December 29

Fox Glacier helicopter flight, drive to Greymouth

I looked out at 6:30 and saw blue sky. This was a surprise. I got up and showered and went down to see if I could get a helicopter flight. I had heard a couple helicopters flying already. None of the offices were open yet. At about 7:30, Fox Glacier Helicopters was the first to open, and I got in just before a big group of Japanese tourists who had been waiting across the street for Alpine Guides to open. I reserved a 9 AM flight with glacier landing, the first available, and went back to the hostel for breakfast.

After breakfast, I went back out to the viewpoint past Lake Matheson for a clearer view of the mountains than last night. I was worried that the weather wouldn't hold until 9 AM, but from here, it looked pretty good. I returned to the helicopter office at 8:30, fifteen minutes before I was supposed to come. A van was ready to leave for the heliport outside, so they told me to board it, and I could pay when I returned.

I was in the second group waiting at the heliport, and boarded a helicopter at 8:50. Almost everyone else there was Japanese or Chinese. I got a seat in front beside the pilot, and four Taiwanese tourists boarded in back. The view of the glacier from this seat was impressive as we approached. I took several pictures through the windshield on the quick flight up the glacier. My polarizer was useful to cancel reflections from the glass.

Some clouds were starting to move into the landing area on the neve, so we flew to an alternative spot higher up. We flew over it a few times, circling to try to find a safe landing spot. After about four passes, the pilot decided he couldn't find a safe spot, and decided to fly back without landing.

Afterward, the Taiwanese tourists on my flight went back to the office for a refund, since landing cost $100 NZ but just flying over cost $80. The lady pointed out that our flight was still longer than the fly-over and a landing was not guaranteed, and only refunded $10. But I hadn't paid at all yet, so I was in a better bargaining position, and I got the flight for $80.

I stopped in Alpine Guides headquarters briefly and bought a map for Abel Tasman Park, where I would be going in about a week. Clouds were beginning to move in quickly now, so I don't know how many more flights would get off today. I packed the car and headed north, giving an Israeli in the hostel a ride to Franz Joseph. He was originally planning to go to Greymouth, my final destination today, to catch a train back to Christchurch in time for the New Year's Eve celebrations. But he decided instead to go to Okarito Lagoon, a wildlife sanctuary on the coast past Franz Joseph, and spend tonight at the hostel there.

I dropped the Israeli off at the Franz Joseph bus stop and drove out to the Franz Joseph Glacier overlook. A walk along the river over the moraine led to a glacier face overlook. There, signs warned not to go further because of the danger of falling ice. A guided tour was climbing the face to the right. This glacier walk looked steeper than the one on Fox Glacier, but was more accessible, with no climbing through the forest or difficult stream crossings.

Some other people, ignoring the warning signs, were exploring the unstable overhanging glacier face near the river and photographing their kids on the ice below. I thought something interesting might happen if I watched long enough, but after waiting a while, I decided I was unlikely to see any ice fall, like the big block I had seen fall at Fox Glacier. I was curious if those people thought at all about how that big snow pile their kids were playing in had gotten there. The guided tour continued their progress up the glacier, and I walked back.

I stopped again at the Cheaky Kea for lasagna and cappuccino. It was crowded today. Then I continued on the road north. I stopped in a town called Ross to see some historic gold mining exhibits. It was sunny now, near the coast, with the mountains further inland in clouds. There were two choices of historic walks I had read about here, but one of them was closed. I did the Jones Flat Goldfield walk. This walk starts out along the boundary of an active gold mine - a deep pit with green pools on the bottom, rather ugly. The walk through the lush forest was beautiful, as usual, and several kinds of flowers bloomed there. There weren't too many gold mining artifacts visible. From up on the hill, there was a view out over Ross to the sea.

After the walk, I stopped in a museum, and then continued on to Hokitika on the Tasman Sea. This coastal town is known for greenstone, a New Zealand Jade. It was a reasonably large town. I looked around there a while, and stopped in a big greenstone factory store with a Kiwi Experience tourbus parked outside. I didn't buy anything though: greenstone costs a fortune. I changed some money at a bank, and took a short walk on the beach. Few people were at the beach, although it was a nice, warm day. The beach was sandy, with fairly strong surf, and lots of driftwood. There were many rounded, polished stones as well. Three surfers were in the water, which was cold, though probably not as cold as California. Signs advised not to swim here, due to strong currents.

I got an apple turnover at an old historic bakery, and continued driving north. The road crossed a couple of one-lane bridges that were shared by railroad tracks. I arrived in Greymouth, a large, scruffy-looking port and gold town, after 5, and looked for the YHA. The YHA was actually an old converted church. You have to climb a lot of stairs to get to it, and the parking is at the bottom of them on the street. I checked in for two nights, since I had reserved a cave-rafting trip for tomorrow. The dormitory room was the old chapel. A large Asian group was already there, and some were noisily playing with a foosball machine in the middle of the floor.

I got a map to the grocery store, and went to get supplies before it closed. Getting there was tricky, because Greymouth is the largest town I had been in yet, since Christchurch, but it still had no traffic lights, just a lot of confusing multi-road intersections and turn circles, with fairly heavy traffic. I made some people angry at least once, getting a few honkings and middle fingers, but didn't hit anyone. (I was still signaling turns with my windshield wipers.)

I thought the tide should be fairly high now, so after dropping off my groceries at the hostel, I headed up the coast 40 km to visit Paparoa National Park, to see the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. The drive was scenic, following the rugged coastline closely. It was reminiscent of the California coastal drives. There was only an occasional beach house. At Pancake Rocks, there is a visitor's center and a couple of cafes, and a walkway to the blowholes.

The walk passes interesting rock formations, a big arch, lots of palm trees, and the blowholes. The waves force water up through narrow channels in the rock, and it spouts out like geysers. The effect is best when the sea is rough, but today it was calm, so although the tide was high, the holes weren't blowing very hard. They did blow occasionally though, spurting misty plumes up into the air. The rock formations along the shore had many horizontal bands, looking like stacks of pancakes, which is how they got their name.

On the way back to Greymouth, I passed a police car checking for speeders in a 50 km/h zone, and was warned of the speed trap by cars blinking their lights. I got back and started fixing dinner at 8:30. By now, I had the kitchen mostly to myself, which was good, because I wanted to fix a fairly elaborate Indian-style curry: beef in a ginger-onion-yogurt sauce. Someone told me it looked really good, and it was. By the time I finished, it was about bedtime. The Asians were out late, but came in quietly. Much later, in the early morning hours, some drunks were shouting obscenities outside on the street below.

Copyright Scott A. Yost, 1996. All rights reserved.