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The final installment.

Monday, October 20th

We spent the night in Franz Josef, visiting the town’s one bar and hoping that the rain would stop sometime — any time — soon. But, the next morning it was still pouring. That isn’t to say that it wasn’t unexpected (the area gets lots and lots of rain) but still a letdown. We were hoping to do some kind of glacial walk, but to no avail. Instead we did a short walk to the glacier’s ‘terminal face’ but from about 500m away it’s not particularly impressive. Plus, I had water in my shoes by that point and we just wanted to move on.

We continued North up the West Coast to Hokitika, a touristy town that boasts the highest number of crummy jade-shops per capita. I refused to buy anything, but I did get some fresh fudge from a little shop called Auntie Alice’s Fudge Kitchen — we watched them pour it into the mould. Pretty cool. But more importantly, the Red Sox were playing in Game 7 of the ALCS against the Rays, so I spent most of the day trying to reach my Dad and crossing my fingers… well, it didn’t work. The Sox lost, the rain kept pouring. It was a depressing day all around.

We kept driving for another hour or so and reached Greymouth, a drab industrial looking place and found our hostel for the night — a weird, maze-like place called The Duke. It was alright. We did find some good pizza though and managed to find the Monteith’s Brewery; we’d tour it tomorrow. Julie spent most of the night learning Backgammon from an Israeli fellow who had been travelling through India, Australia and now NZ. Pretty remarkable. I wonder how he pays for it…

Tuesday, October 21

Another dreary day from the start but starting to clear up. We booked a tour at the brewery and ended up being the only two on the tour, so it felt more like a private affair. It was really interesting to learn about the whole process — where they get their ingredients from, etc. and what gives their beer its flavour. It’s also amazing that there are only two primary brewers that basically run the show, making thousands of liters of the stuff on a weekly basis. Tasting afterwards was great. Our tour guide was incredibly well-versed in all things beer and she recommended a whole variety of NZ dishes for us to try with their different brews. I can’t honestly remember any of the combinations, but it’s something I plan on learning more about when I come back to the States.

After our tour we headed back East to Christchurch, this time cutting through Arthur’s Pass — some incredible views and even more kea. Wish I had taken more pictures but we were both a little burnt out. We arrived back in Christchurch late in the afternoon, went for one last stroll in the Botans and then grabbed some Chinese food for dinner. Bunked down in a small backpackers called Foley Towers and snoozed until our flight the next morning — back to Wellywood.

And, that’s all folks. It was a great trip overall. I was able to see some things for the first time that I wasn’t able to with the family and those things I saw for a second time seemed even more intruiging. It was a fitting end to my travels around the country. Until next time.

Enjoy the photos!