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I have also uploaded two other blogs today. The next day we continued down SH 6, through more horrendous weather to the small settlement of Franz Joseph which is the main town in glacier country. On a wet autumn afternoon Franz Joseph resembles a (probably Eastern European) ski resort at the end of the season. As no 'glacier activity' had taken place for a few days due to bad weather there where scores of dejected looking people hanging around overpriced bars, filling the internet cafes and wondering if it is worth hanging around d for the weather to clear. It did clear the next day and awoke in a still dripping forest to see blue skies and glorious snow capped mountains. We walked as close as we could to both Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers, which are impressive, but very dirty at this time of year and no more impressive than those that we have come across in Europe. During the night we had decided that we did not want to blow the budget on a Helicopter trip or a guided walk and found we could get pretty close to the face of the glacier by merely ignoring the signs that told us to stop. We only did this at Franz Joseph glacier as the hand written sign about the two recent deaths put us off getting too close to Fox.
Being near snow is an illustration that the FT's eternal summer appears to be over, For the past two days I have worn long trousers, today I wore shoes rather than flip flops and last night we got into bed with our clothes on. We hope Oz gets us back in the right attire.
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