On the way to the Glaciers we drove along the beach near Bruce Bay. A mile or more of the beach was lined with cairns. Travelers had also written messages on the white rocks; I think some of them were in honor of an ancestor. It reminded us of a beach in Maui where people had built tall cairns as a spiritual gesture.

Much of NZ reminds us of Hawaii, possibly due to the fact that the early Maori ancestors were warriors that traveled here by long canoes from islands such as Hawaii. We recognize many of the names of places as being similar to Hawaiian names.

This was the first day that we had rain all day. Such a shame because we couldn't see the majestic snow capped Mt Cook from this side. Hopefully the sun will shine in the morning and we'll have a second chance. My Lonely Planet travel guide mentioned that the west coast receives 200 inches of rain per year. Here is an appropriate poem written by a previous traveler to the west coast:

It rained and rained and rained
The average fall was well maintained
And when the tracks were simply bogs
It started raining cats and dogs
After a drought of half an hour
We had a most refreshing shower
And then the most curious thing of all
A gentle rain began to fall
Next day also was fairly dry
Save for a deluge from the sky
Which wetted the party to the skin
And after that the rain set in.

One of the top walks on the west side of the South Island is the Lake Matheson hike, but it was too rainy today to see any mountain reflections. We did take the shorter walks to both Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glaciers; we could see them but the visibility and clouds didn't allow for good photos. Good thing we could see how it is supposed to look on postcards.

We were going to camp at a Department Of Conservation campground north of town near Lake Mapourika which is a lovely location. However, after we got there we decided having electricity for the microwave, showers and a hot tub would be desirable, so we went back to Franz Josef Top 10 Holiday Park. We have enjoyed the luxuries provided by the Top Ten Holiday Parks. They all must have certain amenities to qualify; one would think there would be only 10 of them, but that isn't the case.