Franz Joseph & Fox Glaciers

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Hello all. I will take some pictures of the hostels Carol. I have been taking pictures of everything nature oriented that I forgot some of you may be interested in viewing some of these so called hostels we have been saying in. I'll make sure to post some pics of them when I can.
So we left Arthur's Pass yesterday, driving west to the coast. We then continued south from there to Franz Joseph where we are currently staying. We made a stop in a pretty cool little town on the way down the coast, which I have no idea of the name, but it had a jade factory located on the downtown strip. There was the main sales floor as usual, but there was also a work room where customers could walk in and see the jade pieces being carved. I talked to a man who was smooting the edges of a spiral jade necklass. He explained the process to me, which is pretty self explanatory. Find jade, trace design on, commence carving with mechanized tool. He also showed me a large piece of jade that the man that works next to him was carving. He said it would most likely be worth around $6,000. I also saw a carved piece on the sales floor going for $26,000! Maybe once i'm a bazillionaire i'll buy it.
After the town with no name we continued down to the glaciers. We got in during the late afternoon and did a short hike out to the Franz Joseph glacier, or we almost did. We made it about half way before a torrential downpour of rain deterred us from contining. But we definately had a good view of it. It's quite hard to miss a giant piece of ice in a valley. We read some of the info boards which explained that the glacier has advanced and receeded over the past few hundred years, but mainly receeded over the past 50 years. It actually moves at around 1 m per day, carving out rock faces, and dragging anything in its way with it. Pretty impressive for a mass of that size.
The next day we drove south about 20 min to get to the next glacier, Fox. Again it was a massive piece of ice between two mountains. We were able to get very close to it, probably within a 1000ft, before we were stopped by signs that told us it would be dangerous to go any closer without guides. We then took a hike to a nice heightened viewpoint of the glacier, which gave us a better perspective on just how massive it is. I posted a pic so you can see.
We headed to Lake Mathson after that, which is supposed to be an incredibly photogenic lake because of its reflective waters, and views of Mt. Cook and other mountain ranges. I think this is the lake you were talking about Lisa. However, there was a slight breeze distorting the reflections and large dark clouds were hiding Mt. Cook. Someone upstairs just didn't want us to have the spectacular views. That's ok though, we have been getting pleanty of other great views.
Finally, I headed to Franz Joseph again to hopefully get up close and personal with the glacier. This time I came prepared with resistant jacket, pants, and an umbrella. It didn't rain though, which was good. But I did get to an area, much like the Fox glacier, that told me not to go any further. However, I saw a few people who had, and plus there were a couple tour groups on top of the glacier at the time. So I figured it was pretty safe. And it was well worth it, you can see some of the pics. The river coming out of the base of the glacier was loud and ravenous. I could see how it could carry large rocks down stream incredibly quickly if more water was gushing. It was also pretty sweet seeing the thin layers of ice slowly mealting away.
Ok almost out of time, I will post pictures now. Peace out.

Daniel

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Comments

[Barry Neal]

Wow!!!
Daniel, I have loved every blog entry and the photos are fantastic. Milford Sound also blew my mind - one of the most amazing places on the planet I have visited. We also thought the glow worms were fascinating. We stayed in many of the places you have been writing about, so it brings back many fond memories of our 2 months with the Kiwis. When we were at Franz Josef and Fox Glacier, it poured the entire time, and the glaciers were moving and unstable, so they didn't allow anyone to hike on them. I look forward to every one of your blogs - keep them coming! Love, Uncle Barry

[Kam the man]

nice pictures, danielle. especially your JC pic. i'm his number one fan. i've been sick. hey, so how am i supposed to get that stuff you want?