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Published: March 8th 2009
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Another early rise... we packed up at the hostel and were on our way to Fox Glacier. It was raining for most of the drive, which made it more difficult to see the scenery. We were concerned that our hike up the glacier might be cancelled.
Nevertheless, the drive was scenic, though, the road was (as in much of NZ) very curvy and hilly.
This was one of the day's that Robert planned and he planned it well. We arrived early enough to grab some food and get checked in for our scheduled hike. The hike was still a go despite the rain. Apparently, in a "rainforest" it rains a lot (light sarcasm)... so the tour company was well prepared for this day's precipitation (as many, if not most, of their hikes are in the rain 😉.
Before the hike, we had an interesting food experience. During our trip we often stopped at grocery stores to buy groceries to make our own food (though, this didn't stop us from dining at plenty of cafes and restaurants along the way).
This day we were having turkey sandwiches with mustard (Coleman's English Mustard). But, as we soon found out,
this was no ordinary mustard... it was a 'hot' mustard (not labeled as any different, though) more akin to wasabi. Robert and I had slathered it on our sandwiches like regular French's mustard (Vanessa went a little lighter). Between the three of us, we probably used over half of this little jar of mustard... ahem, and what was the serving size (which we checked afterward)? -- > 50! Five - zero. We had at least 25 servings of it on our three sandwiches.
We were hungry and so began devouring our sandwiches. There was an initial silence at first as we chewed and began to realize something was amiss... oh, it burned... it cleared out my sinuses.
Tears welled up and we were soon laughing and crying (tears from pain and laughter) huddled up in our rental car, rain pouring outside, windows fogged up. We ended up scraping what mustard we could off of our sandwiches and got the spice to a manageable level.
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For the hike, we suited up at the tour company (two layers of socks, heavy hiking boots, rain pants and a heavy rain jacket). They also gave us crampons to put
on when we got up to the glacier (we threw them in the backpack).
Fox Glacier, located in the Southern Alps and about 7.5 miles long, is fascinating for a number of reasons. However, probably most interesting is that it ends in a rainforest. Yes, a rainforest. Only a few in the world end in a rainforest and, according to the guide, they are all in NZ or Patagonia. 😊
After a short bus ride we got to the valley and started hiking (in the rain... it was raining the whole time). While it is usually assumed sunny = better... we all agreed that this was much better for this day. In a rainforest, hiking up to a glacier, hiking over streams with rock slide warnings (there had been rock slides in the previous days and, we were told, a minor one occurred during our hike). The rain made it an adventure... a greater challenge and more memorable.
The valley itself had huge sheer cliffs from where the glacier had been before... hundreds of feet. You can see from the photos... though the photos can't really capture the immenseness off it. The mountains and the massive boulders above
me, rising out of and around a rainforest... streams here and there. Awesome.
The hike was also quite a trek... lots of steps and very steep... all water-soaked. Near the top we were hiking next to shear cliffs and were instructed to hold onto a chain along part of the way.
At the glacier we put on our crampons and were given walking poles with a steel spikes.
The trail on the glacier is constantly being modified by the guides as the glacier melts (probably a foot or two a day at the point we were at). Steps are carved into it. Markers are set to track how fast it melts and changes.
We could hear water trickling around and under us. Lots of cracks and crevices. Since it was raining, the glacier was pretty clean and white-bluish (glaciers are pretty dirty from the soil they pick up and normally, at the terminal, can look very dirty when melting).
We followed the guide and stopped at a few different points as he discussed the glacier. We took a peak down a hole that water was running into. We also walked through a little cave (man-made,
Aqua-colored water
Caused by silt from the glacier suspended in the water. The glacier grinds it up and helps create this beautiful color when it all melts. I think).
The view atop the glacier, despite rainy and somewhat foggy, was still incredible.
We then hiked down and walked through the valley, across the streams, and back to the bus.
Back in town, we went shopping again and then started driving towards Wanaka.
Along the way we drover across numerous one-way bridges. Once into the mountains, it was also one of the most uninhabited areas we had seen on the trip... no houses or towns, no radio stations, no cell phone service, few cars... very isolated. But also amazingly beautiful. Somewhere along the way we also stopped at a waterfall.
It was a good drive and we arrived in Wanaka at night and got checked in at
Base Backpackers. Base Backpackers had a very different atmosphere from Global Village Backpacker in Greymouth. Global Village was very warm, social and comfortable. Base seemed more like a party hub and a place to crash... more like a college dorm setup... though, it was very clean. Robert, Vanessa, and I had a six-person dorm room to ourselves . The dorm room also had a window that we opened up and let in the fresh night air.
We
crashed probably before midnight and I slept well. Another great and exhausting day.
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Celeste in Missouri
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How cool!
That is amazing! I'm am totally laughing at the mustard story, how hilarious!