A full day and night of non-stop, bone-chilling rain was compensated for by a bright sunny morning for our visit to Fox Glacier.  Fox Glacier Guiding’s guide was professional and friendly, and seemed genuinely interested in the glacier and its future.  Our half-day walk didn’t have us out on the ice for very long, but it was a great introduction and a beautiful sight.

New Zealand’s Fox and Franz Josef glaciers are two of the most accessible in the world.  They end in temperate rainforested valleys, and have spots that aren’t too far above sea level.   Also unique to them is the rate of speed at which they are moving..much faster than other glaciers of this type.  Also unusual is that Fox glacier has overall been advancing rather than retreating (since 1985).  This is due to the fact that there has been more snow at the accumulation zone at the top, than the ice melt at the bottom has taken away.

Fox Glacier is generally less trafficked, though access is quite easy once you get close.  We had a great hike up tot he ice (around 780 stairs) after having a look at the terminal face.  We strapped on our crampons and grabbed an alpenstock (walking stick with a spike) while our guide, Mike, stayed a bit ahead, re-cutting steps and clearing the way as we ascended onto the glacier itself.  We got some close looks at deep crevasses filled with clear blue ice, and some neat formations that had been caused by all the rain.  We also saw a moulin, a deep tube in the ice that water enters at the surface of the glacier then travels on through, often making it all the way to the base. 

Later in the day we had lunch with a view of Franz Joseph Glacier in the distance.  We spent the night in Reefton (the first place in the Southern Hemisphere to have a public source of electricity, ie street lights).  Like many towns in the region, it was influenced by the search for gold in the 1860s.  We had a nice twilight walk by the old powerhouse and swing bridge before hiding from the mosquitoes at our campsite by the river.  Tomorrow we start heading east again.

The marketing for the West Coast seemed to be spot on.  There is still an independent, pioneering spirit alive among the “Coasters” and an undeniable, rugged, natural beauty.

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