Fox Glacier 6 Feb - Saturday

Cooler morning in Fox Glaicer, around 17°C, but being nearly 1000ft above sea level it will be a little cooler.

As Fox Glacier is only a small place and we had looked round the place last night, we decided to drive the 23km up the road to Franz Josef. 

Fox Glacier Plato below.

Mountain vista, seen from road to Franz Josef.

-  While we were in Franz Josef, Dorothy and I took the opportunity to walk up to the Glacier, while Pat and Liz looked around Franz Josef.

Below is the view from the car park at the start of the walk up to the Glacier. As you can see we start from a tropical rainforest area.

We walked through the rainforest for 10mins before we saw the track to the Glacier.

Past a waterfall.

As we left the rainforest area, you can see a couple returning.

We got as close to the Glacier as we were allowed, for saftety. You can see the Glacier at the top of the photo and the outflow nearcthe bottom on the right.

Just to prove I was there.

We all met back in Franz Josef for lunch, before returning to Fox Glacier.

In the afternoon I decided to take a helecopter ride, while the girls did their own thing and caught up on some washing. 

I hope they use the cloths line to dry the washing and not Dorothy's Wanaka method, when she put her washing on a coat hanger, then hung them on the first floor balcony, unfortunately the wind caught the cloths and blew them off the balcony, fortunately Dorothy was able to retrieve her cloths from the lawn below.

As we flew back over Franz Glacier, we saw the suspension bridge over the Fox River.

Below is Fox Glacier, which is 13km long (3km longer than than Franz Josef Glacier). The highest peak you can see, top right of on the photo betlow, is Mt Tasman, at 3,497m (11,473ft) it is the second highest peak in New Zealand.

We then flew on to Mt Cook, the heights peak in New Zealand at 3,724m (12,218ft). As you can see below. 

Below you can see how the Glacier flows.

Below a closer view of Mt Tasman.

As you can see below, we landed on Fox Glacier.

Looking down Fox Glacier.

Back in the helecopter looking down Fox Glacier.

In the next valley, a slower moving Glacier covered in debris.

Then we flew back to the rainforest area of Fox Glacier.

Again some awer inspiring, fantastic views that the camera does not do justice to. It just takes you breath away.