Roadtrip on the West Coast

Far too early for my taste, we set off today - the Straybus was supposed to drive about 500km south, and Highway 6 leads along the West Coast of the South Island, one of the spectacular roads in New Zealand.

The big disadvantage - eight hours sitting on the bus. Oh great. I would much prefer 8 hours of hiking anytime.

At first, the road led only through mountain landscapes and white mountains, not yet too exciting. Half of the bus had fallen asleep again, apparently it was a bit later yesterday.

Slowly but steadily, the landscape became wilder and more beautiful. As soon as we reached the river, which has the highest floods in New Zealand during rainy season (about 5 meters above our bus, quite creepy), I started taking photos, which turned out to be impressive enough for a few shots. So almost all pictures were taken from the bus while driving, so the quality may vary.
What was there to see: lots of forest, mountains, and cow farms. But then we reached the coast.
In stark contrast to the Abel Tasman region, there are no beautiful golden sandy beaches on the West Coast, but rather black rocks, sharp and jagged from the constant influence of the water. The sea is much wilder, waves and spray crash onto the shores.
The road winds with many curves along the coast, giving you short glimpses of the sea. At a lookout, we finally got our first real view of the West Coast.

Near Punakaiki, the bus also stopped at the 'Pancake Rocks'. Because New Zealanders are very honest in naming things, you can expect rocks that are stacked like pancakes. And we were not disappointed, but for me, the combination of the hopelessly shaped rocks and the waves was much more impressive than the actual rocks.

So the first impressions of the West Coast were overwhelmingly positive, especially the contrast to everything I have seen so far.

After Greymouth, in the early afternoon, we stopped in Hokitika - the capital of Greenstones. The city dates back to the mid-18th century, when the gold rush hit New Zealand, just like all the other cities on the West Coast. The region is said to have shown astonishing similarities to the Wild West at that time.
Anyway, nowadays you can only find greenstones on the West Coast. Greenstones are green stones (I can't believe I just wrote that) and have spiritual significance, especially for the Maori people. For tourists, they are of course a welcome souvenir, and so half of the city consists of greenstone shops. The stones also come at a price, but I didn't really plan on buying one anyway.

After another long two hours, we finally reached Franz Josef. Once again, the place consists only of a long street with many hotels and hostels. The actual interesting thing is outside of the town - Franz Josef Glacier.

There are several ways to visit the three glaciers in New Zealand - Valley Walks lead around the glaciers at the bottom and have the great advantage that you don't have to pay anything. Unfortunately, you don't get very close to the actual glacier, for that you need a helicopter.

With a 20-40 minute flight, you can tick off two glaciers at once, but only from the sky.
The popular option is to be flown up to the glacier for about 5 minutes with a helicopter and then hike there for 1-2 hours. By the way, you will also be flown back, which people strangely often ask about.
And if that's not enough, you can go one step further: Heli Ice Climb. As the name suggests, the excursion also includes a climbing part on the glacier.

Guess what I chose.

I will stay in Franz Josef for a total of two days, for several reasons. The most important one: the weather on the West Coast is not known for its sunny side, quite the opposite. So if the tour should be canceled on the first day, I still have the second day as a backup.

And besides, I can still do the Valley Walks.

The whole thing is therefore very uncertain. In addition, a fourth person has to be found for the climbing tour, otherwise the three of us will be put on a Heli Hike and the price difference will be refunded. And I'm completely satisfied with that, I can only win in a way. Only the weather has to play along.

And since we're already talking about the price: I'll just mention that the Heli Hikes start at $440 on offer, and the Heli Ice Climb cost me a proud $575. I had to work for 3-4 days for that... That really hurts. But it will surely be worth it!

In the evening, I settled into the hostel, after all, I will be there for 3 whole nights! And then, as stupid as it may sound, I had to recover from this endless bus ride. I was so tired when we arrived...
And tomorrow I have to be in top shape - a glacier is calling for me... Hopefully...