23rd May (Day 10) Road to Franz Josef

It’s time to get back on the road down the West coast. Luke went back to work in Christchurch yesterday so I’m going solo again. I have my free breakfast and head into town and towards highway 6. About 20 minutes after I have my thumb out, a massive freight truck drives towards me and stops about 3 inches in front of me. The driver is laughing and obviously very entertained. He gets out, lugs my bag inside and I climb up what seems like 10 metres into the passenger seat. Warren, a middle-aged Kiwi man brings me to Hokitika, drives through the town (seems to be a true wild west town but I don't have time to explore) and then drops me at a perfect hitching post. Happy days! After ten minutes, Thomas, a young Kiwi guy brings me to the tiny town of Ross, where he is from. 

On our way in we come across a really cool looking house with car registrations stuck all over it and on the fence surrounding it. I start to hitch again outside what looks like a closed pub, with more car registrations stuck all over the wall. After two minutes, two men wander outside the pub and say hello. We get chatting - the guys names are Muz and Tommy. Muz has collected old and new motorbikes for years. There is a pub / cafe next door but this part of the pub has been turned into Muz' storage place for all of these cool bikes. He takes me inside and shows me around. He's hoping to perhaps turn it into a mini museum, which could be another drawing point for the town of Ross. There is some amazing bikes and really interesting memorabilia, and I'm delighted I've been dropped off here. Unfortunately I haven't got much time to spend with Muz as I need to get to Franz Josef before dark. He tells me if I had time he would take me up to the graveyard a short drive away to where there are many Irish men buried. They came to Ross in the 1800's to make their gold fortune, but unfortunately a lot of them died in mining accidents or in other unfortunate events. Many of them were only in their forties. Muz also tells me that Ross is a town of glories lost. It's where the unearthing of NZ's largest gold nugget, the 2.772kg 'Honourable Roddy', caused a kerfuffle in 1907. Just as we finish our lovely chat and I begin hitchhiking again, a beautiful and bright rainbow appears right over the house I saw when I first drove into Ross. It happens to be Muz' house. Does it seem weird that I feel like it's a sign for something? Maybe. But it feels special.

 Some of the motor-bike memorabilia at Ross

 Muz and I

 Beautiful rainbow over Muz' house

 Beautiful Lake Lanthe

 Lake Lanthe

 Little town of Hari Hari

 Hari Hari

Soon before our arrival in Franz Josef

The first car that drives by picks me up. I hop in with Emma and Zita, a lovely Maori lady and her daughter. We have a great chat along the way. She wants to stop to use the facilities at Lake Lanthe which I am delighted about because it is such a beautiful lake and the sun is shining down on it. Together with the surrounding native forest, it creates wonderful views. We arrive in the even tinier town of Hari Hari, where Emma lives, and she drops me on the main road slightly down from the town where it will be easy to hitch. It's getting late at this stage and it's going to get dark soon - I remember my rule - don't hitch when it's getting dark! However, I'm enjoying the sun setting and the view of the mountains. This place is beautiful. There's a few cars going by but nobody picking me up. I begin to get irritated by the millions of sandflies and decide after half an hour it's time to call it a day. I'm thinking I'm a bit screwed as there is no backpacker in Hari Hari. Uh-oh! Just as I start walking back to the town, a car driving the opposite direction to where I am going stops, turns around and pulls up beside me. The luck of the Irish yet again prevails. I get into the car with Lynn and Greg, an Australian couple who have a daughter of a similar age to me and they wouldn't like to see her hitchhiking in the middle of nowhere. They are also primary school teachers and we have a great chat, admire the views and even stop to take some pictures. Just before we arrive in Franz Josef, we are pulled over by the cops. Greg is wondering what he's been doing wrong but turns out he didn't have the lights on properly. Phew - that could have become interesting. They drop me right to Rainforest Retreat in Franz Josef where my friend Shelley works and who I am staying with tonight. Perfect!

I meet Shelley and she takes me to her house about two minutes away. She has to head off to work so leaves me be. I make beans on toast - perfect, delicious, backpacker food and chill out. A short while later her room-mate Tom comes home and invites me out with him and his friends. They are going to head to Monsoon Bar where Shelley works so it sounds perfect to me. Soon after we arrive, I bump into a friend, Chris, who I worked with in Pipers Lodge in National Park on the North Island. We have a great catch up! I wait for Shelley to finish work and we head back to hers with a load more eager party-goers in tow. Good times!