
Cherry Blossom Season in Japan
March 31, 2018
The Pancake Rocks, on the South Island’s west coast, are among the must-see places in New Zealand according to the Lonely Planet. So, of course, if our favorite travel guide designates something as a must-see, we go and see it. Even though, this time, the trip there was particularly annoying due to the fact that we initially went the wrong way. So it took a rather big detour and some back and forth deciding whether to still go or not, until we actually got to the rocks.
But finally we made it, together with a few hundred other tourists. In the beginning, we were somewhat underwhelmed by what we saw and we started wondering whether it had been a huge waste of time to go there. But, as we made our way along the coastal walk and saw more and more of the rocks, we changed our minds. The Pancake Rocks are indeed special and beautiful. They’re very touristic, due to all tour buses stopping there, but if you manage to ignore that and just enjoy the nature, the views of the rocks and the ocean are spectacular.
For all the importance its name conveys it (being named after an emperor and all), the Franz Josef glacier is now just a shadow of its former self. It could, actually, be the poster child for a campaign on global warming.
We didn’t have a lot of time to spend at the glacier, but we did make it to the viewpoint from which the photo below is taken. If you look closely enough, you can see the glacier in the very back of the valley between the mountains. It’s hard to believe that, just 100 years ago, the place from which we took the photo was actually covered by the glacier. Plus, the glacier has retreated especially fast from 2010 to the present day. It’s sad to realize first hand how big the effects of climate change are on our planet.
Highs:
Lows:
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