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We turned off to the Franz Josef Glacier road. You can park here and then walk up about 500 m to the viewing platform to see the rapidly receding glacier.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4706/...dd7f0327_b.jpgFILE0350 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4722/...a51c4bec_b.jpgFILE0357 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4764/...03f84205_b.jpgIMG_2073 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4772/...e944919d_b.jpgNZ South Isand-44 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
It is only another 24 km to Fox Glacier township. This town does not seem to have a purpose except for tourism. There is a gas station, a general store, restaurants, accommodation, and helicopter tour companies. The camping spot here is next to one of these heliports and so you hear the constant take off and landing of the glacier tour flights.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4779/...59ba4def_b.jpgNZ South Isand-43 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We just set up the tent and took off right away It is a 6 km drive to the parking for the Fox glacier and then a 1 hour round trip walk to where the face of the glacier 400 m away now from the viewing platform. It has a large ice cave at the base. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4651/...c2da4fd8_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-31 at 20.30.26 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4788/...a68d5be0_b.jpgNZ South Isand-46 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4794/...af765e56_b.jpgNZ South Isand-45 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4788/...c3e80a37_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4786/...fa8aa4e1_b.jpgNZ South Isand-48 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4794/...9e8510e0_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4714/...1f43c36f_b.jpg |
Arriving back to the bike we met Ronnie and Antoinet from Australia (born in Freeland), who have a fiends bike here to tour for 7 weeks. We finally left the glacier parking after 5 and raced back to cook a quick pasta dinner so we could be back to again before 7. We rode 6 km over to the Matheson Lake parking and then walked the 1 km over to the Jetty view point.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4706/...5b82ef4e_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-31 at 20.30.52 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr This is the location for the now iconic photo of the reflection of mounts Cook and Tasman in the near mirror like surface of the lake. When we arrived we were the first there with a tripod and got the best spot. The entire mountain range was enveloped in cloud and there was a brisk breeze ruffling the surface of the lake. We got lucky however and 20 minutes later the clouds cleared and we had a spectacular view of the snow capped peaks. Even better after another 20 minutes the lake was almost calm except for the bubbles from some amphibians causing a few ripples. The forecast had said the skies would clear at 2 am and that they would be clear all night and especially at 4 am when he milky way would be just over the peaks for the astral shot. That was however not to happen as when we got up at 3 it was totally cloudy and so we went back to bed. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4771/...a0df4893_b.jpgNZ South Isand-50 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4786/...1f640e23_b.jpgNZ South Isand-52 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4772/...8b1f667d_b.jpg |
We fueled up at Haast junction and then rode the 48 km to the end of the road at Jackson Bay. There is nothing here but a few houses and a fish and chip place for lunch.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4605/...1d71c4b6_b.jpgFILE0398 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4773/...7e566e17_b.jpgNZ South Isand-60 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4665/...2ca70dee_b.jpgFILE0414 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4604/...bee23be1_b.jpgIMG_2097 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4781/...4301a427_b.jpgNZ South Isand-59 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We booked it back to the main road and then headed for Haast pass.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4652/...021caf5f_b.jpgFILE0438 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr There are some nice views here along the river and of the distant peaks. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4700/...f2220c02_b.jpgFILE0494 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4676/...cd8c987b_b.jpgFILE0500 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4771/...29b36726_b.jpgNZ South Isand-61 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Just after 430 we began looking for camp spots and the first DOC on lake Wanaka was a bit shabby and right on the road. We continued 10 km further down and then turned off on the very dusty Hawae lake road.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4665/...0d2580f2_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-31 at 20.32.52 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4696/...01faac0d_b.jpgFILE0508 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Luckily it is only 7 km to the camp spot. It is right on the lake and pretty windy, but that means fewer sand flies to bite you. We set up on the cliff above the lake and then went in for a very refreshing swim/bath. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4703/...f6cdd2cd_b.jpgFILE0517 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4771/...3fb3cbff_b.jpgNZ South Isand-62 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We had a very cozy quiet night and woke to sunny skies. The forecast is for high winds and some clouds today and the storm is supposed to hit late tonight and tomorrow. We rode back the 7 km with no vehicles ahead and so the dust was better, but Sara managed to ride thru a fresh cow pie that splattered allover her boot and lower pant leg DUH.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4764/...5982eb55_b.jpgFILE0532 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We rode down to the next village and there was just a corner store there. We have not seen a town with services beyond a gas pump or cafe since we left Greymouth. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4653/...2463e18c_b.jpgFILE0553 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We continued the 16 km to Wanaka and got some breakfast and fuel. It is only 54 km from here to our destination of Cromwell, but we will ride 120 km south to Garston and then ride off road the 80 km diagonally on the Nevis River road thru the stations to Bannockburn. This is just 7 km from Cromwell and it is paved from there.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4608/...33ac50ee_z.jpg The ride south from Wanaka we used the Cadrona Valley road to Queenstown and this passes over the Crown Range summit that at 1076 m is the highest sealed road in New Zealand. We got lucky with very little traffic on the curvy ride up. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4616/...971c20251d.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4742/...08c36daf_b.jpgFILE0557 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It is very windy at the summit and dusty in the view point. The ride down into Arrowtown there was a huge line of cars following a slow moving camper thru all the switchbacks. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4611/...71c23945_b.jpg From here we got on the 6 south to Garston to acess The "Nevis". https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4627/...57638fc5_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4661/...9b1ba548_z.jpg |
It is very very windy and when we stopped in the village for a cold drink the bikes were being buffeted by the wind in the parking lot.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4678/...af8e774d_b.jpgIMG_2102 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4648/...9a8cf6ce_b.jpgIMG_2103 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The Nevis road is about 2 km north of the village and is flat for the first 2 km thru some houses until the gate. Here the sign warns that the road is closed in winter, that it is not suitable for cars, that 4WD may be needed, and that there are numerous fords. Sounds a bit ADV! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4667/...f71894be_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4775/...90e29021_b.jpg |
The road is good gravel almost all of the way, and very firm on the 20 km at each end. The central 30+ km is where most of the water crossings are and we did about 16, with only 3-4 being deep or long.
The road initially rises over switch backs and it is blowing a gale and traversing the ridge line was a fight for sure. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4671/...1861c01f_b.jpgFILE0563 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4719/...e5ea0da2_b.jpgFILE0565 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4668/...89053e21_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4719/...ecd44677_b.jpgFILE0586 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The road then drops into a wind shadow for most of the rest of the way until the last 25 km where it was Patagonia strong and blowing you around, but not off the road. It was too windy to stop for many photos here despite the incredible views.
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There are a number of gates to open and close, except for the last 30 km, which is thru private land and they have cattle gates. The last 15 km to the tar seal was a challenge with the gusting wind and not so much the road surface or steep inclines
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Well it was a very good decision to book into a motel and stock up with supplies today, since the weather turned horrific the next day. We took advantage tonight and went out for Mexican food!There was high winds and with torrential down pours. We did not even leave our room for 36 hours. The rain did finally stop and we did a walk to the historic old town.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4676/...e64e4c99_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4723/...9b2f4b55_b.jpgIMG_2111 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4612/...8bbed285_b.jpgIMG_2110 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
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