Franz Joseph Glacier

It was a clear sunny day in Haast after yesterday’s overcast and rain. The good news is that Chris has fully recovered after a couple of <Ctrl> <Alt> <Del> on her stomach yesterday and about 12 hours of sleep. Thankfully it was just a short term affliction. We got underway at around 9:30 and retraced yesterday’s journey to Fox Glacier but in much nicer weather which provided some good opportunities for coastal scenery photos.

We stopped at Lake Moeraki for a nice view of the lake and some Shelducks playing in the water.

We drove to Lake Matheson again, this time for the tramp around the lake in the quest to get the “money shot” of Mt Cook reflected in the lake. No luck as there was a light breeze blowing which destroyed the reflective surface of the lake. Still, some good views of the mountains on a nice clear day.

Monte the Moose enjoyed the walk...

We had a picnic lunch there and Chris was still feeling well after the twisty drive to Franz Joseph so we decided to investigate a helicopter trip to the glaciers. Because yesterday was such a bad weather day and the influx of Chinese tourists, most helicopter tour services were swamped with business. We did find a small company that had availability for two on their deluxe tour of three glaciers and Mt Cook and decided to go for it. This was a smaller 4 passenger helicopter but that meant everyone got a window seat. We started out in the front seats and changed places with the other couple after landing in a snow field near the glacier. Lots of photos and video were taken and not enough time to sort through all of them so here is a brief sample.

Following another helicopter up the Franz Joseph Glacier.

The blue snow as we reached the cloud line and the snowfield.

Nearing the top of the glacier in the snow catchment basin and the “divide” in the Southern Alps.

Us with Mt Cook in the background after landing on the snow.

Fox Glacier….

No stomach problems today!

It was really cool just skimming the summit of Mt Cook (elev. 10,000 + ft) and then rapidly descending the valley back to the heliport in town. Unfortunately I have still not been able to get my left ear to “pop” from the pressure change.

The drive along the coast north from Franz Joseph was spectacular. A combination of twisty roads, coastal straight stretches at sea level and a number of glacial streams. The colour of the glacier water is absolutely phenomenal. Here is an example and I guarantee that this photo is straight from the camera. Absolutely no corrections or modifications.

We rolled into the little community of Kumara, population about 100. We are staying at the Theatre Royal Hotel. An old hotel on the highway but fully restored/renovated. We are in a four unit cottage across the street which unfortunately does not have wi-fi so I will be uploading this while eating breakfast in the hotel tomorrow morning.

Just when everything seemed to be going so well for us with respect to the weather (only 3 days in 6 weeks when it rained) we heard on the news that two cyclones have slammed into Australia today in Queensland north of Brisbane which is where we are headed next. Luckily, we don’t have a lot of our trip pre-booked and will have to assess our itinerary once the extent of the damage becomes clearer. We had planned on spending a week in the Brisbane area then head north to Cairns but this is the area that was hit by the cyclones. You will have to follow the next Australia blog to see how this unfolds.

Tomorrow we are travelling through Arthur’s Pass to Christchurch and will be staying with my late good friend Alec Johnston’s cousin. She found out we were in New Zealand and contacted us and extended a very generous offer to visit with then for a couple of days before we depart for Australia. We are looking forward to sharing some of our memories of Alec with them and touring the city of Christchurch.