Before leaving the pass there was a bit of walking to do. A visit to the Devil’s Punchbowl Falls (with a detour to look at the old hydroelectric station) and then on past the Bridal Veils falls (complete with education about the local flora) was a warm up to an ascent to the snow line (Otira Valley); after all this was a pass. The road down from the pass was an amusing and impressive mix of recently repaired roads and immense engineering to maintain the road despite the mountain continually changing shape to erosion. Colossal concrete constructions hold the road and diverted waterfalls over the road. We arrived at Franz Josef glacier in good time so started our ice experience early with a walk to mouth of the glacier. Further is restricted to guided parties only. The day finished with a drive out to what turned out to be an impressive beach complete with larger breakers and driftwood (Gillespie’s Beach). It was odd to stand on the west coast after being on the east only the day before. As ever we were treated to some very impressive views. The glacier villages only exist for the glaciers and by the time we got back to eat most of our few options had stopped serving food. Thankfully the restaurant served up an impressive feed that was topped off with some New Zealand whiskey. The Lammerlaw was mild compared to the Scot malts that inspired it with little peat aftertaste not surprisingly.
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