The rain continued through the night, creating a continuous tapping noise on the wooden roof above us. The forecast called for rain until midday, meaning we would be driving through it down the West Coast for several hours on our way to Fox Glacier.
There was only one main road that ran the length of the West Coast, SH 6, and very heavy rain only a few weeks before had caused flooding and closed sections of it. The roads were open today, but we saw signs of road repairs several times an hour.
It was about 6-7 total hours of driving from Abel Tasman to Fox Glacier. Most of our drives up until this point, except Tongariro to Marlborough, were limited to only a few hours. Get Ashley in a car with her knowing it would be a few hours and she soon would enter a cycle of humming, sleeping, humming, and then awake. Every hour, this cycle would start over and repeat.
To help break up the drive we decided to make a stop at Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. It was raining lightly and windy, but quite a few people had pulled over to check out this popular spot too. It's only a small section of the Paparoa National Park that is a well maintained trail passing by the pancake rocks and blowholes along the coast.
The Pancake Rocks look, well, like pancakes stacked on top of each other. The water was slowly eroding the rocks with each wave slamming into the coast. At full high tide the water erupts out of the blowholes within the rocks. Unfortunately, we still had a few hours before we would have a chance to see that. However, the water was still rolling in with a lot of force allowing us to see 'steam' rising through the vents as the air was forced up through the blowhole.
It was a nice stop, though the weather caused us to hurry along the path. It was only another 45 - 60 minute drive south until Greymouth for lunch. To give you an idea of how sparsely populated the West Coast is, Greymouth was the largest town with 10,000 residents. After lunch (with several business people), it was time to wash the food down at the local microbrewery Monteith's.
Walking in, it's hard not to feel impressed with just how nice, welcoming, and relaxing the inside looked and felt. Our initial intent was to do the brewery tour, but it cost $18 / person and came with three beers. We didn't have that much time to spend, so Nate went with the sampler and Ashley tried the Apricot Wheat.
The sampler was 6 of their classic beers and started with a cider and worked up to a black beer (stout). The original ale and black beer were the clear winners for Nate. Ashley was especially impressed with her Apricot Wheat, calling it her favorite fruity beer ever. The challenge now will be to see if she can get it in the US. While relaxing at Monteith's, the rain stopped and the clouds started to disappear, leaving behind the first hint of blue in three days.
The brewery was a great spot to drink, relax, and wait out the rain. However, we weren't done driving for the day. It was another two hours south, but the sky was clearing and the mountain peaks were poking through. The drive was enjoyable, passing by the snow covered mountains and over the many streams with one lane bridges.
Heading south took us past the Franz Josef township, the 'other' glacier in the area that tourists could explore. Up and over a windy mountain pass took us into the Fox Glacier township where we would be staying for two nights at Lake Matheson Motel. After a quick check-in in the late afternoon, we drove down to Lake Matheson for dinner and to take pictures.
One outside seat was still left for us that provided panoramic views of the mountains. The seats, however, actually directly faced a cow pasture (with the mountains on the side). This surprisingly created very good people watching because the cows were up along the fence where the trail to the lake passed. New Zealand may not have that much wildlife to view other than birds, but there had to have been over 50 people who took pictures of the cows during our dinner.
Lake Matheson is a one hour round trip hike and is one of the most photographed locations in New Zealand because of the mirror-life reflections of the mountains on the water. Fortunately, the clouds were still away from Mt. Cook (New Zealand's tallest mountain) and Mt. Tasman. We hurried along the trail looking for best vantage point for sunset pictures on the lake, finally settling on Reflection Island.
It was fairly crowded at this spot, but we waited out a few others and Nate found a spot for his tripod. The lake was periodically smooth and flat, allowing for a beautiful view as we watched the sun slowly cast light onto the mountains as it set in the distance. The view of the lake reflecting the mountains definitely lived up to the many pictures we had seen before coming to New Zealand.
Tomorrow was to be a full day hike up onto and then around the glacier. Other visitors who had already done this tour had told us they were exhausted at the end of the day. We'll see how we do after a full night's rest, though Nate wanted to try for sunrise pictures at Lake Matheson.
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