Mar 31, 2011 - Fox Glacier

This glacier has receded a lot from a hundred years ago but is ow growing again. Spent a little time here and hiked out to the Glacier. We met a nice couple from Auckland that were retired trucking people, had a nice visit with them about trucking in general and the related issues. Very similar to the problems we have in the US.

Mar 23, 2011 - Happy 60th Birthday Verne!

Started off the day with a helicopter ride in the Southern Alps. Our pilot, Nathan, took us to the Franz Josef and the Fox Glaciers. We landed on Whitney Glacier where it was quite windy and cold, Nathan had a down jacket on. Then we were off to finish our flight to Mt. Cook. It was a great time. Why is the ice blue on a glacier? Because the air escapes and the ice becomes compacted, thus when it melts the rivers' water are blue. As we headed to Queenstown our mileage check shows we have logged almost 3000 kilometers. We recap what our...

Mar 7, 2011 - Fox Glacier

We had a red warning light on dash but checked with the rental company & they said it is just a service due warning light so OK to carry on. Left Fox Glacier site at 8am and motored 27km up to the Franz Josef glacier. We then had a 1½ hr walk to the base of glacier. It seems smaller than the Fox glacier but quite impressive in the early morning sun. We then motored on up the coast to Westport and again it was a nice day of travel with some ups & downs and a lot of seaside roads with some lovely views. We stopped for lunch in Hokitaki by the...

Apr 10, 2010 - La Cote Ouest

Il est assez dure de rejoindre la cote Ouest en stop, mais nous y arrivons tant bien que mal. Cette ile est encore moins peuple que la précédente, il y a dix fois plus de moutons que d’habitants… nous visitons quelques villes comme Westport ou Greymouth mais elles ne retiennent pas trop notre attention. Par contre, c’est entre les villes qu’il faut ouvrir les yeux ; la route est magnifique, et nous sommes bien contents de ne pas avoir a conduire et pouvoir pleinement admirer le paysage avec nos chauffeurs qui nous servent de guides...

Apr 3, 2010 - Fox Glacier Hiking

We took a day hike up the very impressive Fox Glacier, with our friendly guide, Scott (pictured on the glacier in just a t-shirt!), carving the way through the ice. On our descent we heard the rumbling sounds and assumed it was just some ice breaking somewhere along the glacier but seconds later there was a massive rock slide off the side of the mountain. The noise was thunderous, as the rocks were falling to the ground, smashing and breaking apart over the glacier. Whilst the group didn't know whether to run or hide (we were still a good...

Mar 5, 2010 - Fox Glacier

We prepared for the walk and then realised that four months of limited exercise have apparently had an effect on our fitness levels! However, we managed it and it was an excellent trip. The weather which had looked threatening all morning cleared up and we had a beautiful sunny afternoon which made the views up the glacier and back down the valley all the more amazing. We got the courtesy bus along to the glacier where Stephen made the mistake of answering yes to the guides question "has anyone ever been on a glacier before?" This coupled...

Mar 2, 2010 - Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers

We drove west through Arthurs Pass NP after picking up the van and started our tour of the West Coast. We began by going to the two glaciers - Fox Glacier and Franz Josef - we spent a couple of days there and hiked to the front of the glaciers - got pretty close and took some great pics. We watched some people doing guided hikes up on the glacier but decided that wasn’t for us! We stayed at a really nice holiday park there for a couple of nights. We have to tell you about these holiday parks. You can rent cabins, one-room units, tent sites...

Feb 27, 2010 - Glaciers

Feb. 14 Marianne: After watching seawater squirting out of rocks, we went to see glaciers oozing out of the NZ Alps. First stop was the Franz Josef Glacier, which reaches almost down to sea level, where, in a temperate climate, there is rain forest on either side. The NZ Alps rise straight up like a wall, making it impossible to drive from the east to the west coast across much of the south island. On clear days, you can see Mt. Cook, which rises over 2 miles high, less than 20 miles from the coast. But today all we saw was fog. On the way...

Nov 8, 2009 - Oamaru-Fox Glacier

Vandaag naar Fox Glacier gereden. Bijna 500 km van de oostkust van N-Z naar de westkust over Haast Pass die de scheiding vormt tussen het oostelijke en westelijke deel. De Westcoast wordt hier ook de "Wetcoast" genoemd omwille van de overvloedige regen. We hebben dan ook bijna de ganse dag prachtig weer gehad met een blauwe hemel, maar toen we in de buurt van Fox Glacier kwamen zagen we alleen maar erg laag hangende wolken waar bijwijlen wat miezel viel. Deze avond eens gaan kijken naar de gletsjer die samen met de Franz-Jozef tot het...

Mar 7, 2009 - Mar 4th 2009 Christchurch to Fox Glacier

March 4th 2009 Christchurch to Fox Glacier. Steve drove us to the train station for our 3 hour Trans-Alpine train trip (one of the world’s most scenic train trips). We crossed a huge fertile patchwork of farmlands of the Canterbury Plains, went over five massive viaducts the highest of which is over 220 ft above the river, through spectacular river valleys and the stunning Waimakariri River Gorge . We went across the spectacular Southern Alps to the village of Arthur’s Pass (737 m. above sea level). Wonderful photo ops!!!!! Steve picked...

Feb 17, 2009 - Reflecting On Lake Matheson And Back To Hokitika

Today turned out to be a long day on the road. First a short drive down from Fox Glacier to Lake Matheson to enjoy a walk around the lake and reflections of Mount Tasman (on a good day you also get Mt Cook – but the peak was shrouded in cloud!). A very enjoyable 1.5 hour walk all around the lake and a few good photos. After our walk we set off up the West Coast. As we had done th Glaciers before we had intended to get to Westport or Murchison (about 250 -300km). We drove through Franz Josef with brief views of the Glacier and up the scenic...

Jan 29, 2009 - Our Glacier Trek

Franz Josef Glacier is one of few glaciers that sits in a temperate area close to the sea (or something like that). Anyway, we signed up for the full day hike with zero expectations. When they asked the 50 or so hikers to split up in groups of 10 by ability/fitness, I confidently stepped up to group one (hey, they said this group would see more and I didn’t want to miss out). Mike may or may not have thought I was crazy but up the glacier we went. This glacier sits between two mountains and feels exactly like a really wide river that has...