The irrelevance of weather forecasts

We both slept really well, partly due to the fact that we haven’t been sleeping very well since we left Tahiti, and partly because we had a comfy bed.

It’s a nice campsite, and it has good facilities too – such as good communal showers.

At 8.30, we left for today’s special excursion. A helicopter trip to Fox Glacier. After a short helicopter ride, we would hike the glacier for a couple of hours and then fly back to town.

We had our safety briefing, and were fitted up with our gear (boots and jackets). And then the pilots made the call. We would not be going up, the clouds were too low and visibility was poor. Not what had been forecast.

We headed back to town, and tried to see if they could fit us in later today. There was a scramble as everyone was trying to do the same thing; some people elected to have the full refund instead. When it was our turn, we were told there was only one spot left at 11.50. We looked at each other. Andy really wanted to do the flight and glacier walking is one of my top activities of all time – Andy was so disappointed about not being able to do the Bora Bora scenic flight that I bowed out.

I got into the bus and walked the small trek to the glacier face. The 13-kilometre-long temperate maritime glacier is located in the Westland Tai Poutini National Park. Like other glaciers we’ve seen in recent years, it is receding. The valley is deep and we humans look insignificant against it. The sky looked heavy and I began to wonder whether any flights would go up today after all.

We got the bus back to town to pick up the rest of the group. There would be no flying today. Everyone’s feeling a bit low – the heli-hikers and the heli-climbers. These activities are not cheap and so a lot of commitment goes into making the booking. For most people, this is the chance of a lifetime. But obviously, cancelling the flights made sense. Safety first.

We got our money back, and then the bus took us to Lake Matheson. This is the most photographed lake in New Zealand. On a clear day, when the water is still, you can see perfect reflections of Mount Cook and the Southern Alps. Today wasn’t a clear day, but it was a nice walk to the jetty. And we stopped at the café for drinks and muffins.

Our next stop was the small settlement of Franz Josef . We’re travelling through glacier country and the Franz Josef glacier isn’t too far. We stopped for supplies – we bought a couple of soft drinks, fruit and a few beers.

We arrived in Ōkārito mid-afternoon. The campsite is near the beach. We took our bags and walked to our accommodation. A small building which used to be the Ōkārito school. It opened in 1892 and had an average attendance of 15 pupils. When it closed in 1946, it had a roll of four pupils. It was then converted to a Youth Hostel, and is now a hostel with dormitory style-bunk beds. As historically interesting as this was, something didn’t quite add up in my mind and I checked our spreadsheet. This wasn’t our accommodation for the night. We’d book a double room with shared facilities. We transferred to Fernbird Retreat. The house had three bedrooms and a kitchen/lounge area. We’re meant to share it but tonight, we’re the only people there. Yeah!

We picked the best room, dumped our bags and went for a walk.

We started with the Ōkārito Wetland Walk which starts just outside our house. We walked up to the start of the Ōkārito Trig Walk – a bit of elevation gave us an overview of the area. We followed this by a walk along the beach. To get to the beach, you have to cross an airfield. There is drift wood and fascinating stones scattered everywhere. There was no-one about. We watched as the river came in full flow into the sea – strong currents. I can see why we were advised not to go swimming.

We got back to the house for a little while. The downside of not camping is that you’re away from the group. We were told dinner would be forty minutes away, but Magan – our guide – came to get us as almost all the food had gone. Did we misjudge it that bad? We rushed to camp and got the last of the vegetarian chilli. Very tasty. A small meal’s not a bad thing, right?