mixed forest until a clearing opens up and you can walk across a sandy stretch to the sea. Because of the dramatic landscape, all you really want to do here is pause.
It's a place where all the forces of nature can be seen and felt. The sea is rough and a beautiful light blue, and the rocks along the beach are high and reddish to brown. The ridges and the trees growing there show every sign of being constantly exposed to harsh weather and strong winds, as you can clearly see in the photo here.
And yet we couldn't – weren't allowed to – pause. For the first time we made the acquaintance of the New Zealand sandfly. They were swarming everywhere. At first we didn't even notice them, since we were constantly moving. But as soon as we stopped, they streamed towards our faces and were magically attracted to the little skin we showed. As good, experienced tourists we always wore long-sleeved shirts and long trousers. But here we really had to protect our faces. They didn't bite us, but these little pests can just be super annoying.
Nevertheless, we think Monro Beach is super great.
Now we still had to cover the remaining kilometres to reach our next desired campsite. Christian's birthday was just around the corner and we wanted to make it at least as far as Fox Glacier. A hot tub was also already waiting for us at our Top 10 campsite. The rain that had kept dropping by during the drive had cleared, and we were welcomed by a great rainbow and a view of the mountains.
Unfortunately, glaciers like Fox Glacier are threatened by climate change, leading to a decline in ice area and volume. That's why it's all the more important to us to protect these natural wonders and visit them responsibly, to ensure they are preserved for generations to come.
Amazing days, which were planned to be followed by quieter ones. But that same night we set off with our torches to visit a nearby section of forest on our own. Supposedly there were glowworms here, already mentioned in our report on Te Anau. As you know, we're always up for a night walk – but whether we found any, we'll only tell you in the next report.
As always, enjoy the still and moving pictures, and don't forget to leave a heart or a comment.