On my last day at Punakaiki, I had two show one of the new workers, who spoke very little English, how to clean before I took off on my next hitchhiking adventure towards Franz Josef glacier. Hamish, Te Nikau Resort’s owner, brought me to the information center in order to find a ride. From there, a friend of theirs, Brendon, picked me up and brought me into Greymouth; he even brought me to a store, “Warehouse” in order to find a raincoat! We ended up having to sit on the road for 45 minutes because a milk truck had turned over and was blocking the only road (no one was hurt). I found a few more rides that brought me all the way to Wanaroa. It had been raining all day and I had only about 30k left to get me to the glaciers. I started walking towards the corner where it looked like I’d have a better chance of picking up a ride when I noticed about five or six guys staring at me from the porch of the one and only bar in town. The chef, Liam, immediately starting heckling me (in a nonthreatening sort of way) telling me to get out of the rain and get in the bar and have a beer. I figured, why not? He said he’d take me to Franz Josef if I was willing to wait until he got off of work, so I sat inside from 6 pm until almost 11 drinking with all of the young locals (for free). At 11, Liam said he could take me to Franz or I could just stay at his place with him and his cousins since they have a room with beds that they rent out. Free accommodation? I’m there. I hung out with the boys and another girl from Canada, Pascal, for a while and then went to sleep. Pascal wanted to take me on a tour of the town the next day, showing me dairy farms and how cows are milked, I told her thanks, but since I grew up in the Midwest I had already experienced it and really needed to get a move on!
The next day Liam drove me into Franz Josef so I could drop my bag off in a hostel where he knew all of the workers. I quickly took off in order to hike Alex’s Knob…yep, I mounted Alex’s Knob (I love hiking innuendos!). All of my hikes so far have been long but not too taxing incline wise—this was significantly different. Apparently, it is supposed to be a 6-8 hour return trip, however, It took me about 3 hours up and 2 down. The view from the top is GORGEOUS. After going straight up for three hours you finally come to a plateau with a clear view of Franz Josef glacier (assuming the weather is good). On the way down I ran into a mother and son from the states who were on their way to Fox Glacier the next day. I talked to them for a little while and they told me that they would bring me if I could find them, since they weren’t sure which hostel they were staying at. Turns out, my bags were at the hostel they were in, small world, yet again. I rode with them the next morning and they dropped me off in town where I could drop off my bag.
In the hostel, the receptionist told me it wasn't a good idea to hike the Copland track by myself because I might "get washed away by the river." There were four Germans who were doing the same hike that I was (Welcome Flat) and they allowed me to ride with them the 20 k out of town to the start of the track. I hiked with them for a little bit and then took off on my own because I have become a bit of a speedy hiker. It took me five and a half hours to hike up the steep 17 km to the hut that I was staying in overnight. The hike goes over and along numerous streams, so it is impossible to keep your feet dry. I even accidentally stepped in a mud puddle that happened to be deep as my calf…gross. There is also an “active landslide zone” for 500 mteters which is absolutely petrifying to cross. There have been recent slips, so there are few markers displaying the correct path, there are giant cracks in the ground and sand falls away beneath each step—I was by myself and seriously thought there would be a landslide any second so I basically ran across the area to solid ground. At the top there are hot springs that have a view of mountains surrounding the area—the weather was perfectly clear, not a cloud insight!
The next day I got up at 6 am in order to hike back down. I finished in a about four hours and had to hitch back to Franz Josef. Being that I have an awful sense of direction, I walked to the one building I could find, a sheep sheering shed, to ask if I was moving in the correct direction. I really attractive younger guy told me I was, and, once I started walking, an older gentleman told me to walk to other direction (just messing with me, meanie!). Once I got back to the hostel, I found another girl, Luisa from Germany, who was also hitchhiking. She and I teamed up and found a ride that brought her all the way to Wanaka (about 200k) and me about 50 k from my destination in Queenstown. He dropped me off near Cromwell where another man picked me up and brought me to downtown Queenstown where I met up with Marissa and Ryan. They are in New Zealand on a work visa, so they actually have jobs and are living in an apartment in the city. When I got there I was just in time since they were having a BBQ house party. I had a taxi bring me to their place and immediately started playing beer pong…So much fun! The weather was pretty awful the next day, so we just sat around watching movies until it was time to go out! They showed me the Queenstown bar scene and then we went to Fergberger (MASSIVE burgers, so delicious at 4 am after spending hours in the bars).
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