We are now heading out to the coastline of the Tasman Sea, which borders the west side of the South Island, with our ultimate destination being the location of the New Zealand glaciers. Franz Josef is our destination for the next two nights.

As we left Wanaka we had fairly sunny skies but the weather quickly deteriorated by mid morning and we spent the rest of the day dodging intermittent rain showers.

We stopped at a nearby sister lake to Lake Wanaka – Lake Hawea for a picture stop.  There are a lot of lakes with crystal clear, drinkable waters in this area of the country.

As we got closer to the coast I noted that the environment was changing. The trees are bigger and denser, the plants are thicker and everything is green, green, green.

Mid-morning we made a “cultural” stop to experience a New Zealand treasured delicacy- whitebait.  What is it you ask?  They are very tiny (2 inch) minnows that are prized by the locals. The closest I can relate is our smelt, but those are much larger than whitebait. The season for whitebait is short and they are netted at the mouth of rivers when they spawn from the ocean. How are they eaten?  They are simply mixed (whole) with an egg (acts as a binder), fried as a patty on the griddle and served on a warm buttered piece of bread. Restaurants serve them as an appetizer. We stopped at a shack on the beach where the owner explained how they are caught and cooked. Almost everyone in the group had one as a mid-morning snack. There was one Englishman who could not accept the fact that there were still eyes in the fish. Yvonne and I had tried whitebait the last time we visited New Zealand so we knew what to expect. Whitebait is tasty!

When we reached the seashore at Ship Creek we took a short walk in the nearby Kahikatea swamp forest which meanders through the local rain forest. We got to see what 250 inches of rain does to the local environment. I was shocked to hear that amount as it is 40 percent more than we get on our nearby Olympic Peninsula. I always thought we held the record rainfall.  Maybe we do for the USA. The rain forest we walked through was lovely and I saw many types of moss, ferns and lichens that were new to me. I was fascinated to see a very small blue toadstool standing alone amongst some green moss.

At the same location was access to the ocean beach and we wandered it for a bit, looking for dolphins (one was sighted) but we were hoping to find the prized “greenstone”; (New Zealand jade) that is highly prized by the locals and made into jewelry. It is revered by the Maori, the indigenous natives of New Zealand. It is commonly found on the beaches and people come to hunt for it. We found some “greenish” looking stones but were told they were not greenstone. Disappointed, we moved on, continuing our journey north.

We made another stop at Lake Matheson where the reflection of the mountains and glaciers can be seen on the still waters of the lake. That is true IF it were not raining and the clouds were not hiding the glaciers. Some of us walked to the viewpoint anyway and did see a sign showing what we should have seen on a clear day.  Maybe next time!

We arrived in the very small village of Franz Josef, one of the two notable glaciers in the area. The other is called Fox glacier. Needless to say neither one was in view when we reached the area.

We had been warned that our lodging would be an old-fashioned motel with bad internet service. It was old, but clean. The beds were comfortable and the water hot. And, yes, the internet service was terrible, but we are out in the middle of nowhere.  As in several of our hotels the beds had electric mattress pads for cold nights.

It did quit raining towards evening and we were able to wander a few blocks into town to one of the few restaurants there. What has been amazing is we did not expect good food in touristy locations like Franz Josef, but our experience has been just the opposite. We have had very good meals wherever we went.

Tomorrow we will explore the area and hopefully go on our planned helicopter ride, which includes a landing on the glacier. The weather will dictate whether we go. Time will tell.