After our return to Motueka, we sorted out a hire car so we could explore the rest of the south island. Unlike our Hyundai Getz in Australia, this was more of a "rent-a-dent" and we ended up with a 14 year-old Toyota Camry (nope, we'd never heard of it either). We popped in for a cup of tea with John and collected our belongings we had left with him whilst hiking and hit the road, heading towards the west coast.
After our first afternoon of freedom, we stopped for the night at a holiday park in a very cheap and cheerful hut described to us as a "twin" but was in fact bunk beds....again who said romance is dead?! The next day we acquired a Hungarian hitch-hiker (to pay back the good karma of our previous lifts we are determined to almost abduct any hitch-hiker we see whilst we have a car!). We stopped at Pancake Rocks, a strange geological phenomenon where rocks had been laid down in layer....like pancakes!
After lunch, we continued on to Greymouth where we deposited our hitch-hiker and drove to a campsite at the site of an old goldmining area (Goldsborough). We attempted a couple of walks exploring the mining area but had to turn back due to flooded streams and tracks. However we did get to meet some real life gold miners here! These were predominantly retired Kiwis and Aussies with massive camper vans/ buses who spent the summer panning for very small quantities of gold and enjoying the peace and tranquility of the area. One of the miners showed John some of the gold found.....but they certainly weren't striking it rich!
From here we headed further south to Franz Josef Glacier. We booked into a motel and did the short walk up to the terminal face of the glacier. Unfortunately, things have changed since John was last here and you can no longer walk on the ice without a guide. However, the glacier was still impressive and well worth the walk. In the evening we treated ourselves to some fine New Zealand cuisine......our first Indian curry since leaving the UK!
The next day we drove the 25km further south to Fox Glacier. We spent a couple of days hiking in the area and enjoyed intermittent views of the glacier with Mount Cook and Mount Tasman behind it.
John took advantage of a bright sunny day to do a tandem skydive over Mount Cook and Fox Glacier. With astounding scenery and a reasonable price, it was too good an opportunity to miss. It was booked at 11am, and by 1pm he had jumped....a little different to the last time in the UK. The first 10 seconds of freefall are still truly terrifying however it was a great experience with amazing views from the plane and during the jump.
We also drove back to Franz Josef for a walk and to take advantage of the glacier hot pools in the town. Sarah had been wishing for a bit of heat and seeing as the weather in New Zealand could not provide it, this was a good compromise!
