After seven long weeks at work, staying in the same place we were eager to head off again. Yes we’d miss the people, the kitchen space and having a whole bedroom to ourselves but the routine was starting to grate. We’d gotten over our travellers fatigue, the sense of anxiety and stress that builds from having to be constantly on the move and we were itching to go.
Our first drive was a whopping five and a half hours and that barely got us to Hokitika, where we stayed for the night before continuing on. It was here, as we was scrolling through Campermate looking for camping options for the next few stops that we made the decision to buy the DOC pass. We’d thought about it before and we’d been counting on there being more freedom camping spots on the south, so we didn’t. Now that we’d traveled a large chunk of the south and learned that the infrequent freedom camping spots are mainly carparks, shelling out $190 each for the campsite pass didn’t seem to be that much, especially when we saw how many more options would be open to us.
In the effort of traveling slower now that we were on new ground, our first camp was only thirty minutes from Hokitika, on the edge of the picturesque Lake Mahirapua. It is a large and peaceful DOC site, hidden from the road by dense jungle and we had a wonderful nights sleep after an evening of star gazing. Feeling refreshed and a bit chilly, we set off for a day of glacier hunting.
First glacier of the trip, and the first I’d seen in real life was the Franz Joseph Glacier. It was underwhelming. When it was first a popular tourist destination during the victorian era it was apparently a sight to behold, the frozen river flowing down from the mountain peak and filling the valley below. Now the glacier doesn’t even come halfway down the mountainside. It didn’t help our vantage point was so far away, the hike that used to reach the glaciers base was washed away when the glacial river in the valley changed course. So although the glacier itself wasn't as awe inspiring as we'd envisioned, the walk itself, wandering through the shaded forest of lichen covered trees was pleasant.
Luckily for us we didn't have far to travel to see another glacier, just forty-five minutes down the road sits Fox Glacier and that’s where we headed the next day. Instead of doing the gruelling hike towards fox glacier - where according to reviews, the ability to see it gets harder - we headed off in the opposite direction to Matheson Lake for the most picture perfect view. From Lake Matteson, on fairly still days, the mountain range can be seen perfectly reflected across the lake. Although we had the smallest of breezes during our walk, the image was still beautiful. Strangely however, we ended spending more time mushroom hunting instead.
During the beginning of the walk we noticed people gathering around certain spots, apparently taking photos of the moss covered forest floor and it wasn’t until we paid more attention ourselves that we discovered the small vividly blue mushrooms that they found delight in. Featured on the fifty dollar note, the Entoloma hochstetteri, only grow in certain spots in NZ and they are delightful. Our walk was peppered with stops, each of us trying to capture the perfect mushroom photo and pointing out other small details of the woods that we might normally pass by.
The most impressive view we had of the Fox glacier was further away even still, at a lookout point along the way to Gillespies Beach, where we would be staying for the night. All of a sudden, the mountain range opened up and the glacier that had been partially obscured was clear to see. It was here that we learned about the Maori myth concerning the glacier which they call Te Moeka o Tuawe.
The story goes that Hine Hukatere was a strong and adventurous woman who loved to explore the mountains, climbing to their peaks. Her warrior lover Tuawe was a less experienced climber but he wished to accompany on her climbs, to join her doing something she loved. Unfortunately, one day while the pair climbed an avalanche cascaded down, sweeping Tuawe from the mountain to his death. Hine Hukatere was heartbroken, and there she sat her tears flowing down the mountainside. Rangi, the Sky Father seeing her despair, took pity on her and froze the tears to form the Franz Josef Glacier; the Fox Glacier marking Tuawe's resting place.
What's interesting is when researching this story to make sure I got the main gist of it correct, there was two definite spins; one which claimed Hine Hukatere persuaded Tuawe to climb - putting the onus of his death on her, and the version I told which claims he freely wanted to join her, making the tragedy a freak accident in which no one is blamed. Perhaps my choice is showing my bias - as a woman who is repeatedly dragging her husband around to potentially dangerous places and narrowly avoiding natural disasters.
The freedom camping spot we drove to was no more than a carpark. Gillespies beach itself felt desolate and deserted, a wide open space with nothing to break up the miles of shore and sea. What was beautiful was the drive, looming moss covered walls hugging one side of the road, while the endless jungle sat on the other. Ferns, palms and trees all dripped with lichen and hanging vines, living in harmony together, it was a riot of green and seemed that if we took one step inside we’d be lost forever.
Paringa Lake, our next stop, was also not the most interesting. Through the torrential rain we could just about make out the picturesque lake before, ironically, a large RV with an image of a lake pictured on it parked right in front of it.
On our way from Paringa to our next overnight stop at the Cameron Flat Campsite we made a few stops. The first was Haast, where we discovered the local grocery shop had a strange assortment of foods but not enough to really make meals out of - a few days of more adventurous dinners would teach us to be better prepared. We also had to make a petrol stop here, with no other options for the next 120km we didn’t want to be caught short.
Next was Roaring Billies Falls. A short fifteen minute walk from the roadside carpark, through a goblin forest of twisted moss covered limbs and giant looming ferns brought us to a river bed, where we could make a rushing waterfall on the hillside of the opposite bank. We started to leapfrog our way across the shale covered river floor when we realised that the river was starting to creep its way behind us, filling up where we’d just came from. It had been raining steadily for the previous few days so it makes sense that the normally dry parts of the riverbed would fill; not wanting to become stuck (or wet) we decided to backtrack and give up on the idea of getting a closer look. The next waterfall along the route, Thunder Creek, was even more impressive and it was a shorter walk from the car too. At ninety feet, we could hear the falls long before we could see them but as with the last, it was on the other side of the river so we couldn’t get too close.
We could have spent the rest of the afternoon waterfall chasing, there was many to be found and most we could see from the road as we sped by, trickling their way down the rock face next to us. We however wanted to get in a slightly longer walk before the day was through.
Just opposite our campsite at Cameron Flats is the beginning to the Blue Pools walk. A walk that took us through a forest of redwoods before crossing suspension bridges over the rushing river below. When we got to the blue pools - due to the recent rains - they were neither blue or pool-like but a small river of glass bottle green that flowed into the larger river beyond.
We arrived back at our van in time to see the sun dip behind the mountains behind us, casting soft colours over the flat valley below, the meandering river shining silver in the last of the reflected light. Misty mountains, in the distance, all stacked up on top of each other losing definition as they were slowly consumed by the low hanging fluffy clouds. The first of the stars, glinting in the dwindling light alongside the early moon. Beautiful.
Trip date : March 2023
Next up : A visit to Wanaka to climb Roys Peak
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