New Zealand: Day Three

The next morning we were to set out towards the glaciers. Beyond that, our plans were mostly tentative; I didn't know if we were going to try and make it out onto one of them.

The drive through the rest of Central Canterbury proved to be just as tricky as it was the day before. Winding through steep and narrow roads was both fun and exhausting. After about an hour and a half of it, the road flattened out. Then a funny thing happen. We came upon a coast to coast race, a annual event in New Zealand which is a race from the West Coast to the East Coast, a 243 km journey involving running, kayaking, and biking. The course record we found out later? 10 hours. That is pretty darn impressive if you ask me.

We wound our way down to the coast as the road turned south towards Franz Josef and Fox Glacier. The road followed an interesting path, winding in and around trees, but staying flat. However, when we neared the signs that read "Glacier Country" the roads began to wind back and forth. The ascent back up the mountains began once again.

The first glacier town, Franz Josef, didn't take long to reach. The entire town was nothing more than different companies that would take you on the glaciers via hikes, helicopters, or 4WD vehicles. Along with those offices, there were various houses, two or three restaurants, and accommodations. No traffic lights, and maybe two roads aside from the main road running through town. We decided to head down to the other glacier, located near the town of Fox Glacier. With no specific agenda aside from checking out the reflection of Mt Cook on Lake Matheson, we made a move further south.

If Franz Josef was a small blip on the map, Fox Glacier was (what's lower than a blip?) whatever that is. We stopped and tried to find Lake Matheson. It was about a 10 minute drive from the "centre" of town and required a hike around the lake. Alas, to our disappointment, due to wind factors, we couldn't see the reflection! Bust! Still a good view though:

Yeah Jmu pride! From there we decided to try our luck at a late afternoon glacier hike. This was a no go, as we were too late, but we decided to head down the next day and go for one.

Once departed from Fox Glacier, we went back to check out Franz Josef. The glacier was pretty difficult to get to, as you had to climb over dry creek beds full of rocks that weren't too stable. But we made it to the very front, as you can tell from the picture at the top of the post. After that long journey, we headed back into town and had drinks at the pub. We also decided to go down early in the morning and see if we could get a reflection, as we heard it would be visible early in the morning.