Glaciers

We spent the morning in Hokitika. First off on the beach again, no0one else there at 10am. Then went to the National Kiwi Centre to see....Kiwis. The Tua Tara dinosaur lizards were hiding away, too cold for them we thought. The eels (locally known as tuna but nothing like a tuna fish we would know) were a bit creepy - loads of them in a big tank, mostly 80-100 years old, with the oldest at 130. Out the back was an indoor lake with crayfish in it, with bait and hooks for you to catch them (and return them). The kids located one on the bottom and had it nibbling the bait, but Tash was a bit reluctant to actually pull it up, so I slowly wound it in with Ed on net duty. First effort it fell off just before getting the net under, but we dangled down the bait again and this time were successful. Pictures duly taken with our catch before returning it.

Then on to the star attraction the Kiwis. Their enclosure was kept dark as they are nocturnal and we went in quietly and as our eyes adjusted saw movement toward the back. Moving further in we saw a kiwi running quickly aroun the enclosure, occasionally coming up towards us. After a few minutes watching we headed out and saw another kiwi right next to the glass, a great close up view. They are bigger than we had imagined.

The kids got their crayfish fishermen certificates stamped and we went to look at some of the greenstone/jade jewellery shops. Nothing appealed (some items were very expensive and the cheaper ones clearly mass produced overseas). We visited the Co-operative Gallery, run by local artists and bought a small wicker pouch (Ed) and a painted stone (Sam). I went to move the car as our 1 hours were up and met the others back in a cafe for lunch. The cafe guy said actually the parking restrictions weren't operating at the moment so my moving the car was wasted effort.

With more time know we went into the Wilderness Gallery (which like the Co-operative had been recommended on line). They had lots of nice things and we bought two wooden blocks with photos on of the beach and the gorge. Even better they were half price as they were odd sizes the owner wasn't producing any more. Ed bought two cute stones painted as a penguin and a kiwi. Jurgen the owner from Germany was very friendly and chatted about rugby amongst other things.

Tash still wanted some jade so we went into a smaller shop, Heritage Jade and found lots of nice pieces, more reasonably priced than elsewhere and made by the guy in the shop, Colin. I bought a piece for Tash and Ed (as they are supposed to be given as gifts).

Then into the car for the drive to Franz Josef. Took about 1 hour 40 minutes t get there as expected. We found our motel and checked in, nice room again then headed down to the glacier to have a look 0 it's about 3km out of town to the car park, another 90 minute round trip walk to the face from there. We decided to do the 20 minute round trip up to Sentinel Peak with viewing platform across to the glacier, then a short forest walk to the riverbed, where you would continue if you wanted to go to the glacier face - we decided it would be too dark by the time we got back so stayed there, with Ed jumping the glacial stream and throwing rocks in. The glacier has definitely receded quite a long way from when Sam and I were here in 2003 - it's right up the valley now.

Back to the motel and food from the Chinese restaurant next door, ready for kayaking next day.Read more