The Glaciers

The rain started during our second night in the hostel and it was a pretty wet gloomy morning the next day. We packed up our stuff and drove into town to go to the supermarket. We won't be passing another good sized shop until Wanaka!

Oh no! Rain

We had to load up the shopping in the rain. Then we hit the road again, still driving south. There were a few walks we could have stopped at on the way to Franz Josef but the rain was heavy and didn't stop so we only made a quick toilet and snack break at a nice lake enroute.

In Franz Josef we had to do 2 and a half laps of the glacier car park before we got a parking space. It was very busy. It had also stopped raining though so we were pleased about that. We did the walks to Sentinel Point and to the glacier lookout. Then we had another car picnic. Mmmm mmm.

Cloudy Glacier Valley

After lunch we continued to our campsite at Fox Glacier village and whipped the tent up quickly before the rain started again. It was still quite early in the afternoon but we decided to just relax for a while and later we went on a stroll to the little town. Rosie was so relaxed she almost got stuck in a bean bag in the TV room.

Campsite Rainbow

The next day we went for a walk around Lake Matheson where on a clear day there is a reflection of the Southern Alps in the water. The weather had turned fine again after yesterday's rain so we got some great views. We had tea and hot chocolate in the café and then drove a little further along to road where we could get a view of the Fox Glacier.

After lunch back at the campground we did the walks to Fox Glacier. The old suspension bridge and the Moraine walk before returning to the camp site for another chill time!
We saw a rock fall of our way back from walking to the terminal viewpoint of the glacier so all those rockfall warning signs everywhere really mean it!

 

 

Slaving away at the stove, as usual!