Minnesota MoJo: West Coast

To begin our West Coast trip the week of Nov 23rd we camped by Lake Hawea north of Wanaka. It was gorgeous but windy.

We crossed over Lindis Pass where there was a roaring river, the Haast maybe, that Jason proceeded to scout as if he were going to someday paddle it. It looked a little big for paddling, but he still went through the motions.

The West Coast is notorious for wet weather, and we were welcomed with it. It was rainy and foggy nearly the whole week. Visibility was low, which didn't mix well with steep, winding, cliff-on-one-side roads that never seem to have a shoulder. At least they weren't gravel roads, although we've had our fair share of those. (Meg's favorite being the ones that are already barely wide enough for 1 car and then there's a sign indicating that the road narrows. Fun.) We're learning how to use 2nd and 1st gears in the automatic transmission as well as when it's appropriate to engine brake. New Zealand driving has been a steep (no pun intended) learning curve for two flatlanders like us.

Thanksgiving was a busy day. We camped at Gillespie Beach the night before and then got up for a 3 hour hike to the Gillespie Beach gold dredge remains and Galway beach seal colony. There weren't any seals, just a great view. Of the nature...

and the naturist!

Then after lunch we headed to the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers.

After the glaciers we pulled in to a campground at Lake Mahinapu and made Thanksgiving dinner. With only one burner we had to plan carefully what order to make everything so it would all be hot at the end. Our great plan included making the gravy and then pouring it into an empty peanut butter tub while we used the pan to make the next thing. We didn't think that boiling gravy would melt plastic! Oops, but we saved enough to cover our potatoes.