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Published: June 25th 2011
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A long driving day today. This was also one of the few nights (besides the two nights in Wellington) where we didn't have lodging secured. We are making our way down the coast to Te Anau, which will be our base to explore the Milford Sound area. So far as we can tell, we have a total of about 9 hours of driving time over the next two days. We decided to wing it a bit, and see what we ended up doing during the daylight hours before deciding where to hunker down for the night.
Our first stop was to check out one of the island's 30 glaciers. Only two are accessible by walking path from this area without paying for a guide: Franz Josef and Fox. We decided on Fox Glacier, primarily due to a recommendation from a farmer/surfer who we chatted with on Rabbit Island. He was a nice enough guy and did go to Yakima, Washington to help out on a farm every summer, so why not take his recommendation? As we approached the car park we passed two signs indicating where the glacier's termination point was in 1750 and again in 1930. It had receded
quite a bit.
When we drove up the glacier-savaged ravine we could see about a half kilometer of the glacier from the car park. It was like a jagged tongue lapping its way down the center of the chasm that it had steadily fashioned over the past million years. From the glacier's belly, a steady river flowed. The track didn't follow the river's path as many trails through river gorge's do. One of the many dangers indicated by signage throughout the area was the chance of an ice dam giving way and creating a flash flood. Since this could be caused by steady melting under the glacier, hard rainfall wouldn't be an indicator of a flash flood like in a desert.
The glacier was a pleasant surprise, as we were told that if you didn't hike up on the glacier with a guide, it was like seeing a wall of snow. Instead the blue ice could clearly be seen in the cracks of the outer crust which was white heavily fused with the gray dust from the rocks. At 12.5 kilometers in length, I couldn't imagine how many gallons of water and how much weight was slowly making
its way down the mountainside. The glaciers don't really melt at the termination point, they melt from within. Also as additional snow gets compacted into ice, the collective weight of the mass moves it forward. The snow on the bottom retains some air whereas the next layer has the air crushed out of it. It is this layer that turns blue from lack of air and is ice in its most dense form. When melting patterns occur beneath the blue layer huge crevasses up to 100 meters can be instantly created. Good reason for guided tours on the glaciers.
After the glacier, we pressed onward toward Haast which was a possible destination for us tonight. We saw the Monro Beach hike trailhead and pulled in. Suzy had read positive things about this beach but we weren't sure of the distance. The signage indicated an hour and a half roundtrip down to the beach. When we saw signs that indicated penguins make there way on the beach from June-December, our minds were made up to give it a go. We walked briskly as we were already behind our anticipated schedule for the day. The forest was obviously well-watered as most
of the trees were fully engulfed in moss and tiny ferns. We met a couple coming up from the beach who reported no penguins, lots of sand flies and a spectacular beach. The two negatives of the report were about to turn the group around, but Ivy would have no quitting on the quest so we pressed on. Closer to the bottom of the trail, Theo spotted some glow worm feeding lines in little alcoves right off the side of the trail. The beach did not disappoint. It was an incredible crescent of beach, with like most a small stream splitting it down the middle. There were several rock outcroppings defying the pounding surf. Some of them were near vertical chunks protruding 30-40 feet up. The Tasman Sea is just a brutal force thrashing the coast into submission. The waves were pouring onto the sand in powerful sets. Geddy immediately propped himself on a rock just beyond waterline while Ivy and Theo raced back and forth with the incoming froth of the waves. Finally a rogue wave broke out of a set with the younger two barely escaping its wrath. Geddy was a sitting duck and chose to take it
Ivy and Jon along the path to Fox Glacier
The rocks on this side of the trail were covered with an orange moss. like a man and ended up soaked on his perch. We surveyed the beach for penguin tracks and didn't see any. The waves coming in with the high tide seemed to be unleashing the sand flies from their hidings, so we didn't last much longer. We tramped back up the trail to head off on our journey.
The sun began to set and we passed an impressive beach and tried to find a place to stop. Amazingly, this beautiful spot had no car park and we pushed on. In a few minutes we happened into a lovely park with a forest marsh trail and another trail that traversed the sand dunes via a slightly elevated boardwalk. We watched the sunset and wished we would have stumbled on to this beach with more daylight.
We drove through Haast and decided to brave the Haast Pass in the dark and settle in Wanaka. So we had two hours of unknown mountain pass to contend with. We exhausted the last bit of sunlight and caught some nice mountain views before being swallowed by a thorough darkness. Needless to say, there are no streetlamps. The sparseness of population really exhibits itself when
we drive off the coast. We drove for 35 minutes without passing another car at one point. Through the two hour plus drive we saw a grand total of 6 other cars.
We pulled into Wanaka and bounced around hotels before settling on one that was affordable and not too dilapidated.
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Linda
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How much you guys fit into a day is remarkable - great adventure. That Tasman Sea picture is so beautiful. Loved hearing how you guys 'wing' a day down there, exploring-wise. A glacier and Munro Beach in a single day.... great!