Nelson to Franz Josef and shit loads of bugs!

So, drinks in Nelson with my old work mate Debbie went well. So well that Kate didn’t quite feel right until the next afternoon and only after stopping in Murchison for a quick sandwich. I had thought that our night out in Nelson would be a bit of a disaster. I was a little dubious of a few things. Firstly, I wasn’t sure about going to a bar in a car park and secondly, the whole city centre was bereft of human life as we made our way to meet Debbie. It was deadsville. We eventually found the car park that was supposed to have a bar in it and was actually amazed it was there. Not only there, but heaving as well. Quite peculiar to have a kicking bar in the corner of a car park but it sure seemed popular. Went in and met with Debs and it wasn’t long before the beer and wine was flowing and we were catching up. Nelson was a pretty big place and in a way I am sad that we have to wait until later in the year before we head back. The surrounding towns are all quaint and the scenery is dominated by either huge brown hills, huge green hills and tons upon tons of vineyards.

We left Nelson and decided to push through all the way to Westport on the coast. The road from Murchison to Westport is the most photographed route in NZ. It was very easy to see why. Lots of green mountains either side of the road that followed the Buller river. We stopped at the Buller gorge swingbridge. It was amazing really but very scary. It was a bit more technically advanced than a rope swingbridge but as it was all cables and no substantial footing it was like walking along a ladder over the gorge. Kate decided to call it quits before really getting over the gorge. I would have too if not for the billion sandflies trying to eat me. I got bitten 3 times while I was debating going over the bridge! Frickin flies. I left Kate to fend off the bugs and made steady progress over to the other bank. When I got to the middle of the bridge it all became clear why it was called a swingbridge! Even with just me on it, it swayed quite a lot. When I got to the other bank there was a 15-minute walking track but I could still see Kate on the other bank constantly swatting bugs so I decided to head back over. I must have been a bit speedier on the way back because the bridge swayed even more than before. I had to stop at one point, which gave the bridge time to calm down and gave me an opportunity to squeeze of a few snaps. Wow, only $5 to cross the bridge and it was one of the scariest things I have done in a long time, one of the cheapest too I suppose. Got back to Biff and after swatting a few stray bugs that had followed us into the van, we headed off to Westport. The town itself was no more than a very long high street with shops and cafes. The only reason, other than to break up the drive is to go see the seal colony. We got ourselves registered at the holiday park before heading over to see the seals. It was way better than the seals we saw in Wellington as there were lots of them plus there were a lot of new-born pups running around. Oh, and no dead ones this time so happy days!

From Westport we headed down to Greymouth, taking in the pancake rocks and blowholes at Punakaiki. The rocks were quite impressive but the waves weren’t quite large enough to produce the big blowholes that the guidebooks all rave about. Not a complete loss though as I got to hand feed a weka. A weka is a sort of chicken type partridge bird. We have seen a few of them wandering about and when we stopped to get a coffee at Punakaiki there was a weka near the outdoor seating area. I thought it might like a bit of my muffin and before I knew it I had it eating out of my hand and doing little jumps. It was a good muffin though. I am a midwife remember? I know a good muffin when i see one (ahem).

The drive from Westport to Greymouth was pretty good. Some stretches of long straight roads and a few windy bits around the hills. Didn’t mind though as there was awesome coastal scenery around each corner. Passed the usual amount of roadkill. I have noticed that it is probably a hill billies delicatessen over here what with the hundreds of dead possums we have seen by the roadside. Danny gave us a good piece of advice when we left Whangarei. He said don’t drive over dead possums as their sharp teeth and claws can puncture your tyres. I imagine they would also make quite a mess of your alloys as well. I’m amazed that what with all the driving I have done so far that I haven’t run anything over. I did get a little twitchy on the drive to Greymouth where there was a sign saying beware of penguins for the next 10km and Kate joked that she would kill me if I ran one over. I think she was joking but you know how she is when it comes to penguins. So unlike you Smoosh I haven’t ran over any animals yet.
Greymouth was as dull as the name might imply. We literally only did some food shopping and watched the sun set over the beach behind our campsite. We were quite keen to get back on the road the next morning and leave Dullmouth in our dust. We have now made our way over to the Franz Josef glacier. The drive here was cool as we could see the start of the southern Alps mountain range loom in the distance and stopped at a few big lakes too on the way. Franz Josef is a huge glacier that can move up to 5 metres a day and is weird as it comes down the mountains into a big rainforest at the bottom. A rainforest I am currently sitting in typing this blog entry. We have booked a few activities to do to occupy the 3 days we are staying. We are out kayaking tomorrow afternoon on one of the big lakes we passed on the drive in. Should be fun as we have a big double kayak (cos I got fed up with Kate crashing into me in Taupo) and our guides take lots of pictures of us. Hurrah, more pics of me in a stupid helmet and wetsuit looking like a right knob no doubt! The only problem I can foresee is the damn sandflies again. Sandflies are so different from mosquitoes. Whereas mosquitoes wait patiently and then stealthily attack you at night, Sandflies constantly barrage you. They are small enough to not feel them on you but their bites bloody hurt! They seem to hug the ground and then work their way up from your ankles. They are sturdy little fuckers too, sometimes needing 2 or 3 swats to finish them off. I am already constantly smothered in odd smelling insect repellent, sleep with a plug in bug deterrent and always seem to have a fly swat in my hand. As I have been writing this I have swatted approximately 9 sandflies. The lady at the kayak place reminded us to cover up tomorrow and remember our insect repellent. Oh deep joy. Still, it beats working. Talking of which, we finally obtained our IRD numbers (the NZ equivalent to our National Insurance numbers). It only took 3 weeks to get through to them! It does mean we can now legally work though.

On Tuesday we have a guided walk on the glacier, which I’m super psyched about. Looks like a tiring day but well worth it. Can’t wait to tell you all about it. Right, where’s my fly swat? FEEL MY WRATH YOU LITTLE WINGED BASTARDS!!!

Peace (except to sandflies)


D

XXXX