Although the primary purpose of this extended drive was to really just check out the Global Village Backpackers hostel in Greymouth, we tried to wrap it up in at least the veneer of an island tour and give ourselves a few sights and hikes to look forward to, just in case the hostel was nowhere near the fantasy bohemian community our minds seemed to remember from 14 years ago.
Driving clockwise this time we departed Wanaka and drove along the lake shoreline, stopping every few minutes to gaze out at the snow clad mountain landscape around us. Stopping at the Blue Pools (take a guess what we saw there..), then having a very questionable fish “burger” in Haast, checking out the view of Mt Cook reflected in the waters of Lake Mathieson (it was cloudy as shit.. we saw nothing), eventually we arrived into Greymouth and found the hostel precisely where we left it last time.
Some times things age well, some times they age poorly, some times things just age. While it still had a certain charm, it was clear that the owners of the hostel had done absolutely nothing to improve or modernise their dwelling in the last decade, and combining that with the decimation of the tourist industry from covid lockdowns and border closures.. the hostel was not quite the cosy haven it once was. I mean, they still had a pay phone in the corner of the common room and sold phone cards so you could call your friends and family back home, wherever that may be. Sometimes nostalgia doesn’t quite work.
Nonetheless we had a really pleasant stay, met a few nice guests and had a great time down at Monteiths brewery – that wasn’t here last time!
Moving on from Greymouth we made our way up through Arthur’s pass and then out to Lake Tekapo. Again it was a day of beautiful mountain landscapes, interspersed with charming countryside, cobalt-blue rivers and farmlands full of sheep – obviously. We intended to hike up into the foothills of Aoraki / Mt Cook, but once again the weather thwarted our plans and after waiting out the incessant rain in a tiny unheated cafe for 2 hours, we gave up and decided to make our way back towards Queenstown.
This time the snow was a little more friendly and I finally got in a little snowboarding. Not enough to have a real idea what I was doing, but enough to give me a taste for how fun it might be if I keep at it.
