The glaciers

Mon 16th Feb: I’ve tried very hard not to include too many photos today, but failed. There’s just so much to show you and I wouldn’t want you to miss out. You can choose whether you take the time to look at all the images or not, but if you have time then please do. I’ll try to keep the text short.
The day dawned dry but low cloud cover shrouded the hills and the mountains of the Southern Alps all morning. First we drove and then walked to Fox Glacier. Here we walked along a path to about 1km of the terminal face. The photo shows some people for scale, but they are about 1.5km from the front of the glacier. We had thought about a helicopter trip over the glacier but with low cloud level it didn’t seem worth it. From there we drove west of Fox Glacier Township to Lake Matheson. This is on the list of 101 places Kiwis must visit. The still waters reflect the Southern Alps and Mount Cook – but not when there is a breeze and low cloud! However the walk to the lake is through rainforest and the sun was shining. Then we drove 30 minutes north, up and down and very windy to Franz Josef, the second glacier. Here we did a short walk to get a view of the glacier. From back on state highway we had a 2 hour drive north. We passed through a couple of small settlements, one called Hari Hari had a couple of stores and fuel. Here there is a memorial to Guy Menzies who landed his plane here in 1931. It’s a fascinating story so have a search on the internet as I haven’t got time to tell you it, but the photo gives you a clue.
We ended our journey in Hokitika at a campsite next to the beach. As you can see it’s not exactly crowded! Unfortunately if you were hoping for another playground photo, the one at the campsite is poor so I didn’t bother photographing it. However, we found a huge alternative for the boys to play in, and here is a photo of them getting thoroughly wet.
The final photo is of a sunset from the beach – again, a beautiful sight not spoiled by crowds of people.
After dark Steve and I took it in turns to visit some luminous fly bottoms! We certainly know how to enjoy ourselves! If you haven’t worked it out, there is a glowworm dell (outside rather than the deep caves they are usually in) over the road from the campsite. Just take a torch and wander along the path to see them. Had it been the UK or US I’m sure there would have been a turnstile with admission charge, a guide to tell you about it, drinks and souvenirs on the way out, and goodness knows what else.