we do finally arrive in Greymouth

but not before we get to make another ice cream stop! and Mike takes us on another hike- this one shorter...

here is our post lunch map-starting from the bottom (Harihari for lunch, up toward Ross with the Pete stop along the way) we are heading for Holitika- and then finally Greymouth.

so we get to Hokitika - where the scheduled activity is shopping for the greenstone jewelry that is allegedly so famous- we don't even go in because as we get off the bus we see a place with real fruit ice cream advertised just a half a block away so we go straight there-

called Sweet Alice's they have fudge and candy and ice cream!

and a cash register that never fails when the power goes out!

we eat our ice cream and I spot an actual gallery two doors down and go in- I fall in love with a painting there and purchase it directly from the lovely artist-  it is a scene she painted "en plein air"

En plein air (French pronunciation: ​[ɑ̃ plɛn‿ɛʁ]) is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors, which is also called peinture sur le motif ("painting on the ground") in French.

the above from wiki-pedia of course- but she told me that she was driving near the glacier one morning (a dark and stormy day) when she was particularly taken with the light- the brooding clouds the deep green of the forest etc... and it looked very much like the weather we had this morning on the trip that I knew this was the one I had to have- we negotiated a price and I got my painting wrapped up in a tube for transport...

the local museum- which we unfortunately did not have time to go into-

then on to a nearby beach/lookout point -

we get back in the bus and Darryl gets us to Greymouth in one piece- to the not so great hotel too far outside of the small town of Gerymouth to walk into town- we have dinner at the hotel where the three choices could not be explained by the waiter- however we did have a good conversation with Darryl about living through the Christchurch earthquake- which made the medicore food and bad service less noticeable...

two nights in this place and there is no airconditioning- each room has an oscilating fan - I would give this one no stars out of four... of course we are only sleeping here- but seriously is it possible there is NO other decent hotel in town when this has more than 10K people in it...

here is the wiki entry and photo:

The town's major industries include fishing, mining, forestry, and ecotourism, the latter two of these industries holding an uneasy relationship with each other. The Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki, 45 km to the north are a popular local tourist attraction, while many also pass through on the route to or from the glaciers to the south.

Greymouth is also known for its Pounamu ("Greenstone", a form of Jade) carving industry which goes back to Māori origins. The town also has a local brewery, Monteith's, which produces beer since 1868, now sold countrywide.
 

glaciers and mist with famous toilets!

so we are off again this morning along the wild west coast-

we have lots of adventures awaiting us- the morning is dreary and drizzly... our first stop is the town of Franz Joseph (believe it or not- it is famous for its public toilets- LOL)

here we see a man emerging from the famous toilets-

 
we are in town to pick up tickets for entrance to the Franz Joseph Glacier park... and then off again to the Glacier- we will be back to see the movie they have there but it isn't open yet-

LOL- as you know Mike has us up and out everyday before ANYTHING is open...so on to Franz Joseph glacier-

fake park ranger in the photo above- looked quite real until you see his feet- LOL (I think he is the same guy they cut out of the brochure - LOL)

so off we go with a local guide from the park who we picked up in town when Mike paid our entrance fees

there is a hike through the surrounding forest before you can even see the glacier in the distance-

then on to the valley where the glacier has receded and the river carries glacial rocks and soil down to the Tasman Sea-

 

above- the guide explains how glaciers are formed and the length varies based upon climate conditions.

the glacier in sight-

the mists over the glacial valley and waterfalls along the hill sides-

the group continues on- I decide enough of the crappy weather (and I have been ON a glacier not just walked near to one- photo included below) so I head back through the forest to spend some quality time with a Kea in the parking lot and with Darryl who has finished smoking while we were gone- LOL - the others head on- with people dropping out at various points - most did the whole walk but they didn't get ON to the glacier-

(Phil, Don and Mike raptly listen to the guide)

my own glacier experiences-
on the water in Chile - we went right up to the calving glacier in a little tender- totally fun and amazingly beautiful- you can see the variations in color on the floating part in the foreground of this photo:

and on land- in Canada with TB about fifteen months before the NZ trip- here we are ON the glacier- TB gathered glacier water in his bottle and we posed for a photo:

so you can see why I just didn't make it a priority to hike out TOWARD the glacier in Franz Joseph...

but back to my Kea- you can see how crappy the weather was that morning from these Kea photos- all I really got were profile silhouetted shots-

this was the ONLY time in the 14+ days that the weather was really bad- the people who had thought about the helicopter ride over the glacier were S.O.L. and I would say this was among the least impressive places we stopped along the way- but never fear- the day has more in store for it and the weather gets better too...

so we head back to town where we get to have our own public toilet experience and also to view the movie Flowing West-

described in their own website as:
  

Hang onto your hat as you speed effortlessly across spectacular glaciers and amazing ice formations before climbing towards mighty snow peaks only to plummet suddenly into an icy depth... all while your feet are still planted firmly on the ground! Experience a trip to the movie theatre - glacier style!

Flowing West - the Glacier Movie screens exclusively all year round in the Alpine Adventure Centre on the main street of Franz Josef township, and combines breath-taking New Zealand scenery with a thoroughly entertaining and informative glimpse into the world of glaciers.

 An OK movie- some pretty impressive shots of the Southern Alps- on to the public toilet-
 

LOL- there are a lot of people (who are always in front of me in the WC) who take longer than ten minutes in the bathroom so I am completely in favor of the no loitering mechanism here! LOL

next up - believe it or not- a lunch stop- in Harihari- where the pickings are slim- but there is ice cream! So we don't go hungry- and Mike encourages folks to go to the local gift shop up the road- I don't go inside but outside is a photo op of a shoe tree that is quite worthy!

it put me in mind of two other photo ops from trips TB and I had taken- one a teapot/pitcher tree in Tennessee and the second a shoe planter in Canada at Emerald Lake near Banff, Alberta:

 so at this point we are heading north along the "wild west coast" of the South Island of NZ - zipping north to Pukekura- but I am going to do a separate post on that so we will end this one here and continue on shortly...