Welcome Flatts - April 20, 2007

Here goes our last adventure: With a desire to soak in some hot pools after a long walk! It all started in Christchurch with our friend Benji from cornerstone house and Craig who recently moved in there. We peaked their curiosity with the words "hot pool" and soon we were off on a trip in "little red" to the west coast and the start of the Copland pass tramp. After 6 hours of driving we stopped just short of the beginning of the tramp at Fox glacier and slept in our tents at the view point!!! The view was amazing, but the possums were just as amazing. They are huge black creatures here that look like large cats. Here in NZ they are considered a pest and the government thanks you for killing them. Well, we didn't kill any of them but we did gather rocks and attempt to trick them into our throwing range... I know we shouldn't have been so cruel but they were annoying us! Anyway, lets move on! We then wake up the next morning and after a quiet nights sleep and make our way 15min down the road to the beginning of the tramp. Here we go!!
Day 1:
Tramp to Welcome Flats Hut (6hrs)
This tramp is labeled as Easy/Med. It has some distance though. something like 17km. The views are amazing, as you can see from some of our photos! Along the tramp is a glacial river (so its a baby blue/ turquoise color)! We passed through a couple places that were labeled "danger avalanche path" and "active rock slip area next 500m no stopping" but we made it there and back safely:)
Here is a Picture of the Hut: as you can see it was beautiful all around the hut! The sleeping area is upstairs and the downstairs has a coal fireplace. Our first night here we were joined by about 25 other people.


Day 2: Relaxation and Exploration
The beginning of this day we were woken up quite early by the other trampers leaving this hut, but we made use of the extra time! First thing we made breakfast and enjoyed a morning soak in the hot pools. Then we hiked with Benji up the trail along the flat area to see more of what was above the hut. The views were amazing! With the pending storm system approaching, most of the people at the hut had decided to hike out while the weather was still nice, thus leaving the hut for us to enjoy by ourselves!
Finally, we ended the day by eating a wonderful dinner and soaking in the hot pools one more time before heading to bed early!

Day 3: Hike out and Drive back to Christchurch
Longest of all the days!! We woke up before anyone else to enjoy a private dunk in the hot pools and watch the sunrise. Although, the sun was covered by the clouds we had a wonderful last dunk! Then we hiked out to the car park in the rain/mist/clouds. The mountains were mystical with the clouds covering the highest points! BEAUTIFUL! Finally, we made it to the car park... 6 hrs after starting... and we tossed our bags into the car and left as fast as possible driving to Franz Joseph glacier (the sand fies were horrible at the car park!!!!). We all changed into dry clothes once we got there and took the 20min walk to the "end of the forest view point" it was amazing. This huge glacier right in front of us and waterfalls on the sides of the mountains around us and a huge river coming out of the glacier! Amazing. We were all in awe of what God had created! Then we left the glacier and headed towards civilization and food. Time to drive to Christchurch!