My time on the South Island was coming to a close. My final objective was to ride the Tranzalpine train, which connects Greymouth on the west coast with Christchurch on the east coast. Many tourists spend the whole day riding the train as a round-trip journey (it departs Christchurch in the morning, takes an hour break in Greymouth, then heads back to Christchurch), but I really only wanted to ride it one-way, so when planning my trip I deliberately started in Christchurch, picked up a car that I'd drop off in Greymouth, then booked a one-way train back to Christchurch and a flight departing the following morning. In order to catch my train, I'd need to drive all the way from Queenstown to Greymouth, which is a seven hour drive. I decided to break this up, so today I'd be driving about 5 hours from Queenstown to Franz Josef, a small town adjacent to Westland Tai Poutini National Park.

I woke up a bit early in Queenstown and drove ten minutes along a mountain pass to Onsen, which is a spa that has outdoor hot tubs with great views of the mountains. There is a similar attraction in Ann Arbor called Oasis that has themed hot tub gardens, but Onsen in Queenstown definitely offers a more magnificent view. I spent an hour in a private hot tub, taking in the view. My hot tub was only partially covered and it was lightly raining, and it felt nice to stand in the hot tub as the cold rain dripped down my arms. Visitors also get a choice of a snack and a drink, so I enjoyed a glass of wine and chocolate even though it was only 9am because it would add to the relaxing ambiance.

After a nice relaxing soak it was time for a complete change of pace, as I had five hours of driving ahead of me, and it is obvious that with all the scenic stop opportunities, driving on the South Island takes way longer than Google Maps claims. Before leaving Queenstown I stopped at Mackenzie Coffee Company which operates a small truck on the edge of town.

It was a little chilly and a tad humid so there were low clouds, and the route I was taking from Queenstown went via the Scenic Alpine Route, so very early into the journey I was driving up the side of a mountain into the clouds. The views were amazing and well worth the stress of the tight curves on the road.

About an hour into the drive I reached Lake Wanaka, and stopped at a local bakery called Pembroke Patisseries, which had a line out the door. I grabbed a sausage roll to takeaway and eat in the car as I drove.

The next section of the drive down SH-6 goes along the shores of two large lakes, Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka, so there are plenty of scenic stops along this stretch to get beautiful photos of the lakes.

After leaving Lake Wanaka, SH-6 enters Mount Aspiring National Park. Along with Fiordland, Aoraki/Mount Cook, and Westland Tai Putini (which I was headed to this evening), these make up Te Wahipounamu (Maori for "the place of greenstone"), which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The area is thought to contain some of the best modern representations of the original flora and fauna of Gondwana, a prehistoric continent that broke up hundreds of millions of years ago. New Zealand was not inhabited until Polynesian sailors arrived around 800 years ago, which is why so much of the environment is unchanged from its prehistoric state. The highway through Mount Aspiring National Park has tons of hikes right off the side of the road that are very enticing, like a two-minute hike to view the beautiful Fantail Falls.

Just after leaving Fantail Falls, a period of very heavy rain began. The west side of the Southern alps, which I was now entering, is considered the Westland temperate forests, which are coastal rainforests that receive hundreds of inches of rain annually. At one point, I had to pull over the car and stop because it was raining too hard to continue. As I made my way to and up the west coast I saw that it had stopped raining, and I took the opportunity to park and walk down the Monro Beach Walk. Monro Beach is home to the fiordland crested penguin which is one of the world's rarest species of penguin. They spend most of their lives out at sea, but January to March is moulting season, where they lose their waterproof coats and need to come to shore. The sign advertised a 90min return journey, but it only took about half an hour to reach the beach.

Just as I approached the beach, the rain resumed. I quickly looked around the beach but there was no sign of any penguins, and I proceeded to walk all the way back to my car in the pouring rain.

After Monro Beach, SH-6 winds along the west coast and enters Westland Tai Poutini National Park. The road goes up and down a couple of mountains before it finally arrives at Fox Glacier, and then Franz Josef, two cities both named after respective glaciers that are top tourist attractions inside the National Park.

I arrived at 6:15pm as it was drizzling to Glow Worm Accommodation, the hostel that I'd be staying at in Franz Josef. I checked in and was informed by an employee Primrose that there was vegetable soup available to all guests after 6pm and I could help myself, which was very welcome after getting soaked a couple hours earlier. After enjoying my soup, it stopped raining, and I headed outside and was treated to a beautiful rainbow over the mountains.

Not far from Franz Josef village there is a parking lot that is only a few minutes walk away from a viewpoint of Franz Josef glacier itself. The park rangers move the viewpoint around based on the risk posed by the glacier on a given day, and due to the heavy rain, we were only allowed to get 3km away from the glacier. I found it crazy when I learned that only a hundred years ago the glacier would have reached to the viewing area 3km away where I was standing.

I drove back to the village and went to grab dinner at Alice May's, a restaurant right across the street from my hostel. The restaurant is named after Alice May Parkinson, a New Zealander who was newsworthy after killing her ex-fiance, and her subsequent trial sparked controversy among socialist and feminist activists. The restaurant is run by her descendants. It is an interesting story, and the food was very good. I had a nice glass of apple cider and a very delicious lamb shank.

After eating, I was engaged in conversation by two older couples at the table next to me, one from Jersey in the Channel Islands and one from mainland England. It turns out that they will be also riding on the Tranzalpine train tomorrow!