Hokitika to Fox Glacier

Left the hostel before eight and hit the coastal road to do the two most famous glaciers in New Zealand. The drive was pretty flat although it did have its moments especially when we hit some of the longer bridges over the rivers.

I may have mentioned that maybe the majority of rural bridges in New Zealand are one lane only. There is usually a sign saying which side is supposed to yield but when you are going 100 km and come zipping around the corner you don’t always have a lot of time to stop and figure it out. My personal favourite was the really long bridge that was not only one lane but you also had to share it with a railway line. Click on the picture if you think I am lying.

The two glaciers are different in that they come right down to the temperate forest. The paths in is easy but rocky. They keep you well back from the front sections since the glaciers have a tendency to drop tons of ice at random times. Last week two brothers were killed because they ignored the posted boundaries and went in for a closer look. If you have lots of money you can take a helicopter ride up to the top or a guided glacier walk. We passed. Being from BC we figured that we had seen enough glaciers of our own. These were pretty cool though.

After tempting death by going to the glaciers we walked around a pretty little lake where, normally, a clear reflection of Mt Cook, NZ’s biggest mountain, can be seen. We did see Mt. Cook but not in the water. Did see a big freshwater eel though and a really large pigeon in the trees. Stayed at a very big hostel at the Fox Glacier that night. It even had a movie room. Who would have thought!