new zealand [day eight]

Till admires her surroundings from the comfort of Mum and Dad's bed. It looks grey and gusty outside, which it was!

The sun was slow to rise in the South Island, rarely popping up before 8am! It didn't worry us of course and frankly it helped to make our New Zealand winter experience all the more authentic! Of course it was cold, freezing at times, but we had all the right gear.  In our little wheely home, we were always toasty warm.

Our journey on this particular day got into full swing with a trip to Countdown! Picture an Aussie Woolworths...as you can see in the photo above, they even share the same logo! Keep in mind folks, we live on a tiny isolated island. Big supermarkets are rather novel to us!

With full bellies (from memory I think we ate breaky in the Countdown carpark) and our fridge restocked, the days adventure got underway. We had our sights set on the Franz Josef Glacier and expectations were high.

On arrival to the glacier carpark the weather turned foul. Tiny hail, light rain and possibly snow whipped at our windows. Determined not to be outdone we made the decision to rug up and brave the conditions. Do you know how long it takes to layer up jumpers, jackets, beanies, scarves and then jackets over all that!!!!? As we stepped out of the van hail fell even more ferociously....our faces felt as though they were being attacked with a hundred tiny needles - ouch! Disappointed, back to the van we went, removing the a fore mentioned layers. After much umming and ahhing Plan B was instigated; we'd stop in the van to eat an early lunch and hope the hail might move on. Plan B worked - kind of.

Our trek to the glacier was hail free, with the wind behind us....but the return journey was the complete opposite!!! We were frozen and soaked in the end, but it was totally worth it. We didn't walk on the glacier itself, but got close enough to marvel at it's size and beauty. The valley walk leading to the glacier was incredible. It's hard to put into words really. Perhaps the grey skies helped to create a theatrical mood, but to me the colours, textures, the sky, everything, it was all so striking. The atmosphere seemed charged, somewhat threatening and certainly unpredictable. I honestly felt an overwhelming sense of astonishment and reverence....add to that a tinge of fear.

Not far from Franz Josef is Fox Glacier. Sadly we were unable to see it due to the cloud/fog/rain/hail...you name it, by this time the bad weather had really closed in. Not to worry, I'm already planning a return trip!!!

We spent the night at the Haast River Top 10 Holiday Park, as once again we were in need of a laundry. Haast itself was a small sleepy place with not much more than a petrol station. The tour brochures describe it as the perfect destination to explore some of New Zealand's most unique scenery and wildlife....and it's easy to see why.  Nestled amidst rugged and gobsmackingly stunning scenery, between ancient rainforest's, glaciers, and the Tasman sea, Haast felt like the last frontier town on the edge of an unexplored wilderness!