The glaciers of the Southern Alps

On the morning of 15.01. the sun was actually shining and we were able to have breakfast outside. Unfortunately, the good weather didn't last long and as soon as we set off, everything was covered again and it was drizzling. Well, that's how it is on the West Coast. Before we continued our journey, we paid our promised $20 for the campsite to the nice representative who was there in the morning. After we had packed everything up and even our soaked pavilion had dried out in the morning sun, we set off.

After 40km we reached the town of Hokitika, where there is a large arts and crafts scene according to the travel guide. We only stopped there to get information about the two glaciers Franz Josef and Fox at the Visitor Centre, which are located on the western side of the Southern Alps and which we wanted to visit in the afternoon. Besides giving us a map, the lady couldn't really help us because the region was apparently still too far away.

There was a large store opposite the Visitor Centre called "Mountain Jade" which sold jade jewelry. I wanted to take a look inside and Andi came with me. Inside there were beautiful, finely cut jewelry made of jade in various shapes. Most of the shapes had a traditional meaning in Maori culture, such as the Fish Hook for strength, luck and safe travel over water. It's really cool that the green stone has been worn as jewelry in this form for so long.

Next to the sales room there was also a carving studio where you could watch the employees grinding the stones. It's such a microscopic work! It's amazing how they do it. As a memento, I then bought a pair of jade earrings with little hearts and Andi bought a necklace with a natural stone. Everything else became really expensive really quickly and on our travels we would have more of the smaller things.

After the short shopping detour, we continued along the coast. After 2 hours of driving and a lunch break by a lake, we arrived in Franz Josef, the small tourist village just before the glacier. There we went to the Visitor Centre again to ask which glacier is more worthwhile and what the paths are like at the moment. The lady there said that you can get closer to the glacier at Fox Glacier. However, due to the rain, there is a waterway that you have to pass through. At Franz Josef, the path is clear and you still have a great view of the glacier. Because we didn't want to wade through water, we decided to go for the walk to Franz Josef Glacier. It is a bit longer than the walk to Fox Glacier, so you should plan 1.5 hours for the round trip.

When we arrived at the Franz Josef Glacier car park, it was drizzling a bit. It hadn't rained in the village, so the clouds were already hanging in here more. We thought that a little drizzle wouldn't matter and started walking. On a clear day, you would definitely have a beautiful view of the glacier and the steep mountain slopes on the left and right, but all we could see from a certain height were clouds and we could only see the bottom end of the glacier. On the other hand, hundreds of waterfalls were cascading down the rocks due to the rain, which also looked cool. The landscape in the valley was very different and with the black stones it made a hostile impression. When we finally reached the end of the trail and took a few photos of the glacier shrouded in clouds, the rain really started. The clouds were now much lower and you could actually see nothing anymore. Which wasn't bad either, because because of the rain you couldn't look forward or up anyway. And even more people were coming towards us! Unfortunately, the water flowing from above did not stop and we had to walk back in continuous rain for the whole three-quarters of an hour. When we arrived at the car, we were wet down to our underwear and there were lakes in our shoes. Really disgusting feeling!! Unfortunately, we didn't have a warm hotel room to just drive back to, so we undressed directly in the car and turned on the heating. How are our shoes ever going to dry in this weather!?

After we had peeled ourselves into dry clothes, we continued driving. At least you can drive well in the rain. When we came to Fox Glacier after a few kilometers, we turned off to Lake Matheson. From there you should have a nice panorama of the mountains and during a walk around the lake you can supposedly see this panorama as a reflection in the lake as well. Unfortunately, we couldn't do the walk because we didn't have any more dry warm clothes and it was really too cold in shorts and flip flops. And we didn't feel like walking anymore anyway. So we went to the café by the lake and got a coffee or a hot chocolate and warmed up comfortably inside. We still had a mountain view.

To at least be able to say that we saw Fox Glacier, we drove to Glacier View Road next. At the end of the road, there was a short path to a spot from which you could see Fox Glacier and the valley. We were lucky and it wasn't raining at the moment, so we could risk the 300m walk. In the end, Fox Glacier didn't look much different from Franz Josef Glacier :D

Now we continued a good bit along the West Coast. After about an hour, we stopped again to cook ourselves dinner. We had found a beautiful spot by the sea where the low sun made the sea sparkle and we could hear the sound of the waves. Only downside: sandflies. There are millions of these little pests in New Zealand and especially on the South Island, we have already experienced many places where you can hardly get out of the car because you will be immediately attacked. In Australia, we had already encountered sandflies, but here in New Zealand they were different. The bites were more like mosquito bites. They itched, but if you somehow managed not to scratch, the itching subsided. However, the bites remain active for much longer than mosquito bites and even after a few days, a bite can start itching like hell again. So there were thousands of these creatures on this beach. Since Andi didn't have long pants anymore, I had to cook dinner. I still had my wide-legged pants. With enough fabric, you can keep the flies away. But they find every free spot, so Andi and I already had totally bitten ankles, where the socks weren't high enough.

We ate our garlic and onion fried fish with rice in the car, no flies can get in there. After washing up and tidying up, we sat back in the car and continued driving. After another hour's drive, the highway turned inland and the drive continued through the mountains. We zigzagged through the Southern Alps until half past midnight, until we arrived at a DOC campground at Lake Wanaka. Unfortunately, we ran over an animal on the journey and almost hit a rabbit as well. But somehow it doesn't affect you as much anymore, because you are already used to the sight of dead possums and rabbits by the side of the road. And from Australia we already know the whole thing with kangaroos. Of course, it's still a shock when you drive through the darkness and suddenly an animal runs onto the road, but luckily it wasn't big. Nothing happened.

At the campground, we had to pay $8 per person for the overnight stay, which works like an honesty box, just like in the Northern Territory. By the way, DOC stands for Department of Conservation and is the government department responsible for the national parks.

After we made our bed and brushed our teeth, we went straight to sleep. It was already really late and the day was exhausting, even though we mainly drove and only took a walk. But that one was something :D