crazyscot

Nights spent away: 4
Sandfly bites: 8 (at last count)
Lakes circumnavigated: 1
Glaciers walked on: 1
Waterfalls collected: 1
Things bought: jade pendant
Things made: knife

An action packed five day holiday, and no mistake. Where to begin? ( At the beginning, of course. There be pictures. )

Ross-Makarora via Fox Glacier

All this turquoise blue colour in the water, it's a wonder there's any left to go around... Wait! That explains why everything is so often grey back home!

The Ross Motel provided a good room, if a little damp in the morning; kitchenette equipment dated but entirely functional; TV had only 3 channels, all analogue; no mobile coverage (not for me anyway, on the 2degrees network) nor guest internet (but there's a net cafe round the corner).

This morning the tourist centre and old gaol in Ross were open, so we popped our heads round the door before setting off to glacier country. You know the drill by now, I'm sure; jaws dropped and retrieved multiple times, more mostly-rocky river beds, beautiful clear watercourses, stunning turquoise inlets, more scary alpinesque roads (even though this was the "coast" road, it wiggles a bit) ...

You don't normally get glaciers this close to the sea (20-25km downstream) - not at this latitude anyway. The Southern Alps boast two, as well as a load more regular glaciers higher on up. After a lunch stop in Franz Josef village we went on to Fox glacier, selected because it's less busy, you get closer to the terminal face, and a shorter walk from the car park.

The car park at Fox is built up above the meltwater stream, which feeds into the Fox River. You can tell it's glacial melt by its colour - a very opaque grey, in stark contrast to most other watercourses, because of the ground-up rock it carries in suspension. In fact, looking around, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was Mordor (perhaps missing a little fire and/or brimstone).

It's hard to describe. You've got a wide water course, most of which is rocky; the water itself is deep grey, and roaring because it's running fast; the car park and path have clearly been engineered to elevate them above the water; on one side of the watercourse you've got sheer cliffs, while the other is merely very steep and forested; thin waterfalls punctuate either side, plunging down. Every few minutes a sightseeing helicopter buzzes overhead.


And then you've got a 20 minute walk along this awe-inspiring Mordoresque landscape to reach the terminal face, crossing a couple of crystal clear mountain streams as you go. Within a couple of minutes you can see the glacier properly.

And then it hits you. That's not snow over there; it's ice. Mind-boggling amounts of it, flowing (oozing) slowly down the valley. Look again and you can see it has blue regions. The colour is a beautiful, subtle light blue; ice that has just been exposed is an incredible deep blue (we didn't make it to the Tasman glacier) but it oxidises quickly. There's an overhang at the face creating a cave, which we surmised an ice monster might inhabit (we weren't allowed close to it). Large chunks of ice regularly break off, rocks fall, and ropes defining the whole tourist-safe area are moved regularly as the face advances and retreats. Very little money is made directly from the DOC rangers keeping tabs on the glacier to keep tourists safe - there is no shop, no admission fee, just a box for donations - but it's a public service we heartily endorse. While we were at the end of the path we brought out and ate the sweets we had brought with us. (Sorry, it had to be done - see the title *ducks*)


Eventually we returned to the car and drove on. NZ had another surprise for us - the Gates of Haast cascade, high up on the Haast river near Haast Pass. We stopped to take photos, even though we were later than planned.


Finally, after even more crinkly roads, we found our bed for the night at Makarora Homestead. There isn't even any guest TV here; they market it as a retreat and a base for exploring the outdoors. It has been quite a long day, despite the stops; we'll sleep well.