Glacier Hiking!?!

South Island V-Cay: Day #8

Waking up that morning we were crossing our fingers hoping that when we peaked out the windows the sun would come pouring in...didn't work :( Again the sky is filled with clouds and there is a permanent mist filling the air. But we had decided since we drove all this way to climb the glacier that a little bit of rain wasn't gonna stop us...well at least it started out as a little bit...so we threw on our rain gear and headed to Alpine Adventures for our early morning hike up Fox Glacier.

After suiting up with rain coats and hiking boots we jumped in the bus and drove to the edge of the glacier. As soon as we reached the base and were beginning our climb upwards the skies opened up and the rain started pelting us...that is why all the pics are a little fuzzy...I carried my camera in a plastic bag with a little hole poked out for the lens!!!

We continued to climb up the ice, led by our guide who carried an ice pick so he could hack away and help form steps to walk on. We trekked in between two tall walls of ice and you could hear the water rushing inside the glacier through the large cracks. By this time you couldn't see the mtn tops surrounding us and the rain was finding ways to bypass my rain gear and soak my clothes underneath...but we were still climbing up.

We finally made it to the turnaround of our 1/2 day hike and we could only hang out for a few minutes at the top because of the downpour...notice the pics...we were soaked to the bone!! After admiring the glacier and finding out why it looked blue (it did I promise even though the pics don't show it) we turned around to head back down. On the way, there was a moment of confusion as our guide spoke to another guide and after they chatted amongst themselves they looked up and both looked very concerned!! We were told that rocks were falling and that for the rest of our trip down we couldn't stop for fear of a rock slide...yippee...just great...I'm soaked and now giant rocks are gonna fall on my head!!!

Needless to say we moved pretty fast down the icy steps and the newly formed stream that was only a rock bed on the way up...good thing I'm so graceful and only managed to fall a half dozen times, haha!! Finally we made it to the bus...just nearly escaped being crushed by a boulder...ok so I’m a little dramatic, but only a little :)

To prove our daring adventure we received a certificate signed and noted by our glacier guide stating we did battle the dangerous and unpredictable New Zealand landscape and weather and concurred the awe-inspiring Fox Glacier!! Yeah...mark it down...another mini adventure!!!

The rest of the day wasn't as thrilling...Lauren, Shelly and I sat in a warm cafe and attempted to dry ourselves out...we weren't too successful though. And Back at the Ivory Towers Hostel we decided to curl up in the movie room and escape the elements...it turned into a Lord of the Rings afternoon since I had never seen the movies but had spent the last week seeing the actual spots were scenes form the movie were filmed...it was neat seeing landscape that has now become so familiar to me!!

I had never looked so forward to a good night sleep and all I was hoping was that tomorrow the sun would pop up, and we'd have a beautiful drive further up the coast.
Cheers for now!!

Luv,
Rachel

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