Franz - Josef and Fox - off to the glaciers

From Wanaka we continued to the West Coast towards Haast and then up the coast to the town of Fox Glacier, where we had reserved a cabin at the campsite for 2 nights, as it rains here almost every day, and heavily at that. Average rainfall is said to be around 5000 mm per year. Nevertheless, you must visit this area in order to see the two glaciers, Franz-Josef and Fox.

The tour initially led through the mountain landscape past the picturesque Lake Hawea and along the Haast River. The weather was already very changeable here, and the cloud patterns in the sky reflected this. In one direction, there were dark clouds, in the other, blue sky, and when the sun came out, it created quite peculiar sights. On the West Coast, we naturally encountered some rain showers, but that's normal here.

The next day, the visit to the two glaciers was on the agenda, and the weather looked quite good, with the sun even shining through. Therefore, we first went to the small Lake Matheson, not far from the campsite. Mt. Cook is reflected in this clear lake, when the mountain is not obscured by clouds. Of course, it must be absolutely calm for this to happen. This famous photo can be found in many New Zealand books, but of course, you also want to see it in real life. We didn't quite succeed, but at least the slightly lower mountains were free of clouds and the lake was almost waveless. So the excursion was still worth it, the lake is beautiful, and it's also funny how various holiday photographers haul their huge equipment there to take THAT photo.

But now to the glaciers, which can be reached on foot from the car park. Unfortunately, you can no longer walk on the glaciers, but the paths end a bit away. Both glaciers have shrunk so much in recent years that they can only be reached quite far up in the gorge they have left behind. It is too dangerous to walk up so high, as there are constant rockfall hazards. If you really want to go on the glaciers, you can do so with a short helicopter tour for a significant three-digit amount. We decided to stick with the free walk.

The sight of both glaciers was breathtaking as well. At times, the sun came out a bit, making the ice shine bright blue. In the background, there were white mountain peaks, very impressive. The Fox Glacier is slightly smaller, but I found the gorge that the glacier has formed and through which the glacier water flows into the valley more fascinating here. The view in the valley is particularly strange, where the gray milky glacier water meets the crystal clear mountain stream, and the exact boundary is visible. Fascinating.

So the visit here was definitely worth it, the glaciers are a must-see for visitors to New Zealand, even though the journey here is quite far and neither the towns of Fox and Franz-Josef nor the surrounding area offer much. And even though most people only stay here for 1 or 2 days, it is quite crowded and there is constant coming and going. Our neighbor in the cabin next to us came from Berlin and naturally spoke to us because of the motorcycles with Berlin license plates. We had a nice conversation, he was also on 2 wheels, but without an engine. It's a small world.