Fox Glacier

Because the bridge was not yet open, we had an extra  day in Greymouth.   A bit of sunshine greeted us in the morning.

We had a very relaxing day, reading, sleeping, doing our washing.

Yesterday we spent most of the day travelling.   It was mostly rainy and, as usual we had to contend with winding roads.   A new sharp bend record has been set with the recommended speed of 15km/hr.   However we are coping a lot better and pulling off to allow faster cars to overtake us regularly.

When we came to the  much publicised Harihari bridge, work was still going on, although traffic could get through one lane at a time.   Some poor workers spent their time standing in the soaking rain and changing stop and go signs.

At Harihari we also managed to stop at a lovely little coffee shop, enjoyed some cappuccinos and shared carrot cake and I managed at last to get an anniversary card and a CD (Greatest Heart breakers of all time).

We arrived at Fox Glacier at about 6pm but were not hungry so we had an egg on bread at about 8pm.   Although it is surrounded by mountains, we didn’t see any mountains because of the mist and rain.   We had booked a glacier walk tour for today but with the windy, rainy weather we thought we would see what it was like at 7am and then cancel if necessary.(you can cancel 1 hour before departure and not pay any penalty.)

Well, the Lord must have heard our prayers because this morning started a bit brighter.   We could see most of the mountains.

   

However, when we arrived for our tour, we were told that all morning walks had been cancelled because although it wasn’t raining then, it had been and there had been various mud slides and rockfalls and they would survey the situation at 10.   So we drank cappuccino and waited.

At 10 we were able to get onto an 11.30 walk which we jumped at.   We spent the intervening time going for a 40 min walk at Lake Matheson where the reflections of Mount Cook have adorned many a calendar.   By now it had started to rain again but we had on rain jackets and the rain forest provided some protection.

The reflections were stunning but we couldn’t see Mt Cook with its snow cap.

Although it was still raining, it wasn’t windy and storming as it had been yesterday so our tour went ahead.   We had 2 Alpine trained guides who organised our equipment.   We got proper leather hiking boots and woollen socks, over trousers and jacket as well as a day pack to put our snacks in.   We were taken by bus to the start of the glacier walk.   We found out we were the first walking tour this year.  (Wow, the Lord is really looking after us and blessing us)

We were divided into two groups, each with a guide.   We got Passang Sherpa who hails from Nepal (told us he plans to climb Mt Everest in 2014).  He made a point of finding out where all the hikers came from – on hearing we were from SA, he was quick to recall that NZ had been bowled out by SA for 45 in their first innings of the 1st test!  We walked for quite a while before we saw the glacier. We did however see chunks of ice being carried swiftly down the Fox River, as a result of all the rain.

 

Finally it was time and we put on our crampons and got Alpine sticks and got taught how to walk on ice, using the crampons.   Short steps and stamp, stamp, stamp. So it was that we were walking on the glacier.

We were given strict instructions that if we dropped anything, like a camera, we were not to try to retrieve it as it goes sliding down.   Just to let it go.   I took fewer pictures after that.   It was also raining again and I didn’t want my camera to suffer the fate of my cell phone!  We stopped to look around and have a snack (we had packed a thermos of hot chocolate which was just the thing for the situation but it did manage to leak into the backpack) before retracing our steps off the glacier and back to the car park.

This has been a truly awesome experience and has probably pushed the sea kayaking into second place as far as highlights of New Zealand go. It is something we will never forget.

I never realised that travelling on the South Island of New Zealand could be so iffy. It must be said though that a newspaper report of a week ago recorded that wild and wet weather had caused chaos in many parts of NZ, particularly the South Island. The West Coast and Fiordland has borne the brunt of the storm. Parts of the West Coast , it was reported, had recorded totals of up to 500mm of rain. The road to Wanaka, our next stop, is now closed.   We might have to stay here another day or worst case scenario, retrace our steps back up the West Coast.   However, the Lord has looked after us so well up to now, we trust Him with the rest of our holiday.