The We(s)t coast

So we arrived at Franz Josef Glacier, one of two glaciers on the west coast, we had to drive up into the mountains a bit, and caught our first glimpse of some snowy peaks-this feels a bit strange have been driving through farmland and vineyards only a few days before.

We arrived at town at about 2pm and before setting up camp (yes, we are still camping) thought we would drive up to the glacier and take a quick look. The look out point from the car park was spectacular, as you can see the glacier coming down the valley between two mountains. We took a walk that was about 1.5 hours return right up to the face of the glacier. It was monstorous, but a really clear blue colour.

The photos dont really do it justice, and they certainly dont get give a feel of the scale of it. The pics of us make it look small, but it was about 5 storeys or more high. One crazy girl ran right up to the base of it and looked like a speck in the distance. Such action was not advised, as a couple walking back as we were walking up told us they had just seen a huge section collapse, and if any of it had given way, she would have been as flat as a pankcake rock!

After our trip to the glacier we headed into town to find a camp site, only to be informed that all the camping was on gravel. The best option in the whole town was gravel with a piece of astroturf on top of it. I know we're in the mountains, but this is ridiculous. As tempting an offer as it was, we decided to pass, and head to the next glacier (only 20k down the road).

The town around Fox Glacier was similar to the one at franz, but we were at least able to find a campsite with grass. We pitched our tent, and wen't up to have a look at the ice again. unfortunatly, as it had been raining for most of the day, the walk to the face of the glacier was closed, and we could only view it from afar, we didn't think this would be a problem, and made plans to return the next day.

The next day followed one of our worst nights yet. If it wasn't bad enough that we were being kept awake by the downpour of rain that had continued all through the day and into the night. If either of us were lucky enough to doze off, our slumber would soon be broken by a smack in the face from the side of the tent, as it was hit by a gust of the wind. The severe conditions prompted several tent inspections to make sure we were not about to fly off into the clouds. The tent however did a sterling job, and kept us both dry all night.

The next morning the weather looked much the same. we took a drive to the beach (which is only about 30mins from the mountain) and the weather cleared enough for us to have lunch and look around a bit before heading back. When we returned to town we discovered that the cloud had lingered and it still looked no better (at least it had stopped raining). We took a walk to lake Matherson, which is a picture postcard setting for NZ. On a clearday, the peaks on Mount Cook, and various other mountains are reflected beautifully in the water of the lake. On a grey rainy day however, you can see nothing of the sort. As such we returned to our campsite vowing to return at sunrise if the weather had cleared.

For the rest of the day, the weather was rubbish, we consoled ourselves with a hot chocolate by a log fire in the town and then waited. We we so bored that we even contemplated going out for dinner just so as to have something to do, but as this definately does not fit into our day budget, thought better of it. The rest of the night, went much as before, with the addition of hail, lightning and thunder. Now when it comes to thunder, NZ certainly knows what its doing, the cracks last for at least thirty seconds rolling through the mountains like an avalanche.