Another Day, Another Glacier...

Franz Joseph, New Zealand

May 13, 2007
S 43°23.247
E 170°10.911

Glacier County in New Zealand gets an average of 284 days of rain a year. However, we’ve been treated to two of the 81 days it doesn’t rain out of the year. This provided us spectacular views of both glaciers in the remote south—Franz Joseph Glacier and Fox Glacier, and wonderful day hikes to explore the areas surrounding the glaciers.

After exploring Franz Joseph yesterday, we set out on a 22 KM drive south to Fox Glacier. We decided to do a day trip instead of trying to cram the views into our driving day tomorrow. This allowed us to walk the trail to the bottom of the glacier, viewing its lovely ice blue peaks, resembling a crashing wave, from up close. Similar to yesterday, the temperature quickly decreased the closer we got to the icy mountain. The wind picked up, adding an extra chill, as it whipped off the glacier.

The two glaciers were similar, both massive mountains of ancient ice, but each unique in its own way. The deep blue colors of Fox didn’t exist yesterday on Franz Joseph; yet France Joseph’s size and scale was overwhelming.

The immensity, in size and mass, of both glaciers is hard to comprehend, but at the same time it’s incredible to fathom they are receding at approximately 1 meter per day; nearly 4 American football fields per year. We’re happy we had the opportunity to explore them and enjoy their natural beauty while they still exist.

We made our way back to the Franz Joseph Top 10 Holiday Park along the curvy roads in time to do laundry, relax, and play a little air hockey in the game room. Final Score: Marc 7 – Laura 5… the terms and conditions of a possible rematch are under discussion.

Tomorrow we continue our journey south towards Queenstown.