Had a nice leisurely start to the day then headed west on our way to the Glaciers. By noon we’d made it to the coast, near the town of Haast. The drive through the Mt Aspiring pass was stunning. Lots of one way bridges, steep drop offs, snow capped mountains, and electric blue streams. This was the most stunning bridge, called The Gates of Haast. The pictures hardly do it justice.
Haast is a cute little town of 300 people on the Southwest coast of NewZealand. It’s a World Heritage Area full of exotic scenery and wildlife. Ship Creek is a nice little outpost once you hit the ocean. If we'd had more time, there were apparently some great hikes in this area.
We finally made it to Franz Joseph glacier. The Māori name for the glacier is Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere ('The tears of Hinehukatere'), arising from a local legend: Hinehukatere loved climbing in the mountains and persuaded her lover, Wawe, to climb with her. Wawe was a less experienced climber than Hinehukatere but loved to accompany her until an avalanche swept Wawe from the peaks to his death. Hinehukatere was broken hearted and her many, many tears flowed down the mountain and froze to form the glacier.
We did a hike out to the mouth of the glacier, then cooked a fun meal of Thai curry chicken with rice. Another long day, seeing such a variety of sites. . .
No comments:
Post a Comment