Journey to the Edge of the Southlands

Day 11
As we make our way south, the weather is a little gloomy and rain is threatening, we leave Nelson through the peak hour and the traffic is slow, travelling along the valley through the farmlands, hop fields and Vineyards and further down we cross over the hope Saddle range and the weather seems to clear and the terrain changes to sheer cliffs of The National Park on one side and plantation pines on the other with the stony river below winding it’s way down flowing quite freely, and our road follows this path. We head into Murchison for brunch it’s starting to feel like were on the tour de brunch of New Zealand - with breakfast done our journey continues as we meet up with Ross and Joss, we are now all together the Savy Six for the next few days as we head to Queenstown and beyond in a two car convoy. Todays journey is long, over 500km covered, travelling south west we finally come to the town of Greymouth

which is on the West Coast, the terrain is harsher and granite like and the river runs a murky grey colour and out to the Tasman Sea which is mush of swell, rough and rugged - they say they bred ‘‘em tough “ over on the west coast which reflects the harsher climes and mining past.
We call into the Tree Top walk just outside Hokitika and are amazed at its structure which apparently was made in Australia and shipped out in kit form and assembled in six weeks - the views and experience well worth it.
Travelling south the Mountains are becoming bigger the roads windier as we are nearing the NZ Alps - The mountains are shrouded in cloud and there are some glimpse of snow on the peaks as we head into Frans Josef which was to be our stay for the night - with a couple of laps of the small town we realised we were staying 20km down the road at Fox glacier and there is a little more driving to do, as we wind our way through the edge of the range we drop down a

descent and the scene opens up and we are at the town of Fox glacier with its daunting mountain range at our back door to the east and the flat plains to the west it’s quite sureal.
We take the recommendation and have a meal at the local pub and rest our weary travelling bones for another day in NZ
Day 12
With an early start it’s breakfast at Mathieson Lake, the day is foggy and drizzly, a bit like gorillas in the mist with the looming mountains shrouded in fog we head south a big days drive ahead the road is winding crossing the narrow one lane bridges and skirting the edge of the ranges we take in a picture stop at the Tasman sea with its clear water and sandy beach there is large driftwood and rocks protecting the edge of the coast an impressive outlook. Travelling further south the weather clears and we cross the Haast River and turn left following the river up the valley, this is mighty river meandering

through the mountains the views are spectacular with its ice blue green waters rushing over the rocky river bed and the high sheer mountains with distant waterfalls. The drive takes us further up the valley we cross over the river and the road steepens as we head up and over the Haast pass and the scenery changes it opens up on the range and a huge couple of lakes are skirted some post card picture opportunities are taken just breath taking scenery.
We stop at Wanaka which sits right on the lakes edge for a light lunch, there is a big agricultural show on in town and the place is busy so we proceed on stopping at Cardronas pub and then a fabulous photo opportunity at the Crown Range lookout which towers over the valley and in the distance is Queenstown, the sheer drop and mountain views are starting to become “scenery overload” so much to take in on todays travels. We descend to the valley below marvelling at a couple of cyclist climbing the hill as we descend, this is long and steep and would be brutal riding a bike up. With a left turn at the bottom we take a short drive to the “bungy” jumping bridge and watch a couple of brave souls do the leap of faith - braver people than me! On our last part of the drive into Queenstown we turn off to drive through Arrowtown an historic gold mining town dating back to the 1860s a step back in time and very nice.
Reaching our destination we check into our digs for the next few nights and seek out a restaurant for dinner opting for the Cow in downtown for pizza and an evening walk along the waterfront taking in the beautiful views of the lake and mountains and a big day is had as our adventure continues in New Zealand.