Back in civilization, we continued south along the west coast with Hauke. Our distant destination was Queenstown, but there was still a lot ahead of us. Our first stop was in Greymouth, a very small town right by the sea. We especially liked the hostel we chose, as it is beautifully decorated in African style and you can admire the Pancake Rocks on the coast not far away.
Pancake Rocks
These rocks look like a huge stack of stacked pancakes. Minerals deposited in the sea for 30 million years formed the layers. The rocks came to the surface due to uplift, which is why they are now an attraction. If you continue south, you will eventually reach Hokitika, which is famous for its jade deposits. But there was also something to see for us, namely a wonderful beach with a distant view of New Zealand's highest mountain, Mount Cook, as well as the Hokitika Gorge.
Hokitika Gorge
This river is very impressive because of its milky green/blue color.
We made our next stop in Franz Josef, from where we visited the nearby glacier of the same name.
Franz Josef Glacier
The west coast is characterized above all by the fact that when looking out to the vast ocean, you have a huge mountain range behind you. This naturally encouraged us to go on our next hike, this time only for two days. We chose the Copland Track, which is 19.4 kilometers long each way and leads to a simple hut in the mountains, right next to the so-called hot pools.
Hot Pools
Hot spring water comes out of the ground there and collects in small lakes; definitely the perfect relaxation after a 6-hour, strenuous mountain hike over stocks and stones, or rather rocks. The next morning, we set off around half past 8 and started the descent. This was much easier, despite the danger to our knees and ankles, so it only took us about 4 hours. This record time was partly due to the anticipation of Queenstown, the first larger city in a long time.
After an extremely tasty can of tuna (for a change *cough*), we continued our car journey to our destination, which was 5 hours away, where the legendary Fergburger should already be waiting for us...
