12/02/2023 From Motueka to Westport
Too early
We’ve never been woken up by a cow’s bell before – until today. However, it wasn’t an actual cow. Instead, we had parked at a car park last night where people were now setting up their stalls for the Sunday market.
At 6 a.m. it was still dark outside and Blake and I were still tired. So we drove to the next McDonald’s car park where we hung out for another 1.5 hours – classy as usual.
It’s market time – again
Once we felt more awake, we walked back to the market for a stroll. I just love markets and I love talking to the locals. I’m pretty sure Blake’s likes markets too, but he would never admit it. After buying a German currywurst for Blake, a coffee and a cookie for me, a juice for both of us and a second-hand book for me, we were ready to leave Motueka behind to drive to New Zealand’s West Coast.
A dip in Lake Rotoiti
The drive was beautiful again! We first stopped at Lake Rotoiti, where we did a little walk by the lake.
Blake even jumped into the cold water off the jetty to cool off (or was it just for the photo 😉?!).
So many natural wonders along the way
Next we saw the Buller Gorge Swing Bridge.
After that we visited the big Maruia Falls. Both times we were the only ones there.
The freedom of having a campervan
In the evening we stopped at a viewpoint overlooking the Buller River. Here Blake cooked his lamb with rice that he had bought earlier, while I enjoyed my Indonesian rice dish called “gado gado”, that I had bought at the market earlier. The views were phenomenal! I just love the freedom we have with the campervan of being able to stop wherever we like.
Made it to the West Coast
We drove for another 1.5 hours until we reached Westport from where we headed further up north along the coast. There we found a camp spot aka car park right by the ocean just in time to watch sunset from the beach.
13/02/2023 From Westport to Greymouth
What to expect
- 1 West Coast
- 1.1 Do a coastal walk at Cape Foulwind
- 1.2 Drive along the coastline
- 1.3 See the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks
- 1.4 Drive to the Dorothy Falls
- 1.5 See the Hokitika Gorge
- 1.6 Admire the Okarito Lagoon
- 1.7 Hike to the Franz Josef Glacier viewpoint
- 1.8 Hike to the Fox Glacier viewpoint
- 1.9 See the reflection in Lake Matheson
- 1.10 Enjoy the view from Knights Point Lookout
- 1.11 Relax at the Roaring Billy Falls
- 1.12 Take a dip in the ice-cold Blue Pools
West Coast
Be aware of sandflies
Waking up at the beach always makes me happy! The thing that doesn’t make me happy, however, are sandflies!
We made our breakfast bowls and tried to enjoy eating them at the beach, which was quite difficult with all the sandflies around us. Right now we were still oblivious to the fact that the sandflies would be going to follow us on the entire West Coast of the South Island…
Do a coastal walk at Cape Foulwind
Next, we drove to Cape Foulwind, where we did one of the most beautiful walks along the coast.
At the end of the walk at Tauranga Bay, we could even spot some seals playing in the water.
It’s game day – again
Today was a very important day again – at least for one of us. The super bowl was on. Blake had already started panicking about it two days ago since there were only small towns along the West Coast, which might not show the game. Luckily, the next “bigger” town on the West Coast named Westport had a bar that showed the game. So the day was saved after all.
Relaxing in the park
Meanwhile, I grabbed my book and relaxed in a beautiful park with lots of flowers (“Victoria Square”). It was a win-win 😉.
Drive along the coastline
In the afternoon, we drove along the Great Coast Road from Westport to Greymouth, which is known as one of the most beautiful coastal roads in the world. And it was so true! The huge cliffs, the blue sea and the fern trees on the side of the road were all stunningly beautiful!
See the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks
On the way to Greymouth we stopped at the famous Punakaiki Pancake Rocks. The 30-minute-walk around these gorgeous rock formations was beautiful. It was actually the third time Blake and I had visited them (separately before), but it was the first time for me that it has actually been sunny here!
