Fantastic Fox

Mt Tasman, as seen from Fox village
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So we parked up about 10kms from Fox village the night before and in the morning we were up bright and early, as we'd booked a day walk on the glacier for a 9am start.

We got kitted up for the walk - we needed crampons to attach to our boots, gloves, hats and raincoats. Then we boarded a 1978 Bedford bus towards the terminal face of the glacier. On the way, we got a great glimpse of Mt Tasman, not usually seen so clearly but it was a gorgeous, clear day.

It's hard to describe what it was like on the glacier, but we'll never forget it.

First View of Fox Glacier
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When we got to the glacier it was amazing to see it up close. It's really huge and you can see where in previous years it's carved out the valley. Glaciers advance or retreat depending on weather conditions and at the moment Fox is advancing - by some 80 metres a year. However 10 years ago it was retreating, so it's covering ground it covered hundreds of years ago again.

To get onto the glacier we need to walk up the mountain for an hour. Apparently three places in the world where you can see a glacier whilst standing in a rainforest. Fox and Franz Josef glaciers in New Zealand and also there's one in Argentina. It was really amazing, just seeing that great white mass of ice sitting there. We couldn't wait to get on it.

Fox Glacier
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So we walked a bit more and then stopped to fit our crampons on. Suitably attired we started to climb up the ice. It was so amazing to hear it creak and see all the rocks and debris trapped in it. So much goes on in a glacier and our guide was explaining it. I could remember a fair bit from Geography lessons (something which had been happening a lot - New Zealand's like a giant Geography class). Basically ice melts, gets compacted, moves about and does all sorts of things as well as advancing or retreating, taking big lumps out of mountains as it goes.

Our guide making steps, so we can climb up the ice
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We walked around the glacier for several hours, stopping to have lunch on it and we went fairly far back towards the seracs (big spikes of ice which has been pushed up) which are impossible to go over on foot. It's hard to describe what it was like on the glacier, but we'll never forget it.