The "West Coast" of the South Island

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     Getting on the Magic Bus Monday morning was a real pleasure!  We like the town of Nelson and enjoyed our stay at the Paradiso in our little "cottage" for the most part, but it was good to put the loss and all behind us and take off for more new experiences!  Our new bus driver is Rachel, a little bit of a thing that has been driving these buses for almost five years.  She's all energy and constantly eating though she weighs maybe 100 lbs.!  Her hometown is Queenstown and she is a competitive runner.  As one elderly lady put it, "I am so sorry, honey, I was expecting a big brute of a dus driver and I left my bags by the door for him."  "No worries," was Rachel's reply, "I can handle that!"  And she did!

     Denny and I always rise early and are there to greet the bus, usually staying at the "first pick-up" so that we can get the front seat of the bus -- both for the fine view, but also because Denny can get car sick and needs that driver's perspective, plus OF COURSE he loves to chat up the drivers too!  Luckily these kids like to gather at the back to sleep the morning away or chat among themselves.  Even when we're not first to board, the seats are almost always there.  The average age on the Magic Bus is 26 -- we beat that by a few decades!  The Kiwi Express has an average age of 18!  WOW!  And we see many other tours that have groups our age coming off.  They go to the fancier hotels.  I'll tell you though, for just plain cleanliness and the bare necessities, these backpackers' hostels are great!  All but the one have been better than Motel 8!  Plus they always have laundry and internet facilities!  And the people you meet -- though mostly foreign rather than the Kiwis we expected -- are wonderful!  We love chatting with them and many seem to gravitate to us -- perhaps it is our smiles or they are missing home and need some mothering!?!

     So anyway Monday we set off for Greymouth, the largest town on the West Coast.  It is also where the Grey River meets the West Coast and was a major trade center of the Maoris, particularly for "greenstone" (jade).  Lara and Linsey will be happy to learn that we had a stop at a jade factory (reminiscent of the China tour) and went shopping.  We have presents!  It was a really spectacular drive through first tropical and then temperate rain forest.  We stopped for a hike along a lake that reminded us a little of Leigh Lake.  Arriving in Greymouth, we stayed at the Noah's Ark Backpackers' Inn, an old renovated mansion that has theme rooms as you might well surmise.  We were in the "Leopard Room" and let me tell you that EVERYTHING was leopard motif from the drapes right down to the rugs.  There were really fun pictures everywhere too!  That evening we went on a Monteiths' Brewery tour learning how beer is produced and bottled.  We had a half hour in an open bar there at the end -- I was in heaven, as you all might imagine.  Montieths' GOLDEN -- delish!!!!  It was also fun to chat with others there and then go to a BBQ at the local train station Monteiths' restaurant (where they gave us yet one more pint).  We talked long into the night with a woman who is half American, one quarter Chinese and one quarter Spanish.  She is tri-lingual and a delight.  A younger Irish girl was with her and the four of us shared stories and laughter throughout the evening.  Three boys from Germany asked if I would pose with them at the bar so they could tell there Mom's that they were behaving!  lololo

     Tuesday we had a "bit of a lie in" and started off for Franz Josef.  By now we and Rachel are fast friends, she was chatting so much with us as she drove that she almost forgot her schpiel for all the adventure sports in Franz Josef.  You can do anythinga nd everything here in NZ -- they are into risk taking big time!  Two large glaciers are in this area, Franz Josef and Fox.  You can stay in either town of the same name and do heli-hiking, float planes, full and half day hikes etc. etc. etc.  Franz Josef, where we stayed, is smaller even than Jackson and tucked into the mountains with the glaciers above.  We stayed at the Montrose Lodge, a brand new backpackers' place that was pristine.  The view out our window was "wicked."  I worked on my class for the U. of Va. all afternoon and then we enjoyed a delightful meal at teh Blue Ice Cafe.  I had "to die for" blue lipped mussels.  (And Montieths' GOLDEN, of course!)  Our two Korean friends leave us today -- they have been sitting behind us these past two days and chatting.  We delighted them with our Seoul adventure, "on dol."

     And now we are in Queenstown, preparing to leave tomorrow morning for three days and two nights tramping and camping the Routeburn Track.  The vista changed from rainforest to high plateaus reminiscent of the Yellowstone area as we drove here yesterday.  We stopped to hike out to Lake Matheson to see the "Mirror Lake" that offers a great view of the Southern Alps and Mt. Cook.  Unfortunately Mt. Cook was in clouds.   It is wine country again also, so I am thinking of you all my friends who love NZ wines.  Last night and tonight we are staying at the Southern Laughter Backpackers' Inn.  It has sayings written all over it's walls, both inside and out -- like "The only place you'll fine a committed man is in a mental institution."  And "She ballet danced with her left foot and tap danced with her right and between the two she made all her money."  We are in the "Love Shack" and you can well imagine the sayings on our walls!  Too, too funny!  I personally love the swing right in front of our window!  Queenstown is a beautiful town, much like Vail and Aspen.  Rachel had told us about the VUDU Cafe, her personal favorite so we have been eating scrumptious meals there.  We sure hated to say goodbye to her and hope to catch up with her again when we leave Stewart Island and the Catlins around March 1. 

     Enough of this leisure tourist thing -- tomorrow we head out for the Routeburn Track, "rugged alpine back country."  We shopped today for lightweight foods and are packing this afternoon (I am on break).  Once again we will leave a duffle (it CAN"T happen twice) and carry as little as possible.  More on that upon our return Sunday!  We'll return to Te Anau for that next week -- in the beautiful area of Milford Sound.