Gorge with pancakes on side

We continued north to Hokitika and saw the impressive turquoise Gorge. Selina took another glacial dip!

We stayed by Lake Kaniere which was beautiful. It was warm enough for me to take a dip there!

Driving on towards Westport gave us some lovely views down to the sea. They say this stretch is the most beautiful drive in New Zealand. 

Pancake rocks are one of the key tourist attractions on the west coast. They are very pancakey looking rocks formed millions of years ago out of limestone. The sea has gradually chipped away at them creating some stunning formations.

Glaciers rock

Wet weather greeted us into the west coast. It was so bad there were landslips and flooding along the highway causing it to be closed for a day. 

The main reason we have come into the South Island is for the west coast, so we hung fire in Haast until the weather improved then we set off towards Fox glacier.

On the way there we got some great views of the rugged sea. It was ferocious at times - all frothy and angry. 

We went on two walks round a forest and swamp at Ship Creek, although part of the walkway had slipped away in the wet weather. 

The weather was very changeable in Fox Glacier but we did manage to get some clear views of the glacier.

And Mount Cook. 

Our campsite had a really short glowworm walk which we did in the pitch black. It felt far in the dark but the next day we could see it was sooo short! Haha. 

We then moved on to the Franz Josef Glacier where we could walk much closer to the glacier. 

I like the reflection of the mountains in my namesake - Peter’s Pool. 

Then the final piece in the glacier experience was for Selina and Olive to take a helicopter ride up to walk on the glacier!

Icy cold water!

We passed through Wanaka, enjoying a glimpse of the, apparently, insta famous That Wanaka Tree and took in some tasty crepes from Charlie Brown. Great pit stop.

Olive and Boo loved having their minds bent by The illusions in Puzzling World. There were holograms and lots of funny illusions. The tilt room was my favourite.

We really loved Lake Hawea with its super clear water and stunning natural surroundings. The best view was our first view from the campsite. 

We stayed a little further up the next night at Makarora which is the gateway to the west coast and all the glacier fun that awaits us. We spent the night in a hut for a change which Olive loved. The pre-bedtime nature walk from the site was beautiful, but alas too early for glowworms!

We visited the translucent Blue Lakes where Selina bravely took a dip in the icy arctic waters. We then had a happy time watching young folk jump off the bridge into the iciness. 

That night we stayed in the neighbouring Cameron Flats government campsite, again with stunning surroundings. We are being really spoilt by these views!

Next stop glaciers…

Panning for gold in Otago

We stayed around Queenstown for a few days. Some of the landscapes we drove through were breathtaking.

Arrowtown was a lovely place with its historic high street. Olive tried her hand at panning for gold. Did we find our millions? Well we are still freedom camping.

The Otago area was full of the yellow stuff and attracted people from far and wide. We looked round the Chinese Settlement which was interesting. 

We freedom camped in the AJ Hackett car park. This chap set up the first bungee jumping and we could watch the steady line of folk taking the plunge off a bridge high above Kawerau Gorge. So brave, or mad.

Queenstown itself was a place set in stunning surroundings. Only 20,000 people live there but they receive 3 million visitors each year! It was touristy!

Our first paid for campsite in a while was cheap and simple but also looks great in a photo!

We did a fun interactive history thing followed by watching the fish and diving ducks feeding. Olive and Boo loved it. 

We also went to a bar made of ice. It was -9C. Even our cocktail was in a glass made of ice. Olive licked every inch of the place! We enjoyed smashing our glass at the end.