Driftwood, West Coast

The sea had moulded the root system of this tree into a very strange shape. Taken from the beach near Fox Glacier.

Tracy Sitting on Driftwood, West Coast

Taken from the beach, near Fox Glacier.

Islay and Dan in Front of the Campfire

 

Lenticular Cloud, Avoca Valley

Warning Sign

 

Skippers Road

The drive was scary at times. My knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel, but the scenery made it worth it. 

Skippers Township

Skippers township was abandoned long ago when the gold ran out. Little remains of the original buildings but two buildings have been renovated. This is the old school. 

Skippers Bridge

The Skippers bridge crosses the head of the shotover river. At 71m it is not quite as high as the pipeline but it is somewhat more substantial, you can even drive across it. 

Don't Look Down

This is the bungy platform on the Skippers Canyon bridge. 12 years ago I jumped off this spot, my first bungy jump. 

The Pipeline

The 'Pipeline' crosses the Shotover river and was built in 1864 to carry sluice water for gold mining. It was renovated recently and a narrow wooden walkway was built atop it. At a height of 102m, even walking across is scary. It took Tracy half an hour and several attempts before she got to the other side.

Skippers Canyon

We followed the old gold miners' road to the remains of Skippers township. The 'road' is loose gravel and schist and is very narrow, only just as wide as a car, in places the sheer drop to the side of the road is over 100m. Long sections of the track have no turning points so we just hoped we wouldn't meet anyone. You need a 4WD to do this safely and it is not for the faint hearted.

In the picture you can see the line of the road cutting across the vertical cliff face. The scenery is spectacular with great views of the Shotover river.

Knights Point

A good place for a rest on the drive from Fox Glacier to Wanaka. 

Lake Matheson

This is one of the most photographed spots in New Zealand, the reflection of Mts Cook and Tasman in the still waters of Lake Matheson. Unfortunately, it is a 20 minute walk from the car park to the view point and the clouds rolled in. Mt Cook, on the left, is obscured but you can still see Mt Tasman.

Stuck in a Crevasse, Franz Josef Glacier

Tracy in a Crevasse.

 

Clouds, Mountains and Ice.

Even beneath dark rain clouds, the ice was a vivid blue. 

The Franz Josef Glacier

Now we have a new truck, we decided to take a drive round the South Island. We haven't been down visited lower west coast in ages, so we started out with a day climbing amongst the broken ice flow of the Franz Josef Glacier. We have both climbed on the Fox Glacier but this was so much better. The ice is advancing rapidly (1-2 metres per day) and this causes the ice to buckle and crack which makes for fantastic formations to climb through. The weather was cold and rainy but it was still an awesome day. 

Snowman in Hagley Park

Our House in the Snow

A sudden snow storm hit the city. We got the afternoon off work: yayyy! 

View From the Top.

Taken from near Cass: the same location as the previous picture, looking the other way. 

"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads!"

In case you are wondering, the quote is from Back to the Future. 

Washing the Car

On the way home I took the car for a drive through the Waimak'.

The Waimakariri River

Known as the Waimak', this river flows from near Arthurs Pass, down to the sea, just north of Christchurch. This photo shows the 'braided' nature of the river, typical of those in the Sounth Island. 

The Poulter River

Taken from our camp site. 

Camp

We camped up above the Poulter river. The back of the truck doubles as a good sofa.