Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We woke early after a VERY bad night and had a rushed prep for our glacier trip. We got to the main office just in time!! We were in a group of over 30 and were briefed in a small side room. I got propped walking boots, a back pack and some crampons.
We got a 10 min bus ride to the foot of the glacier (in the same fashion that we drove to Franz Josef yesterday) and split into two groups of 16. We went with the male guide called Brian hoping that the other young people would join us...but they didn't. We ended up with a group of old yanks from Florida. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ageist, but our 45 min walk to the ice front took over an hour...
As we climbed higher our of the rain forest, through the grey fallen rocks and closer to the ice, some members were falling further and further behind while the other half of our original group were already well onto the ice (and because of the excitement if never having been on a glacier before, it was all the more frustrating!!). We got past the public view point and over the safety fence when one older couple pulled out due to his vertigo...then another couple...then another...
Altogether 8 people pulled out...this is the pessimist in me.. But WHY ON EARTH DID TGEY SIGN UP FOR AND PAY FIR A GLACIER WALK THAT REQUIRES OVER MODERATE FITNESS?!?!?? Ramble over...(what a waste of money!!!)
So we put on our crampons and began our start in the glacier (at last). We had to walk over some rocks before hitting the ice, which was quite difficult and made a few screechy sounds! But one on the ice it was very exciting!!!
Fox Glacier was named after some politician and 18000 years ago (in the last ice age) the glacier was so long it reached the Tasmin Sea!! It has been reclining ever since :( and there were sign post all along our approach telling us exactly where the glacier started in 1750, 1950, 1998, 2008 etc which was quite shocking! Fox glacier is like the only glacier that turns into rain forest at the bottom as it finishes only 200m above sea level. Fox glacier is only one of over 300 glaciers in NZ, but is work renowned as one of the fastest moving!! So much do out guide has to refamiliarise himself with its layout after each weekend off!
There was a fast flowing grey/blue river coming our of the bass of the end of the glacier. The river runs right underneath it, and the grey colour is added from the sedimentary from the rocks. We saw and heard rocks falling from both sides into the river which gave us a reality check on how unstable the area was.
Our guide showed us where the boarded the glacier in 2008 (only 5 years ago) and there was a huge difference!!! WOW!!
The team had carved steps onto the I've for us tourists which were slushy from over use and therefore extremely easy to use!! The ice was much dirtier than I expected as there were a lot of fallen rocks and their sediment on the surface. However, just under the defence of used white ice was a turquoise blue compressed I've which was really beautiful.
We did a loop walk on the ice climbing up a bit to get a closer look to the ice waterfall (where the glacier falls over a cliff edge) where there is a huge chance in the ice formation, to seeing a few sink holes and amazing views.
I forgot to say that I could walk right past the ice front in shots and best top, but once on the ice, I need a wooly coat, scarf, hat and gloves! But there weren't any sand flies - so I was a happy bunny!! :)
It was thrilling being at what I saw as a natural phenomenon! Amazing and exhilarating! We spent about 1.5hrs on the ice. I would have loved to have done a whole day tour (venturing up to the top of the glacier) but I'll have to wait until Garth is a millionaire! Heh :)
The walk back down was quick (apart from one couple from Florida) and we jumped on the bus after we should have taken back (as we were so late) with a Chinese group who had a funny tour guide who kept telling me that our tour guide Brian was the bachelor of the year!
Garth and I had a quick soup lunch in the car park before driving all the way to Wanaka. We drone through Bruce Bay which had the most violent waves I've ever seen! Through stunning mountainous terrain through Mount Aspiring National Park and past past the vast and beautiful Lake Wanaka.
We stopped in Wanaka as Queenstown was another 1.5hrs away. We went to the iSite and found a campsite for $12 each which is more expensive than the conservation sites but after last night we wanted to be in a town. We used an Internet cafe to fine a vineyard in Queenstown then went to the camp. It had a stunning lake view and the fewest flies yet! I managed to have a cold shower by accident and we had a nice pasta dinner.
- comments