The weather took a turn for the worst as we headed north again, to the tourist hub of Queenstown. The rain was pretty relentless for the couple of days we were there. Last time I had been to Queenstown, we had wanted to do The Luge down this mountain-side but hadn´t because the weather was too bad. You get a gondola (cable car) up to the top and then can go down some of the way on a type of go-cart. On the last morning that Ben and I had in the town, it hadn't started raining yet, so we decided to give The Luge a go. The clouds were closing in fast, and by the time the gondola was half way up the hill, it was raining quite hard. Not to be put off again, we put our raincoats on and caught the soaking wet chairlift to the start of the downhill tracks. It was quite fun, and doing it in the pouring rain was amusing, but I probably would have enjoyed it more if it hadn´t been so cold I couldn´t feel my hands...
So, soaking wet but laughing, we drove off to the West Coast and the Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers. The usual road to the Fox Glacier was closed, due to flooding, and the alternative one was apparently too narrow for campervans, so we parked up (Van) Morrison and made the long walk to the start of the trail through the forest to a lookout. The trail involved crossing several creeks and the heavy rain meant that they were significantly swollen and racing down at quite a pace. At one point, there was no choice but to remove your shoes and socks and wade through the icy (this was right by a glacier) water. It was quite scary as you weren't sure just how strong the current was and how deep the water was that you were stepping into. We were followed closely after by a portly gent in his late 60s, whom we were a bit worried about but who seemed to have no problem crossing the creeks. However, on the way back from viewing the glacier, we thought we'd better retrace our steps a little just to make sure he had made it across the streams a second time. Fortunately he had, and we stayed close with him as we walked back to the car park. This was lucky, as although he had had no problems navigating fast water, on dry land he suddenly lost his footing and came hurtling down the narrow path behind us and fell heavily off the trail and backwards into the undergrowth by the side. I don't know how he didn't hurt himself seriously, but Ben and I were the only other ones on the trail at the time and he wouldn't have been able to get back on his feet without us. He kindly gave us a lift back to our campervan, and we vowed that we would always keep an eye out for lone hikers when out walking in the future.
After visiting the Franz Joseph Glacier (both fascinating to see) as well, we travelled north again and made our way steadily to the Abel Tasman National Park, via the pretty town of Hokitika, hoping for a bit of sunny relief from the drizzly West Coast.
