Adventure Magazine #242

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68 Ballarat Street, Queenstown
Top to bottom: Our mode or transport for the week and the original reason we
decided to go / Think everyone in NZ gets this image / Marijuana may not yet
be legal in NZ but you can still get stoned.
Back in the car, we continued across Haast Pass to Fox Glacier, and
in true to “West Coast form”, the mist began to gather and it didn’t take
long for the rain to arrive and our hot summer days became wintery.
The list of ‘adventure-based ‘to-dos’ here is extensive: glacial walks for
both beginners and advanced, kayaking, biking and so on.
Glacier Country, as this area is known, has two famous Glaciers, Fox
and Franz Josef. We decided to check out Franz Josef. After an early
start, we headed up the well-marked trail to the lookout; it was less of a
hike and more of a tourist stroll. It had been years since we last visited,
and if you ever doubted global warming, you must visit the glaciers.
The images at the viewing platform show the glacial retreat, which is
confronting. It is almost impossible to see the foot of the glacier now.
Do not get me wrong, the walk is still worth it for the stunning scenery.
However, it is not what I had expected.
We ensured that we had time to stop and enjoy the surroundings while
going from place to place, but we wished we had more time. So often,
we would say, ‘If this were in America, we would be going ‘Oh Wow,’
but it’s easy to take NZ’s beauty for granted, so we made a real effort
not to.
The West Coast of the South Island is rugged and remote, you don’t
see many people, just lots of trees, mountains, streams and valleys.
When we did pass through a town, we’d stop and explore, stumbling
across some unique pubs, cafes and curiosities.
The aptly named Blue Pools. Not long after we took this photo a couple of boys waded over and jumped from the bridge into
the freezing water below. Needless to say they got out pretty quick!
Amongst the hiking tracks and biking trails, we came across one
specific pub that had yet to fall into the politically correct 20th
century. Behind that bar was a topless 2023 girly calendar, normally
found in a 1960 mechanics workshop, and a range of other
memorabilia that would not appear in any WOKE Auckland bar or
restaurant. It was a Kiwi classic. I am not sure if it was tongue in
cheek, or they hoped to offend, or they did not care, but the food
and the beer were excellent.
After driving up the west coast we decided to zigzag north, so were
heading for Arthurs Pass. Chatting to one of the locals, we were
advised that Arthurs Pass was closed from 10 am – 6 pm each day
for road works, so we’d either need to get through early or not till
the end of the day. Being cautious, we decided to get as close as
we could to the road closure before stopping for the night, and that
seemed to be a little town called Otira.
Originally a stop on the Cobb and Co stagecoach from Canterbury
to the West Coast in the 1800’s, Otira then became a base for the
workers during the construction of the railway tunnel in the early
1900’s with over 600 people residing there. Now, according to the
2006 Census, 87 people call Otira home, a booming increase of 30
from 2001!
As the misty evening gloom set in, the Stagecoach Hotel loomed
out of the mist, like a setting from a Stephen King novel. Now, to
say that the hotel was unique would certainly not cut it. Gollum
was on the roof, and every room was stuffed with collectables
from taxidermy sharks to Victorian music boxes. While looking
after three small kids, the lovely lady serving mentioned that the
owner was a bit of a ‘hoarder’ – ‘no Sh*t Sherlock!’ Every room,
every shelf, every window frame, every inch of floor space was
cluttered with ‘stuff.’ To complete the picture, outside the window
was Captain Cook's pig in the garden completely oblivious to being
stood on by a miniature goat. Our four-poster double bed creaked
more than a rocking chair, a hand-painted toilet with flowers and a
full-sized stuffed penguin made for a very ‘interesting’ experience in
the backend of nowhere.
We were up early the next day and made our way across Arthurs
Pass before the workers closed the road. Arthurs Pass is a ‘trip’ at
every turn; it’s like something out of a Sound of Music movie, and
cliqued as it sounds it was simply stunning. The lupins (which are
evidently weeds) are crazy, with whole valleys full of purple colour.
The Pass is a pass of two parts; the western side (where we
were coming from) was dense with rainforest over deeply gorged
rivers. By contrast, the eastern side opened to wide, shingle-filled
riverbeds and vast swathes of beech forest.
Arthurs Pass National Park is one part of our drive where we
wished we had more time. Hiking, fishing, kayaking, and, in winter,
skiing options are abundant in this unique part of our country.
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