Thursday, November 7th, 2013
We left Queenstown early, travelling north by coach. The coach drivers here are extraordinary. Each one is an expert in a particular area and the commentary they provide during the trip is both informative and entertaining. Lots of stops for photographs, comfort and meals are provided along the way.
We passed miles and miles of vineyards framed by fields of lavender (not yet in bloom) on the hillsides. We saw the AJ Hacket original bungi jumping bridge (still in operation) and many gold mining towns established in the 1860's which are now farming communities. We passed orchards and fruit stands, stopping at one near Wanaka for samples.
And then the road took us between Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka - absolutely breathtaking scenery and we were spellbound! Our fellow travellers became totally silent and those around us were snapping photos like crazy. Every corner we turned revealed a sight more awe-inspiring than the last! Tina quietly remarked, "It's so beautiful it's painful," and during a photo stop an Australian woman remarked to me, "This extreme beauty almost hurts." Weird, because I had been feeling a sort of heartache I've not experienced before - it was as if I was experiencing a once in a lifetime phenomenon. It was a similar reaction to what I feel every time I approach Mount Robson from the west, but much more startling, perhaps because I'm pretty sure I won't ever be back here. I was unable to get any photos of Lake Hawea, as I was sitting on the wrong side of the coach and any pictures I took of Wanaka do absolutely no justice to the emotional experience. We weren't even in the Southern Alps yet!
The Haast Pass north of Wanaka reminded me of highway 1 along the Fraser Canyon in BC, except that there are few people, very little traffic, no RV's, fifth wheels or big trucks hauling loads. Nice, nice, nice. Then we followed the coast north - beautiful beaches all along with the Alps east of us. Did I mention how beautiful this part of the world is?
We've been seeing 'whitebaiters' ever since our trip from Dunedin to Invercargill. Whitebait are thin little fishes (about 2" long) that are running up the rivers at this time of year. Fishermen (called whitebaiters) set up wharfs along rivers where they net these tiny fish. We've been watching for an opportunity to try whitebait patties or fritters and we had our chance today. Unfortunately, it was a huge disappointment as the place we tried them today mixed very few whitebait into lots of egg and it was simply a plain flat omelet with very few whitebait that we could see, but not taste.
Our whitebait patty was the size of a dinner plate - for this we paid $19.00. Fortunately we were smart enough to order only one and share. We only consumed half between us. I had been anticipating whitebait patties or fritters with just enough egg and flour to hold it all together, perhaps a bit of onion and parsley for added flavour and thousands of tiny black eyes resembling poppy seeds. Boo!
We arrived at our destination community of Franz Joseph Glacier late afternoon. After checking into our beautiful Scenic Hotel room, we hustled out to see the live rowi kiwi in the refuge here. It was a wonderful experience to see an adult and 3 youngsters hunting and snuffling in their nocturnal habitat. There are fewer than 400 of this particular species left in NZ - only in this area of South Island.
After satisfying our need for a kiwi sighting we headed out for a hike to the glacier. I know we have glaciers close to home, but none of them are within a 30 minute walk through a rainforest of tree ferns, cabbage trees and giant flax. It was getting late and we didn't quite make it to the head of the glacier but got pretty close before we turned back to catch a shuttle into town.
We ended our day at a pub/restaurant sharing wine, stories and dinner with Christine, a fellow traveller from England.
That patty looks totally gross and I think I will have nightmares about that tonight.
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