Thes are on the route to the Blue Pools a famous stopping point because of the suspension bridges and views of the clear water. I liked it best for the inuksuks
Actually there were Inuksuks at all the river stops along the route.
And the ferns were amazing.
I know where the image for the trees in Lord of the Rings came from
The road is narrow and windy and mostly up and down. I am in awe of the number of cyclists I passed, laden down with full camping gear. At any rate while they labored up I could feel like Mario Andretti going around pin tight curves at 15-35 km. When there aren’t curves there are single lane bridges that have arrows indicating whether you have the right of way to go first or the oncoming traffic does. There are a lot of these bridges and there is no particular order in who is going to have the right of way. There is also some horrendous amount of rain each year so the bridges have a raised concrete lip, about 8 inches, with holes in them to drain water off the deck. These lips are sometimes painted the same colour as the railings and not so obvious. When I got up towards the bridge I saw I had priority and no one was coming so I kept driving and hit the lip dinting the wheel and flattening the tire. There is nowhere to stop either on the bridge or on the side of the road after. I went about 300 yards and in desperation just pulled over and stopped half on and half off.
I am just not cut out for these things. I took a breath, opened the trunk and realized I had no clue how to change a tire. I couldn’t even figure out how to get the jack out. I should also say there is almost no one on the road. Maybe another vehicle going in my direction every 10-15 min. I found my Avis book and an emergency number but there is no cell service. In desperation I flagged down a passing van full of French people. I asked the driver if his cell phone worked and he said no cell service anywhere close and offered to change my tire. I said the rim was wrecked so I didn’t think that would work, what was I thinking? Anyway he didn’t listen to me and the 3 older Frenchmen, my age jumped out of the van, took over my car and had the tire changed in 5 min. Their wives fluttered sympathetically in the background. The guide just laughed and said pretty good for a Frenchman then he told me to be really careful because I had a lot of bridges ahead of me to Fox Glacier and not to go over 80km/hr. They all shook my hand and took off. I kind of had that post adrenaline shaky feeling so walked back up the road to find the hubcap thinking that I would need it. It was plastic and a little mangled.
Feeling a little mangled myself I headed out. I had plans for walking beaches at Haast and further on but when I got there I just didn’t have the mojo for it and kept on driving til I needed a washroom and took a couple of pics of the Tasman Sea.
The Tasman Sea
It drizzled most of the way on and off and the road was so twisty that I didn’t need to worry much about holding people up because no one was going very fast. It took me three hours to get to Fox Glacier and then my trusty GPS took me to a house that had nothing to do with the name of the motel I was supposed to be staying at. When I typed the motel name in nothing came up. I drove into town, it is a very small town, and asked at a restaurant where it might be the girl never heard of it then saw the look on my face and said she would call her manager because she would know better. There is a place, I made it and am settled, sort of, in.
I called the emergency Avis line and they didn’t know, patched me through to Queenstown who also didn’t know what to do and had to call me back. The upshot is I have to drive to Greymouth another 3-4 hours and do a vehicle exchange. I will also have to pay for everything because I took the cheaper insurance with a big deductible, thinking I was impervious to accidents. On top of which the Greymouth office is closed until morning and I have to confirm that they will hold a car until the day after tomorrow so I can check out the glacier and lakes around here. The Avis lady said there is such a big demand they are having to juggle vehicles all around the island. The influx of Chinese tourists some of who want to drive themselves and even camp is quite remarkable. If I do have to go tomorrow the motel guy says he can’t refund my money unless he can rent out the room, but he is sympathetic.
So now I have told my story I feel a bit better. I wish I was in Greymouth and had everything sorted out.
To be continued.
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