Glaciers and around

Having ummed and ahhed for weeks on end while in Argentina about whether to go to the far south and visit the Perito Moreno glacier (we didn't), we were determined to see some real life glaciers up close in NZ. And at Fox glacier and nearby Franz Josef glacier we weren't disappointed.

We visited Fox glacier on the same day as our drive from the south, which meant that the weather wasn't great. Still, we managed an hour away from the warmth and comforts of the hostel and the car, which gave us plenty of time to walk up the approach track from the car park and back. Given the rain and grey skies, the glacier was moodily majestic, and we even heard a chunk of it fall off into its outflow river while we were there (although I only saw it out of the corner of my eye). In parts the path had been washed away by heavy rains and fresh rockfalls - this only served to remind us that this was a rapidly changing environment, and we paid due respect to the various safety ropes erected. Even with these we managed to get pretty close to the glacier 'terminal face' itself and got some good photos of the strange patterns visible in the ice.

The weather the next day was a good deal better and after wandering around a lake near Fox Glacier village, from where we could see Mt. Cook (NZ's highest peak), we visited Franz Josef glacier in bright sunshine.

As we drove up the approach road in the late morning, mist hung over the icy outflow river and chunks of ice (like big ice cubes) were visible in the grey silty water. Unfortunately for us we couldn't get as close to this glacier, because its river was changing course and had washed out the path to the 'terminal face' almost completely. However the views were still amazing - the photos speak for themselves!

We stayed the night in a cabin at a campsite in Hokitika, further up the coast. 'Hoki' was a strange place, kind of a frontier town that was briefly an important port - but not since a very long time ago (the gold rush to be precise). The wide avenues and civic buildings 'downtown' were clearly too grand for the town as it currently is, but it made for a pleasant place to kip for the night nonetheless. Hannah spent some time taking pictures of driftwood on the beach, and after dark we saw some glow-worms in a dank 'dell'. No pictures of these obviously!

 
Robin