This is where a normal post would be.
Instead, I was hamstrung by rain between Greymouth and Hokitika. Let’s just pretend that some interesting stuff happened and I didn’t spend 16hrs in a brewery mooching wifi and two nights sleeping in the car, eating endless ham and cheese sandwiches.
After 3 days, it was still coming down outside. I was stir crazy and decided it was time to push off. The trouble was that the main highway was closed in the direction I needed to go because of some landslides.
I had faith it would get sorted out when I got to that point. There were a few small walks I was doing on the way to buy some time.
Unfortunately, the key attractions would’ve been a lot more remarkable in better weather. I did a lakeside track that would usually have an awesome mountainous reflection on a calmer day. I went to a sweet gorge with a swing bridge that would usually have beautiful blue water rushing underneath. The river was a curious gray color. Like the tint of the water you rinsed your paint brush in a dozen times.
There were still plenty of awesome sights along the way. The clouds were hovering among the mountains, often hiding the peaks like a jealous boyfriend smothering his girl.
I headed south toward Glacier Country.
My positivity was paying off because the clouds began to break. I reached the landslide area and got lucky. The road was reopened, just condensed down to one line. A short queue to alternate the traffic but no problem.
I was told to take a detour to Okarito. There were supposed to be some good views of the bay on the coast and the distant glaciers. It was a nice scene to start with but the view at the summit was still pretty obstructed by clouds. The inlet, however, was sweet.
I went to another spot that was supposed to be a 40 minute return. Somehow I went down the wrong track and ended up deep in the woods. After 30 minutes, I realized my error and decided to turn around. I did see a wild deer come busting through a clearing. On the way back I passed a guided group that was going in looking for Kiwis. I got a very confused look for being off the beaten path. Oh well.
I left to go camp nearby and planned to get up close and personal with some icy rocks the following day.