Day 13 Franz Josef Glacier

Woke up early in the morning, a great campsite with small wooden houses and separations between the pitches. The rain has stopped, but the weather forecast announces unusually severe weather for the next few days. Strong gusts of wind and hail are forecasted for today. After a hot shower following the cold night at 4 degrees, I decide to spend the next night on a campsite as well, to use the electric heater. Today I'm going to Ross to visit a historic gold mine. Unfortunately, it's very disappointing, except for a small museum, everything there is aimed at Asian bus tourists. You can go gold panning with pans for NZ$12 and you also find some 😉 After the Chinese people leave by bus, a staff member comes and adds some gold-colored sediment. She feels caught by me, but visibly relaxes after I smile and shake my head slightly. A few kilometers further, I visit a real gold mine. Totally boring because I've seen it many times on TV. A few excavators, wheel loaders, and a gold washing plant. Basically, just a normal construction site at the side of the road.

On the further way, the road becomes narrower and the jungle becomes wilder. The traffic decreases. Rarely a camper or a pickup truck. Around noon, the sky suddenly becomes heavily overcast, a somewhat spooky atmosphere sets in. A few hundred meters in front of me, a car stops on the left. Instinctively, I also stop on the left at the next driveway. And then it happens. Suddenly, strong gusts of wind and hail come, the whole situation changes within a minute. Small hailstones and heavy rain hammer down on the VW bus for five minutes. Then it stops. I continue driving and ten minutes later the sun is shining! I think by now I have understood what makes the weather in New Zealand so unpredictable and how much respect one should have. This will certainly play a role in the upcoming tours in the mountains.

I arrive at Franz Josef Glacier in the early afternoon and decide to do the planned tour because of the bright sunshine. You can get very close to the glacier without being in danger due to sudden flash floods caused by pieces breaking off at the end of the glacier or rockfall. At two or three points, you have to walk through the river ankle-deep. My waterproof hiking shoes can handle that, but the Asian sneakers and sometimes even the Birkenstock sandals turn back there. The hike is a pleasure. You go up a long valley and then you stand in front of this unbelievably huge glacier, feeling tiny in comparison. On the way back, I actually want to shoot a short video for the people in Ulm. However, this is abruptly interrupted by hail again. First, I seek shelter under a bush and two hours later I am looking forward to my campsite.