After beautiful, sunny Abel Tasman National Park we make our way down the west coast, famous for its miserable weather. Captain Cook described it as "an inhospitable shore... as far as the eye could reach the prospect was wild, craggy and desolate". Later explorers doubted wether the land would ever be cultivated or colonised, except perhaps through the discovery of gold, and in the 1860s the area experienced a gold rush, remenants of which are still visible today in the ghost towns and gorges up and down the coast.
We're heading for the glaciers - Franz Joseph and Fox - half way down. We split the drive over two days, stopping at the sandfly (worse than mosquitoes in terms of itchy-ness but easier to swat) ridden Nelson Lakes, the Buller's Gorge swing bridge and the Tauranga Bay seal colony.
Above: Buller Gorge Swing Bridge. The river was used by European gold miners, navigated by Maori, exploring the area in search of gold. At 110m the bridge is New Zealand's longest pedestrian swing bridge.
Above: Seals at Tauranga Bay. Located at Cape Foul Wind (Another of Captian Cook's colourful descriptions) the colony can number up to 400, a particularly good number after 150 years of unregulated sealing. There are about 20 when we arrive including some pups.
The weather clears up as we enter 'glacier country' and the scenery is some of the best I've seen in New Zealand. On our left snow topped mountains give way to jungle, out of which flow icy blue rivers over vast, pebbled river beds down to golden beaches on our right.
We spend a night in the small town of Franz Josef to reseach which glacier we would like to explore (Franz Josef or Fox), how we would like to explore it (heli-hike, ice climbing, half day, full day) and to make the most of the 'alpine character' (steeply pitched roofs and wood panneling) and apres ski atmosphere of the town. The hostel where we're staying (sleeping in the van in the carpark) has a hot tub and in the evenings people gather round a wood fire for free soup and stories of their various glacier adventures.
Above: A 'weka'. Other silly birds in New Zealand are the 'kakapo', 'kea','pukeko' (pu-kek-o) and ofcourse the kiwi.
Franz Josef is the most well known of the two glaciers and is slightly larger than Fox, but Fox is less busy and CHEAPER. An obvious choice. We opt for the full day 'tour', heli-hiking being too expensive for our budget and a half day tour only allowing two hours on the ice. Hopefully the weather holds up.
We're heading for the glaciers - Franz Joseph and Fox - half way down. We split the drive over two days, stopping at the sandfly (worse than mosquitoes in terms of itchy-ness but easier to swat) ridden Nelson Lakes, the Buller's Gorge swing bridge and the Tauranga Bay seal colony.
Above: Buller Gorge Swing Bridge. The river was used by European gold miners, navigated by Maori, exploring the area in search of gold. At 110m the bridge is New Zealand's longest pedestrian swing bridge.
Above: Seals at Tauranga Bay. Located at Cape Foul Wind (Another of Captian Cook's colourful descriptions) the colony can number up to 400, a particularly good number after 150 years of unregulated sealing. There are about 20 when we arrive including some pups.
The weather clears up as we enter 'glacier country' and the scenery is some of the best I've seen in New Zealand. On our left snow topped mountains give way to jungle, out of which flow icy blue rivers over vast, pebbled river beds down to golden beaches on our right.
We spend a night in the small town of Franz Josef to reseach which glacier we would like to explore (Franz Josef or Fox), how we would like to explore it (heli-hike, ice climbing, half day, full day) and to make the most of the 'alpine character' (steeply pitched roofs and wood panneling) and apres ski atmosphere of the town. The hostel where we're staying (sleeping in the van in the carpark) has a hot tub and in the evenings people gather round a wood fire for free soup and stories of their various glacier adventures.
Above: A 'weka'. Other silly birds in New Zealand are the 'kakapo', 'kea','pukeko' (pu-kek-o) and ofcourse the kiwi.
Franz Josef is the most well known of the two glaciers and is slightly larger than Fox, but Fox is less busy and CHEAPER. An obvious choice. We opt for the full day 'tour', heli-hiking being too expensive for our budget and a half day tour only allowing two hours on the ice. Hopefully the weather holds up.
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