Day 357- Fox Glacier

Franz Joseph to Fox Glacier, New Zealand- Tuesday, December 18

We left the caravan park in time for our 10:45 a.m. briefing before our 4 hour ascent of the Fox Glacier, one of two easily accessible glaciers here. It is a quandry to drive through a rainforest to reach a glacier. We donned boots, packs and snacks, and boarded the old bus for the foot of the glacier. It was almost sunny, compared top the dense cloud and rain of the previous days. The hike up the side of the U-shaped valley carved by the glacier 18,000 years ago was challenging, and short sleeves were in order. Once we climbed down the stairway onto the ice, about 2 km up from the terminal face, the chill was quite noticeable.
The guide, John, a young ex-New Zealand army officer, taught us how to put on our crampons. Off we went, exploring the blue ice. We took numerous photos, and we were reminded that this was the best day for climbing the glacier in days.
It was well past 4 p.m. when we got back down. I was in no condition to drive further south and across the street was another Backpackers hostel. I reserved their last family dorm room and we unloaded our gear.
It was off to a nice restaurant for steak, salads and ribs and brown pop on tap.

Later, we drove out to Lake Matheson, which is world famous for its reflections of Mount Tasman and Mount Cook and the glaciers. Matheson had us take numerous photos of him next to the signs, the lake, the cafe..

What a day!