After the ride with the Tranz Alpine Railway from Christchurch to Greymouth we went a little bit farer to the north. Near the famous pancake rocks with their impressive blow wholes we found the really great Te Nikau Retreat. The village nearby is called Punakaiki and it is more or less nothing there. At least we were able to have dinner in the only pub available. The next one was in Greymouth 30km away. Te Nikau offers a nice main building with a very warm inside plus several lodges in the rainforest. The lodge we had was for sure the best accommodation I had until now in NZ. The peaceful thick forest around the lodge, the fire place, the nice kitchen, the sleeping places, all this made it a real experience to stay there one night. The only thing You should have is a torch to get there. While we were staying there some lamps on the way to the lodge were not working. Without light from the moon it is nearly impossible to find the place. We were accompanied by two guys from Danemark. They have done carpenter work on the islands and were now on the search for snow to do some skiing.
The next day was quit a surprise. The forecasted rain was not here. Instead the sun was shining and we had a impressive drive on the coastal scenery further north of Punakaiki. Our destination were the Fox caves. This caves are inside the Paparoa National Park and they are only accessible by foot. It was a nearly two hour walk to the caves. The track was closed because of a washout but it was no problem to get through. The really difficulty were the two river crossings we had to do. The water was not really warm and barefoot the stone were not really nice to walk on. But finally we reached the remote caves and we were able to do a one hour caving in the impressive underground.
The afternoon we spent on the road. We wanted to reach one of the famous glaciers on the west coast. We got a quit nice hostel in the Franz Josef Village. The best part of it was the spa. There we had a nice evening discussing some stuff and enjoying the warm water. Not so nice was the fact that in the rooms TVs were installed. Our two guys living with us (a couple) had nothing better to do than turning on the TV as soon they are coming into the room. As well they had the fantastic idea to cook with peanut butter in the installed kitchen. Really funny to have the smell and the stupid TV program. The hostel would be great but the design of the rooms with TV and kitchen is not really genious.
Today the promissed rain was reaching the west coast. Our walk up the Franz Josef Glacier was still dry but after we had the chance to see this gigantic mass of blue ice the rain started. First there were some occasional showers but before the reached the car the doors of heaven were opening up fully and we got wet till the bones. For luck we were afterwards travelling in the car. Sad thing was that we had no chance to see the Fox Glacier and the famous mirror lake with the Mount Tasman/Cook scenery. But You can't have everything. Now we are in Wanaka. The famous Wanaka where each two years warbirds from all over the world were meeting each over and attracting 110000 spectators to this really small town. Now between the summer and winter season the village is calm. If there is some stuff of interest we will see tomorrow - if the rain stops.