Fox Glacier

yes, we are really on the glacier
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Good thing we left Abel Tasman when we did as the remnants of a cyclone were moving in and they were forecasting gale force winds and flooding the day after. We made the drive down the west coast with clouds and rain, but took the time to hit the Pancake Rocks (unusually layered rocks shooting up on the coast), hit the Monteiths’s Brewery, and made an overnight stop in Hokitika. Hokitika in itself is not worthy of a stop in our opinion but it made a good overnight spot and we did get to see the first entry in their annual Driftwood and Sand Exhibition – pretty impressive really (see the pic). We weren’t feeling particularly creative and it was raining, so no entry for us.

He looks like a natural doesn't he?
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We planned on spending a few nights in Fox Glacier which is surrounded by a rainforest so we were hedging our bets that we would get at least one nice day for a glacier hike. One the day we arrived, the weather was dreadful but the following day we were able to get out for a couple of nice walks as the weather improved. One walk was up to the Chalet lookout which gives you a great view of the glacier and I’d highly recommend it if you don’t book a guided walk or heli-hike. We were fortunate to see several large chunks of ice break off the terminal face and hear the loud thunder it makes when breaking off then crashing into the river. The other nice walk was around Lake Matheson which at sunrise (so we hear) gives great mirrored views of the mountains in the distance of the mountains in the lake

Do you want a vodka tonic with that ice?

feeling small on the glacier
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The highlight of course was our guided hike on the glacier itself which we saved for our last day as the weather forecast was the best. Thanks to Scott, we booked the full day hike which we were so thankful for as the weather was fantastic. With a half day hike you really only get an hour on the ice which is nothing considering it takes you an hour and half uphill to get to the glacier. We luckily had more than four hours on the ice and our guide, Rob, was great. The amazing thing about the glacier is that you walk through the rainforest to get to the side entrance of the glacier. The glacier (along with Franz Joseph) is one of the largest of the sixty or so on the west coast of New Zealand and it often bucks the trend in that it advances at times, where most others in the world are consistently retreating, because of the vast amounts of snowfall (35-45 meters annually) in the upper portion (neve’) of the glacier. The seracs (tall towering blocks of ice) and crevasses where amazing – especially as you stroll by them and glance down or up. Thankfully, the group is outfitted with crampons so that our footing was sound!

Nice outfit
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All in all, our experience was fantastic and was much different than our glacier walk that we had in Canada some years ago.

Next, we are on to Wanaka for a couple of nights and then to Queenstown for our 4 day, 30+ mile trek through Milford Sound! Can’t wait.

Tidbit of the day:

Fox Glacier terminates at just 250 meters above sea level and is up to 350 meters deep. It’s the longest of the west coast glaciers at a length of 13km. It’s also one of the fastest moving glaciers and it changes on a daily basis according to our guide.