Rich and Cat's Travels: Greymouth and onwards

Right so we decided to hire a car again and head to Aurthur's Pass for a couple of days. There is absolutely nothing there apart from some mountains and walks, one over priced cafe, one very small over priced grocery shop and the information centre but all we were here for were the walks which was lucky. So on our first day we decided to do a medium walk called temple basin that was a three hour return walk so we thought we could handle that in an afternoon....

So off we merrily went to climb a little hill.... it wasn't so little.... it essentially was a 500 metre climb over 1.5km and took just under an hour and a half to get up but it was a tough walk. The pathway consisted of just rocks, some little which you slipped on and some bigger which you had to climb over. It definitely wasn't easy but the views from the top were great. we could see all the snow capped mountains and the ski lift which, in winter, brings people to the top of the mountain we had walked up.

The next day we decided to try a hard walk, although I decided I would only do part of it as it was a lot harder than the first walk and a lot higher and as I am not a huge fan of heights I didn't think i would like it. The walk was called avalanche peak, which gives you a hint what the walk was like. For the part I did it involved rock climbing over big boulders and up small rock faces with no safety measures. So i gave up pretty quickly (as i knew i would have to come down by myself) and let rich climb the rest. He made it up to the top in 2.5 hours where he managed to have a small rest, although it was interrupted by a cocky Kea who wanted to sample his lunch. So he made his way back down, managing not to fall over (or off the cliff) in about 1.5 hours.

For our final morning in Aurthur's pass we decided to do a couple of short flat walks (well in New Zealand they do not exist) and we ended up doing a couple of slightly hilly walks but they were only a couple of kilometres each. After that we headed back to Greymouth where we thought it would be a good idea to have a relaxing bike ride on the free hostel bikes. Some how (and i fully blame Rich for this) we ended up riding 15 km down a coastal track which was fine but it meant we had to ride 15km back. So after the long ride back we decided we needed a big beer to take our mind off the pain we knew we would experience tomorrow and we went to the local brewery (Montieths) where we were able to sample some very nice beers and ciders. My favourite was their raspberry larger.

The next day we hopped onto a coach and headed for our next destination, Franz Joseph, which is home to a large glacier. For the first afternoon/evening we just relaxed but we were sharing a room with two Germans who snore sooo loudly that we did not get any sleep. The next day which jumped (rather cautiously in my case) onto a helicopter which took us to the middle of the glacier where we were able to get out and hike, following a guide, for three hours. We got to walk over crevasses and in caves and marvel at the colours of the ice. We also saw a large waterfall and got to drink some glacier water all before having to get on the helicopter (which I sat in the front of) and fly back to the safety of dry, unfrozen land.

Following that we also had free entry into the hot springs so we went and chilled out (do you get the pun) in the hot baths for the next couple of hours. After this we were nice and relaxed for bed, however the Germans were still here so sleep was difficult to come by. The next day we went on a walk to the bottom of the glacier which is about 7km from town and we did a couple of walks around the area. We are also looking into some other little outings we can do as we are in this area for the next couple of days before heading on to Queenstown which is the centre of adventure where lots of fun is to be had. New roomates tonight so we are hoping for a better nights rest!