West Coast To Wanaka

Long story short, our trip down the west coast was a blast. We saw so many beautiful lakes, beaches, mountains and even a couple tourist traps. The sand flies made breakfast, lunch and dinner out of our legs but we got good at ignoring the swelling and itchy bumps. 

This lake here (I can't even remember the name of it, we've seen too many) had the worst sand flies of all. Made it impossible to fully enjoy the beauty but it was still a worthy stop. 

Made a quick stop in Murchison for groceries. Also bought a deck of cards which proved to be very worthwhile.  

Percy the '89 Toyota Hiace in all of its glory. 

Found free van camping by a nice beach. There was a large group of travelers enjoying a bonfire on the beach. 

Stopped at pancake rocks in Punakaiki which turned out to be a bit of a tourist trap. Just some rocks that have somewhat interesting horizontal folds in it. The Blowholes were pretty cool though. Either way we found a nice rock to sit on and enjoy the coastline views. 

It's hard to drive 10 miles without seeing a perfect blue river fed by nearby glaciers. 

Each night was spent playing cards, drinking cheap red wine and listening to Mike play guitar. 

One night I decided to sleep on the sand by a river. The morning sand flies were avoided by cocooning deep in my sleeping bag. Worth it. 

We hiked a nice 5 hour trek to see the Franz Joseph Glacier. The hike was beautiful with plenty of lush forest and swinging bridges. The clouds were low in the sky but just high enough to see the bottom of the Glacier. 

Lake Matheson is popular for its mirror-like reflection of the mountains behind it. Unfortunately any slight breeze will ruin it. Regardless is was a fun little hike around the lake. Mt Cook and Mt Tasman are in the background hiding. Behind the clouds. 

More ugly New Zealand coastline. 

The Blue Pools was another worthy stop. Jumping off of the bridge into the frigid glacial water was worth every ounce of water that ended up in my brain. 

Another breaktaking and free spot for van camping (even though I found some nice trees to setup my hammock between in the woods).

We fully enjoyed every second of the sunset that night. 

After a few days we made it to our next big destination: Wanaka. Not only is it a fun and beautiful town, but it also has an amazing valley just outside of town full of rock climbing. 

The rock is mainly comprised of schist, which gave me flashbacks of climbing back home at Rumney Rocks. Lots of different styles of climbing with incredible views in every direction. 

Today we drove almost to the end of the valley and spent some time climbing a wall right next to a waterfall. Doesn't even matter if the rock is all black and you're baking in the summer sun because there's a waterfall and a pool 20 feet away. 

Unfortunately my flight out of NZ is in a few days but I'm incredibly grateful that I was able to see this beautiful country. I've got plenty of new friends here to visit next time I come around.