West Coast Adventures

Sunrise in Christchurch

Pier in Christchurch

White water rafting

View from Helicopter

Getting out of helicopter

Rafting with Jenn and Firdaus

Lounging at Hanmer Springs

Franz Josef Glaciers

Moeraki Boulders

I just got back from a splendid two weeks of travelling. The first half of the trip was spent on the West Coast of the South Island. We drove a total of 2000 kms in 4 days. The second half of the trip was spent on the East Coast of the North Island and in NZ's capital, Wellington. These pictures above are from the first half only. The second half of the trip's pictures will come later this week.

The first day, we drove until we reached Christchurch and saw the sun rise. Afterwards, we drove and arrived in Hanmer Springs which was like an outdoor spa, but had a pungent sulfur smell to it. We lazed in the springs for a couple hours, then hit the road again. The following day, we got up early for our day of white water rafting. We took a helicopter to our starting point, which was one of the funnest rides of my life. The day started right. We got some rafting tips on what to do if one of us fell out and set out on the rapids. We rafted for a total of 4.5 hours. The river was a Grade 3-4. Grade 6 is the highest, which is considered un-raftable. It was my first time, but it wasn't as challenging as I thought it would be. There is a lot of teamwork involved in rafting. One person's movements can manipulate the entire raft. Rafting is something I would love to try again.

The following day, we went glacier walking. New Zealand has a large number of glaciers spread out all over, but some of the most popular ones are the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers on the West Coast. My roommates and I did the Franz Josef glacier full day walk, which was approximately 5 hours, not including travel time. It was a truly unique experience that I may not have the opportunity to try in the future. The glaciers are slowly melting. They are a beautiful site. We had the chance to climb through some tiny holes that were formed by the melting glaciers.

On the way home, we stopped at the Moeraki boulders which are circular shaped rocks that were mysteriously formed. There is no clear explanation how these boulders got to the beach.

I still have some great photos from Mount Cook, the largest mountain in New Zealand and Punakaiki (Pancake rocks) as well. I will get them up here as soon as I can. Enjoy the photos!