Fox & Franz Josef Glaciers

Alex and I made our way from Wanaka to Fox Glacier which took a little over three hours. It was a rainy and foggy drive for the most part, but we did make a couple of stops to admire the views alongside the road when the rain let up.

Along the way, we stopped to walk the Blue Pools track. These pools form where the Blue River joins the Makarora River. Typically they are bright blue in color, but when the Blue River floods, it brings a large amount of gravel into the water and causes the color to change. It takes another flood to wash out the gravel and restore the pools to their original color.

I've mentioned this a couple of times already, but this region gets A LOT of rain. We have lucked out so far (fingers crossed) with having at least one sunny day in each place we are visiting and we really try to pack in a full day of exploring on those days. While we were in Fox Glacier, it rained all day on Saturday! This area is known for being surrounded by mountains, but you would never know as they were all covered by thick, gray fog! We pretty much only left the hotel room to get some lunch!

Sunday, we woke to beautiful blue skies and it was like the rain never happened! We booked a Heli-Hike a few months ago to visit Franz Josef Glacier. The only way to get to the glacier is by helicopter - a first for both Alex and I. I was seated next to the pilot and although this was slightly terrifying, it was also awesome to get a full view of the area below. The helicopter was VERY loud, but once we put on headphones, it drowned out some of the noise and we could also hear the pilot speak. I'm not sure exactly how to describe flying in a helicopter, but it almost feels like you are weightless. We landed right on the glacier, strapped on our crampons, and started our guided hike around the glacier's surface. Our guide, Andy, was a Brit from a small town in England and was so knowledgable, funny, and really engaging. There were 11 of us in the group and we had so much fun. Honestly, I'm still pinching myself how great the experience was and how fortunate we were to luck out with perfect weather. The guide, Andy, mentioned the heli-hike tours are cancelled about 50% of the time due to poor weather and visibility!!!

Franz Josef Glacier was known by the Maori as Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere (Tears of the Avalanche Girl). Legend tells of a girl losing her lover who fell from the local peaks, and her flood of tears freezing into the glacier. It is only one of three glaciers in the world extending down into a rainforest (the other being Fox Glacier in New Zealand and a glacier in Argentina).

Once we completed the glacier hike, we headed out to Lake Matheson. The waters of Lake Matheson are dark brown due to natural leaching of organic matter from the surrounding forest floor. On a calm day, the lake creates an ideal reflective surface. Unfortunately, it was a bit breezy out, so we did not get perfect calm waters all around; however, we did find a little cove with still water and were able to see the trees and sky reflecting in the lake.

Before leaving Fox Glacier on Monday morning, we headed out to complete the Fox Glacier / Te Ara o Tuawe Valley Walk. This hike takes you to a viewing area of Fox Glacier (similar to Franz Josef, you can only get onto the glacier by helicopter). The Fox Glacier is the largest and longest glacier on the West Coast of New Zealand.

Alex and I are wrapping up our time on the West Coast of New Zealand and are making our way North to Able Tasman National Park today. We will be there for three nights and are looking forward to (hopefully) warmer and sunnier weather!