A taste of summer...down on the icy South!

Part 2 of the Mid-Semester Break was time for some proper exploring of the South Island. Departing on the fine sunny afternoon of Friday 24 August aboard the ‘Aratere’ interislander vessel, the South Island greeted with crisp clear skies at sunset through the Marlborough Sounds to Picton. Then it was quickly onto Nelson for an overnight stop in the little seaside city, where I found myself sharing an all British dorm at the City YHA! No time to hang about however as the West Coast was calling with the 0715 Saturday morning departure of the Inter-City Coachlines Nelson-Fox Glacier service, which I was to take for most of its journey, to the little town of Ross. Gliding over the frosty passes between the Kahurangi and Nelson Lakes National Parks, we soon descended into the deep Buller Gorge, home of White Water rafting, the ‘Flying Fox’ wire bridge and various Lord of the Rings river locations. Soon we were out on the Tasman Sea at Westport, from where the road almost hugs the coast all the way to Ross. The first section passes along the rugged limestone coast of the Paporoa National Park, where steaming temperate rainforest rises steeply from the thin strip of battered rock and sand. The lunch stop was made at Punakaikai, with enough time for a whiz round the Pancake Rocks, a limestone headland with spires, caves and bays carved into the pancake-like layered rock formation. Back on the bus, it was on through Greymouth, Hokitika and the gold rush township of Ross, my destination for the day.

Pancake Rocks at Punakaikai, the dense rainforest of the Paparoa National Park rises straight from the Tasman Sea

Like many of the sleepy West Coast towns, the golden days seem all but over, however unusually Ross is still gleaming with the stuff and digging began again in 2004 - if the miners had their way the town would be shunted a few miles up the coast in order to scrape out every last nugget. Spent the night just outside Ross with a glaciologist from Victoria University, Brian Anderson to get in the know with the New Zealand glaciers and get tips for my dissertation. Sunday afternoon I boarded the Coach at Ross to continue South to Franz-Josef Glacier, the village named after the big icy cascade that descends from the main divide of the Southern Alps right down to 300m above sea level. Various activities are on offer at Franz-J, including walking on the glacier, ice climbing, sky diving and ‘heli-hiking’ (buzzing up to about 2500m to stand on the upper glacier)! Rather than exchange a panful of west coast gold to partake in one of these activities, my plan of action for the full day (Monday) I had in Franz-J was to go on a jolly good tramp - totally free, and with views that you’d struggle to get even from the helicopter! The main objective was the ascent of Alex Knob, 1303m for fine views of the glacier and the main divide of the Southern Alps. According to a Department of Conservation (DOC) leaflet, it was best to arrive on the summit a.m., as there was a tendency for cloud to roll in off the Tasman in the afternoon. Arriving on the summit at approximately 1127 and sitting down to admire the views and recuperate, it was not long before two big fluffy white things became trotting up-valley to obscure the scene - most unfortunate for the group of Americans that arrived a couple of minutes after midday to find the, as promised by DOC, thick mist (however it did clear again later)!

Franz Josef Glacier from Alex Knob 1303m

Tuesday morning I headed north out of Franz-J back up to the port of Greymouth. This being the western terminus of the ‘tranz-alpine’ railway to Christchurch, my pathway across the Southern Alps. The ‘tranz-alpine’ along with the ‘tranz-coastal’ are all that is left of South Islands passenger railway network, heading west and north from Christchurch respectively. The suitably named ‘southerner’ to Invercargill ended in 2002, and judging by the number of passenger on the tranz-alpine (7 carriages worth) I’d call for its re-instatement despite the NZ government favouring internal flights! Heading inland and away from the Tasman, the line trundles alongside broad braided river valleys before climbing steeply and diving through the Otira tunnel and emerging at Arthurs Pass at 743m. Then its all downhill before the flats of the Canterbury Plains leading into Christchurch.

Christchurch, South Islands largest city, English by name and very much English by nature. The city sits on the River Avon which complete with punts makes it the Oxbridge of the Southern Hemisphere. Wednesday morning I visited the disappointing Antarctic Centre, where you get to stand in a freezer and experience -20 wind chill or something, although I’m sure standing high on Rannoch Moor in shorts and t-shirt in summer would feel colder! The Little Blue Penguins were entertaining though. Wednesday afternoon, I attended an NZ Snow and Ice research group meeting at Canterbury University, as recommended by Brian, which was very flash with video-links to people all over the country. Just before sun-down I nipped out of town to get the Christchurch gondola up to the crater rim of the extinct Lyttleton volcano. This is the first of two basalt cones forming the craggy Banks Peninsula, extending East from Christchurch out into the Pacific. At munro-worthy elevation, the view is not surprisingly amazing, and the crater itself has been filled by a deep tidal inlet, forming Lyttleton Harbour. Thursday was moving on day again, but not before checking out the Canterbury Museum with far better Antarctic displays than the National Antarctic Centre and an excellent stuffed bird display. Then I nipped out to Sumner Bay for lunch with a swarm of Red Billed gulls before catching the 1600 northbound Inter-City Coach.

Sun rises from behind Christchurch Cathedral spire

Two hours later I was in Kaikoura (meaning ‘to eat shellfish’ in Maori). Out of all New Zealand destinations so far, this must score as the top, if only for the amazing setting, a little peninsula jutting out into the Pacific with the impressive backdrop of the Seaward Kaikoura Range. Like with many NZ places, it has a two phase history, starting out as a Maori settlement who were drawn by the abundance of shellfish (hence the name), the arrival of the Pakeha (Europeans) in the late 1800’s soon led to the town becoming established as Whaling settlement. And today its all about Whale Watching! Friday morning I boarded the Maori owned and run ‘Whale Watch Kaikoura’ high speed catermeran ‘Aoraki’ for the trip out to the Kaikoura trench. This is the 1500m deep trench where the up-welling occurs bringing all the nutrients up from the deep and attracting all sorts of marine life. All in all saw four Sperm Whales and numerous Albatross, the much hyped by our commentator highlight being the ‘showing of the tail’, as the Whale heads down into the deep for a 45 minute feeding session. Thursday afternoon I checked out the seal colony out on the peninsula, the usual collection of NZ fur seals hauled out all over the place to the point where you almost trip over them! And in the evening I sampled the best local establishment, complete with live music from a good old checked shirt clad bunch of blokes, perfect for post card writing!

Sunset behind the Seaward Kaikoura Range, from the north bay

Well this really has ended up a long’n however Saturday was a perfect last day, to be back on the ‘tranz-coastal’ and see the Pacific coast in 20°C sunshine all the way up to Picton, where ‘Kaitaki’ was waiting to cruise us back across the Cook Strait into Wellington. Managed to keep the waterproofs safely in the bottom of the rucksack for the whole trip to the summery South, with the only drop of daytime rain falling for a few minutes at Sumner Bay, Christchurch! However despite the warmth of the South, winter is well and truly still up and running here in Wellington as I sit here in down jacket!

A Sperm Whale dives into the 1.5km deep Kaikoura trench