Dinner with a view
We found a nice car park right at the beach where we ate our dinner (sandwiches for Blake and antipasti for me). Unfortunately, we had to eat inside the car as the sansflies were just too persistent. Even though we couldn’t hear the waves crashing from inside the car, we could still see them 😉.
14/02/2023 From Greymouth to Harihari
Poor backpackers
In Greymouth a shower was highly overdue. Not being a good role model we first sneaked into a hostel to shower and then used the free wifi at McDonald’s.
Drive to the Dorothy Falls
Today we first drove inland to see the Dorothy Falls.
See the Hokitika Gorge
After that we drove to Hokitika Gorge, which has vivid turquoise water, surrounded by lush native bush and a long suspension bridge over the gorge.
So “romantic”
On the way to our “campsite” for the night (wherever that might be), we stopped at a Thai food truck for some noodles and curry, which Blake treated me to. After all, it was Valentine’s Day today 😉.
Great sunset
The drive continued to be stunning. The ocean was now replaced by big mountains.
When the sun set, we set camp next to some big hay balls and a grand farm, where we had another cozy movie night in the back of our van.
15/02/2023 From Harihari to Fox Glacier
Admire the Okarito Lagoon
After a breakfast stop at a gorgeous river we drove to the Okarito Lagoon, which was also beautiful.
To be honest, on the entire drive along the Weat Coast of New Zealand’s South Island we have been blown away by the stunning nature all around us! Today was one of those days again where we were just in awe by all the lakes, glaciers, coastlines and rainforests that New Zealand has to offer.
It’s glacier time
Hike to the Franz Josef Glacier viewpoint
Our next stop was Franz Josef Glacier. In 2005 I had hiked up the glacier with spikes underneath my shoes, which was quite the adventure. This time we “only” walked to the viewing platform. It was pretty shocking to see how much the glacier had been decreased in size and length since 2005. Since some tourists had been caught by heavy rain and flooding at the glacier in 2020, the hike to get closer to the glacier had been closed off completely.
Hike to the Fox Glacier viewpoint
After the glacier is before the glacier
Then we drove to Fox Glacier, which was only 30 minutes away from Franz Josef Glacier.
Here we did a two-hour-round trip to get to the viewing platform in order to see Fox Glacier. The rainforest we walked through looked quite mystical.
The beauty of staying wherever you like
In the evening we found another viewing point to see Fox Glacier, where we set up shop for the night. We were lucky to have the entire glacier (view) to ourselves (until the tourists showed up in the next morning).
16/02/2023 From Fox Glacier to Wanaka
See the reflection in Lake Matheson
Falling asleep with a million stars above us and waking up to the glacier was pretty unique.
We started the day with a 90-minute walk around Lake Matheson, in which you could see a magnificent reflection of Mt Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain of 3724m.
The last leg
After the walk it was time for the last part along the West Coast before we were heading inland tonight.
Enjoy the view from Knights Point Lookout
The view – as always – was spectacular and we stopped at Knights Point Lookout to admire the ocean on the West Coast one last time.
Relax at the Roaring Billy Falls
Next, we did a short walk through the rainforest to a gorgeous waterfall, named “Roaring Billy Falls”, with a turquoise river in front of it.
New Zealand seems to have all these hidden gems at every corner!
Take a dip in the ice-cold Blue Pools
In the afternoon we walked through the rainforest and over a suspension bridge to get to the Blue Pools, which are an absolute must-see on the South Island!
Ice ice, baby!
Even though the water was ice-cold, we didn’t want to miss the chance to bath in them. We did go it, but it was probably the quickest “bath” ever.
Bye bye, West Coast
On the one hand, we were quite sad to leave the beautiful West Coast behind with all its huge waterfalls, green rainforests and stunning coastlines. But on the other hand, we were very excited for some more civilization in Queenstown and, most importantly, to get away from the sandflies.
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That is a spectacular coast line. Glaciers, ferns, sunsets, etc. all looked great! Nice pics! Wonderful memories!