“There's an ice berg in the river”...

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Friday 4th February – Sunday 6th February

...I said as we turned up the access road to Franz Josef Glacier. Maybe not ice-bergs but there were indeed chunks of ice coming down the Waiho River.

We were spending a couple of days in Glacier Country. There are over 140 glaciers flowing from the Southern Alps, but only two (Franz Josef and Fox) reach the temperate climate of the lower rainforests. The terminal faces are only about 250m above sea level. Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers are unusual in that they are amongst the few in the world that are advancing rather than retreating (Fox Glacier has been advancing since 1985, see the photo showing how Franz Josef has retreated over the years, though it is advancing now). This is due to the West Coasts high annual rain and snow fall – about 30m of snow falls on the glaciers névé each year (the névé is the catchment area where firn or partially compressed snow is formed). Basically if there is more snowfall than ice melting at the bottom, then the glacier will advance, and conversely, a decrease in the amount of snowfall means the glacier will retreat. The glaciers are quite steep, with the snowfall pushing ice down the valleys at a very high rate (up to 10 times faster than most valley glaciers). The funnel like shape of the glacial valley and huge névé also help with this speed. Fox Glaciers névé is 30 square km.. These glaciers are also amongst the most accessible in the world, just a short drive and then walk from a main highway. This whole area is considered so special that it forms part of the South West New Zealand World Heritage Area, along with Westland, Aoraki/Mt Cook, Fiordland and Mt Aspiring National Parks. It covers 2.6 million hectares and is one of the great wilderness areas in the Southern Hemisphere.

Franz Josef Glacier

Early Maori called Franz Josef Glacier Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere, or The Tears of the Avalanche Girl. Legend tells of a girl whose tears froze to form the glacier after her lover fell to his death from one of the peaks. Hine Hukatere was an adventurous girl who loved mountaineering above all else, and often persuaded her lover, Wawe, to accompany her into the hills. He was never as fond of climbing as his she was, and one day slipped, plunging to an early death. Hine Hukatere's tears were frozen by the gods as a memorial to her grief, thus forming the glacier.

18,000 years ago Franz Josef glacier spread out across the lowlands and beyond the coastline. Now we had to drive up the Waiho River (the ice-bergs getting less and less) then hike for nearly an hour. I say hike, it was an easy walk, we carried Samara in the wrap but could have taken the buggy instead. There was only a couple of places we would have needed to carry it, and we couldn't take it right to the end of the track. Still, she sleeps nicely in the wrap – missing the glacier this time! The path follows the river valley, passing many waterfalls coming down the tree-clad mountains. Its all on moraine, the debris deposited along the sides and bottom of the glacier.

We were treated to great views all the way up, closer to the face gave better views of the lower part of the glacier, and further away gave great views of its high reaches. Next to the end of the glacier was a large lump of ice (huuuge lump of ice) that was covered with stones / gravel. There was none of the famed West Coast rain and the clouds stayed high.

Fox Glacier

Fox Glacier is 13km long, the longest of the West Coast glaciers. It falls 2600m (over 8000ft) on its journey from the alps to the sea. The peaks at its head soar over 3000m (10,000ft) and include Aoraki Mt Cook and Mt Tasman. Its Maori name is Te Moeke o Tuawe, but I don't know the meaning or story behind it.

The drive and walk to Fox Glacier were shorter than to Franz Josef, but the walk was definitely not buggy friendly. The end of the walk was also closer to the terminal face here. We met several people complaining that they couldn't get all the way to the face, but DOC have very good reasons for blocking access – ice falls and people die. While we were there, we heard rock or ice falls a couple of times, but couldn't see where it was falling. By the time we got back to the car park, the river was full of chunks of ice (more than when we arrived) so one of the bangs at least must have been an ice fall. As we were watching, the amount of ice decreased again. Further down the river, there is an historic 70m suspension bridge, built in 1929 for £1200.

Lake Matheson

The walk around Lake Matheson is really popular, not surprisingly as the views across the lake to glaciers and mountains, and their reflections in the lake, are “unsurpassed”. The lakes excellent mirror-like properties are due to the dark brown water. The lake is surrounded by bush, and it is the tannin from the organic matter on the forest floor that colours the lake.

Lake Matheson was formed when Fox Glacier retreated from its last significant advance about 14,000 years ago. During the last major ice age, the glacier spread across the coastal plains towards the sea, dumping massive piles of rock. As the glacier retreated, the rocks ground a depression which held onto some of the ice, and as it melted, it formed the lake.

We piled Samara into the buggy (the first part of the walk is meant to be buggy friendly) and set off round the lake. The track to the first viewpoint was wide and well formed. The views were spectacular, but the lake wasn't smooth enough for a good reflection. We kept going past the viewpoint, figuring we'd just turn back if the track got too rough for the buggy. But it didn't, and we kept going to other, and in our opinion better, viewpoints. We finally found somewhere with a good reflection, or the breeze had settled enough.

Heavy Rain Warning

There was a rain warning in effect from the evening after we visited Fox Glacier (Saturday) through to Monday morning. We camped Saturday night at Gillespies Beach (DOC) but didn't get chance to do more than have a brief walk along the rock and driftwood strewn beach before the rain started. For a while it was only drizzle, but as we still have to acquire a baby sized raincoat, we couldn't stay out. As the evening wore on, the rain got heavier, but it never really poured down. We were quite sheltered though.

The following morning, Sunday, dawned very cloudy and damp. We hung around the camp for a while but as the rain never lightened, we didn't get to do the walks we wanted to. We headed off down the coast, hoping that the rain would clear and we could do something (we hadn't heard about the rain warning at this point). We kept saying we'd see what it was doing at each place we wanted to stop. At each place we wanted to stop, it kept raining! We had some lunch at Bruce Bay, a quick dash to the shelter, info boards and views at Knights Point, and a brief walk at Ship Creek (only a light shower here), before hitting Haast. This was when we found out there was a heavy rain warning (mainly for the hill country rather than the coastal areas). We weren't planning to go any further anyway, only to go as far as a camp ground with a lounge (it gets hot and steamy in the kombi with three of us and the doors and windows shut!!). Tomorrow should be better, drier, and we can drive down the coast to Jackson Bay, then back track to Haast and over the Haast Pass to Wanaka. The other side of the Southern Alps has been drier today, but we are not sure what we prefer (especially with Samara), warm and damp or Timaru's 42°C.

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Photos

Franz Josef and two of the team
one slept through this glacier

Franz Josef
If anyone can photoshop these two pics together so we are in in the shot, please let is know!!

Franz Josef
this photo of a photo shows how the glacier has retreated over the years

River crossing on the way to Fox Glacier
the littlest travel bug stayed awake for this glacier