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Published: September 29th 2008
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Fox Glacier Holiday Park
.....the recently opened new amenities centre were absolutely first class, as were the spacious motorhome sites that surrounded the centre. Awoke to another fine sunny morning at Fox Glacier Holiday Park. Because we arrived so late the previous night, it was a pleasant surprise to step outside the motorhome to the magnificent vistas of the snowed capped mountains surrounding the small township of Fox Glacier. The Fox Glacier Holiday Park was under extensive renovations, the recently opened new amenities centre were absolutely first class, as were the spacious motorhome sites that surrounded the centre. Each site had easy access to all amenities.
We had breakfast, and I went to the office to pay for our site, after spending 20 minutes trying to find somebody to take my money, I found the Manager cleaning the bathrooms. He was very appreciative of my honesty considering he did not even realise that we were on a site overnight.....it was a small town.
After getting directions, we headed to the glacier about 5km out of the town.Fed by four alpine glaciers, Fox Glacier falls 2,600m on its 13km journey from the Southern Alps down to the coast, with
Fox Glacier
.....Fox Glacier falls 2,600m on its 13km journey from the Southern Alps down to the coast it having the distinction of being one of the few glaciers to end among lush rain forest only 300 metres above sea level. Although retreating throughout most of the last 100 years, it has been advancing since 1985 at an average of about a meter a week. The glacier road takes you through lush green rain forest before you reach the terminal face. From here it is a solid walk to the ice face, but well worth the effort. There are some good viewing points along the track if you find the walk to the face a little too much. For the fit and energetic, guided tours take you up and over the ice for the complete glacier experience.
After a short look around Fox Glacier township (very short... not much here), we drove 20kms to Franz Josef Glacier for lunch. Franz Josef township is a little service village (approximately 270 inhabitants) located approximately 5 km away from the face of the glacier on State Highway 6. It has a small but busy heliport, numerous tourist accommodation options (with up to 2,000 people overnighting during the main season) and a number of restaurants and souvenir shops....we enjoyed a delightful lunch
Franz Josef township
.....is a little service village (approximately 270 inhabitants) located approximately 5 km away from the face of the glacier before driving out to the glacier. The glacier was named after Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria by the German explorer, Julius von Haast in 1865. The Māori name for the glacier is Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere ('The tears of Hinehukatere'), arising from a local legend: Hinehukatere loved climbing in the mountains and persuaded her lover, Tawe, to climb with her. Tawe was a less experienced climber than Hinehukatere but loved to accompany her until an avalanche swept Tawe from the peaks to his death. Hinehukatere was broken hearted and her many, many tears flowed down the mountain and froze to form the glacier. The glacier wall at Fran Jozef is a lot more a accessible than Fox with a well constructed walking track winding through a lush green rain forest to a viewing area with information boards and seating. Guided and unguided walks up to and onto the glacier are possible, but the track after the viewing area is hard going up to the glacier wall. I would recommend Franz Josef as the more tourist friendly of the two glaciers.
We turned back on to Highway 6 and continued our journey north. After 30 minutes we arrived at the
Walkway to Franz Josef Glacier
...... Fran Jozef is a lot more a accessible than Fox with a well constructed walking track winding through a lush green rain forest small logging settlement HariHari. Harihari's main claim to fame occurred on 7 January 1931 when Australian aviator Guy Menzies landed upside down in a swamp while completing the first solo flight across the Tasman Sea. Menzies, who had left Sydney 11 hours and 45 minutes earlier, was aiming for Blenheim but had been blown off course and mistook a swamp for flat pasture suitable for landing. Despite the accident, he was unharmed. On 7 January 2006, 75th anniversary celebrations of the feat were held at Harihari, with roughly 400 people in attendance. To mark the occasion, a replica of the airplane was built and housed in a monumental shed in the main street of the town.
After leaving HariHari it was not long before we again joined the west coast at Ross for the relaxing coastal drive to Hokitika. After driving through the mountains, it is was a real joy to follow the coast on a flat, straight road for a change. We stopped at Hokitika for a break and walk in the main street of this very delightful coastal town of about 3000 people. We visited some greenstone(jade) carving shops which are the towns main tourist attractions.
Forty kms
Franz Josef Glacier
.......walks up to and onto the glacier are possible, but the track after the viewing area is hard going up to the glacier wall further up the coast we arrived at Greymouth, the largest town on New Zealand's west coast. Greymouth is an industrial town with not much to offer to visitors, so being late in the afternoon we drove through Greymouth and continued our journey to Reefton, our overnight destination.
From Greymouth we headed back inland on Highway 7 following the Grey River valley into the Victoria Ranges. The drive through the valley is very picturesque with snow capped mountains towering on both sides, especially with the setting sun behind us casting a magnificent light show across the mountains and the river. As darkness fell and still about 40kms from Reefton we drove into very heavy rain which made driving conditions very hairy, especially on a dark, winding, unfamiliar road. We were relieved to drive into Reefton after a very long day on the road. Reefton was the first town in New Zealand and the Southern Hemisphere to receive electricity, in 1888. Soon after, its streets were lit by commercial electric power, generated by a water-driven steel turbine. After driving down the main street, one could be forgiven for wondering if you in that 1888 time warp. The rain was still pelting down
HariHari Plane Crash
.......when Australian aviator Guy Menzies landed upside down in a swamp while completing the first solo flight across the Tasman Sea. as we pulled into a very dark and cold Reefton Caravan Park. The office was closed, so I pulled on to a very wet and muddy site and plugged into some power when a bloke appeared from the drenching rain and told us we had to shift to another site, even though we were the only visitors that night. I asked him how much I owed for the site, he replied it was normally $40, but because he could not be bothered opening the office, he accepted $20 cash that he plonked straight in his pocket and disappeared back into the wet night. I had no idea who this guy was, nor did I ever see him again......talk about Hicksville. Just as well we had food in the fridge, because the town was closed down for the night....it was 7pm. The heavy rain was still pelting down, as we hit the "hay" early because we had a huge drive to Picton tomorrow where we are booked for a four hour cruise on Queen Charlotte Sound.
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