New Zealand Day 24 – Pancake Rocks to Fox & Franz Josef Glaciers

Blowhole!

Thankfully, both for our morale and for sightseeing we woke to bright sunshine and blue skies! We went straight to the Pancake Rocks viewing area, but hadn’t really researched it at all so had no idea what to expect. They also had blowholes there too so we were immediately cynical after out last viewing experience of those…

The carpark was pretty busy with campervans and tour busses, not being the biggest fans of crowds this also worried us. We followed the path around and after 10 minutes or so finally got to see the sea. Again, we weren’t really sure what we were looking for, so just assumed that the first view we came to was the pancake rocks. We could see a huge stack of rock that had been isolated from the cliffs on the beach, it reminded us of the Great Ocean Road back in Australia – except there was only one apostle.

Rainbowtastic.

We continued around the corner and came to another lookout – this time of rocks closer to the cliffs and we realised we’d jumped the gun a little and the whole system of rocks continued around for another 500 metres or so. The place got it’s name as the rocks are layered from top to bottom in a fairly regimented fashion, and in most places have been rounded at the edges – looking like pancake stacks.

We rounded another corner and then came to the main showpiece and found the occupants of all the busses at the front. As you come down there is a bridge leading to the edge of the cliffs, under you the sea is flowing into a narrow channel and has undercut the base so you can’t see how far. After a minute or so of enjoying the view, just to our left a huge (for want of a better word) ejaculation of sea spray burst out from a hole in the side of the hillside, shooting out about 10 feet into the air and looking the close up of a humpback whale spout!

We waited and it went again, only this time bigger than before – and the droplets in the spray were catching the light just right so it kept making rainbows right in front of us. Up the steps on the other side there was another narrow canal, only this time the waves were being driven up the walls of it with the swell so every couple of minutes or so they would smash together and spurt up and way above everyone’s heads. It looked pretty cool, so we hung around watching it for a while taking pictures. It felt so good to be out of the van and in the sunshine actually doing something for the first time in a few days.

We wandered around and came to a sign in front of an area of flax which just said “Sudden Sound” so we stood there and waited, and waited for a good 5 minutes and nothing happened… Then without warning it shot out an almighty whoosh and scared the crap out of both of us, but was gone within a second! It’s pretty cool because you can’t see where the gap is in all the flax for the blowhole, and it doesn’t go off as frequently as the others so it was just us stood there enjoying it.

After an hour or so of rock and blowhole admiration, we had to head off as we were planning on ripping down the west coast in time to see some glaciers that afternoon as the weather was good. Unfortunately the road moved inland so our sea views disappeared, but were soon replaced with that of snow capped mountains again so it wasn’t all bad. We both felt pretty happy that we’d come in the Spring shoulder season as it wasn’t all that busy, there was still snow about and when the sun came out it was almost warm!

The Pancake Rocks

It took another three hours or so to reach first Franz Joseph, and then Fox Glacier. We broke up the drive with a stop in Greymouth for supplies (I’d broken some glasses in the van that needed replacing), but other than that it was a particularly ugly town.

Epic trudge to the terminal

Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciers are the main attraction on the west coast of the south island. Thousands of years old, they are apparently the most easily accessible glaciers at sea level in the world (I think). As Fox was another 15 minutes down the road we headed for that one first. We made it to the carpark at around 4pm, and it takes about 90 minutes to walk from there to the nearest viewing platform and back, provided you don’t get avalanched on.

As you walk down the slope from the carpark, you can already catch a glimpse of the mountains and glacier – it was almost unreal. There is a marker halfway up the drive into the parking area that says something like “Fox Glacier Terminal Face – 1936” so the pathway you walk along has been carved out of the mountains by the forming and retreating glacier.

Boom - a Glacier!

Underfoot it is all mostly giant pebbles and to either side the rock face stretched up into the clouds so high we couldn’t see the top – but it is all part of the same range that Mt Cook is in, and is just the other side of the glaciers (if you are feeling flush, which we weren’t unfortunately, you can do a scenic flight for 30 minutes covering all three for about $500 each). Waterfalls cascaded down from on high, and you could see precariously balanced boulders the size of houses at the top of some, just waiting to roll down and squash a few tourists.

After 30 minutes or so of flat, riverbed walking you have to climb a hill – then it leads to a river crossing which merely consisted of five rocks strategically placed across the eight feet of rapidly moving water, although half of them were semi-submerged. Oh and just to the right of the crossing is a small waterfall over about a six foot drop onto more rocks. Ever the eight year old boy I bounded across to make sure it was safe, and surprisingly didn’t get washed away. Lisa was in her sling, and less keen so I returned and we made it across with only a mild panic moment halfway when I though I was going to lose her.

Sampling the glacial mountain water.

Onwards to the glacier terminal! Or at least, 150 metres from it… apparently it is rather unpredictable and is constantly shedding icebergs (one the size of a campervan each day), and all over the viewing area are news cuttings from an accident that happened in 2010 when two tourists hopped the barrier to touch the glacier and were subsequently killed when a huge chunk fell off onto them. The only way to actually touch it now is to pay a rather extortionate amount of money for a guided tour – we saw four or five groups of 30 or so coming down just whilst we were there. Had Lisa been less incapacitated we probably would’ve gone for it, but they give you full on ice boots, crampons and a big backpack which would never have worked.

Reflection pool

The glacier was pretty spectacular, but it was getting late and we still wanted to visit somewhere else nearby – Lake Mackenzie. It was only a quick drive away, but another 90 minute walk although about halfway around we both regretted going all the way around! We’ve discovered that NZ walking trails rarely give any indication of difficulty and their timings are often pretty unrealistic. The lake itself is very pretty, and the walk through the rainforest felt like you were in a grimm fairytale – unfortunately it’s main drawing point is the reflaction you can see from the far side is usually the peak of Mt Cook and makes for some rather cool photos, but not with the clouds that had now moved in over it so all we got was a cloudy lake, and rather exhausted!

Lake Mackenzie

We drove back into town, but the campsites and pubs looked a bit rubbish so we went back to Franz Joseph – got a cool campsite which was effectively in a cave cut out of the rainforest, then headed straight to the Hot Pools around the corner, managed to blag a two day pass for half price and soaked our weary bones for an hour…it was most welcome!