Franz Josef and Fox Glacier (New Zealand Part 28)

Already on the way we saw rivers with ice-blue water as we approached Franz Josef.

The town is named after the nearby glacier, which was named after the Austrian emperor by German researcher Julius von Haast after reaching it in 1862. He was then elevated to the nobility in Austria shortly afterwards, so it was a very clever naming.

We walked to the glacier because we had found such a beautiful (and narrow) gap on the campsite. On the way, we passed St James Church, built in the Tudor style in 1931.

Our path continued along the river and through a path surrounded by ferns and trees. After about four kilometers, this led us to the car park, which is the starting point for the hike to the glacier.

Now the well-visited path to the glacier began, where we walked through the valley shaped by the glacier. We could see some streams and waterfalls.

From the lookout point, we could see the glacier, which has significantly retreated over the past few decades.

Then we walked all the way back. The next day, we wanted to see both glaciers from above and booked a scenic flight with a snow landing.

Unfortunately, it was so cloudy the next day that the flight had to be canceled. We got a replacement appointment for the afternoon in Fox, where we went next.

There, we first walked to the glacier viewpoint.

From a distance of 450 meters, you were allowed to view the masses of ice, which seemed small from this perspective because the ice was so high.

Since we still had some time until our flight, we also drove to Lake Matheson. We didn't have enough time for a complete circuit, but we followed the shore through a moss-covered forest landscape.

We made it to the first viewpoint on a small bridge before we had to turn back.

Because of the clouds, we couldn't see the view and reflection of the mountains. So our afternoon flight also had to be canceled.

We continued driving along the coast until we found a beautiful viewpoint by the water. After a thorough study of the forbidden zones for free camping, we decided that we were allowed to spend the night here.

Some others followed our example and wanted to enjoy the view by the water. Some even went surfing, although we preferred to just watch the water because of the cool evening breeze.

The next morning it rained, which is not unusual for this area. We continued our journey over the Haast Pass, although we couldn't enjoy the view as much because of the weather.