In our lovely cottage off of Hydrangea Bay, we cooked pancakes in honor of Pancake Rocks for breakfast, and were off down the West Coast. Our first stop today was at Hokitika Gorge, a short jaunt inland for some glacial river viewing. The parking lot was extremely packed, but there were a lot of trailheads from that point, so our short hike was lightly crowded, but pleasant.

Foxgloves at the trailhead. It didn’t take a long walk to see the powdery blue river  rolling down the valley. It’s color is caused by glacial flour, a fine grained material found in glacial runoff. The clay sized particles are suspended in the water for a time until other sources of water dilute the river.

Looks fake doesn’t it? The color is unbelievable. That suspension bridge can only hold six people at a time by the way.. um.

We climbed all over the rocks at the bottom of the gorge.

What a wonderful detour! On our way back to the main road, we stopped by Hokitika (the town) and bought some exquisite nephrite jade jewelry (thanks Dad!) We picnicked quickly on the highway, then continued on the drive to Fox Glacier, Frank Josef Glacier’s lesser known neighbor. Hoping to avoid any and all tour buses, we did not arrive there until 4pm. There was still a tour bus. Oh well. Fox Glacier has retreated substantially since it has been a site for the public, so there was a very steep hike up to see it. It was a fun walk though.

And…. the glacier!

Just kidding. Did I mention that the whole hike there were rockfall warning signs telling hikers not to stop under any circumstances? Oops.

Fox Glacier, with cute ice cave at the bottom. Turns out glaciers, while amazing conceptually, are kind of dirty up close and personal. Looking back on the valley we just walked through though really put into perspective what a lot of ice and time can do.

The mist was descending fast, and the tour bus was approaching the view point so we walked back to the car and continued south to Haast, where we had a one night stay before driving again, this time away from the coast. Checkers did take a brief hooping break though.

*****Written By Laura*****

• New Zealand 2016-17