Blogs from Fox Glacier, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania

As we expected late yesterday afternoon when we arrived in Fox Glacier, the weather today was not going to offer much in the way of opportunities for outdoor activities. And so it turned out to be. As light came up outside out motel unit, we had, what would turn out to be a last look at the surrounding mountains before they disappeared behind the mists of rain that persisted all day. It was cold outside, probably no more than 3C, and there was what looked like fresh snow on the hills visible before the rain really closed in. Fortunately the heater in the unit was very efficient and after the brief wander outside we were able to get back into the warmth of the unit quickly. It was to be an indoor day with the only ... read more

Geo: -43.4643, 170.018The only reason people go to Fox Glacier is the overpowerig presence of Mount Cook, Mount Tasman, Fox Glacier, Franz Josef Glacier and all the accompanying stuff of mountains and snow.And the best way to see all this is by helicopter - given their ability to fly high and slow and land on the snowfields high in the mountains.So we squeezed into this little helicoper together who two other passengers and the pilot and up we went. The photos speak for themselves really. Mountain peaks clad in snow, glaciers, mountain huts high on the peaks, getting out onto the snow. All brilliant stuff - you can tell from Peter's smile he thought this was much the best way to get up a ountain, not all that walking stuff.On our return we found our rather ... read more

We're doing well - this is our second blog in two days. It's all very well dashing about NZ doing amazing things, but at some point one has to organise domestic stuff and, as Harry says, "domestic stuff is too hard for men". The motel at Wanaka was blessed with a laundry and, as luck would have it, it was a gloriously sunny day so we did our 4th big wash of the trip (just to rassure you that we're keeping ourselves tidy). Whilst watching me hanging out the washing, Harry saw a Tiger Moth flying overhead towards the local airport and he decided it was incumbent upon him to organise manly pursuits. So off we went in search of the Tiger Moth. We had an inkling that if we followed the signs to the airport ... read more

This weekend, unfortunately Sara and O'Brien had work to do so Lola's girls were separated and Anne and I decided to go with a different group of girls (Greer, Jess, Laura and Jen) to do the Copland Track. We headed out on Thursday afternoon for the long 6 hour drive to glacier land along the west coast. Just as we were driving out of Dunedin we spotted some hitch hikers and thought it would be funny to pick them up and just as we passed them we realized that they were two of our friends, Grey and Mark. So we turned around and gave them a ride for a little bit. The rest of the time it was just Anne and I, but the drive along the west coast was so incredible that it made ... read more

Possum Killer The West Coast tour provided me with one of the funiest moments of our travels so far - at Laura's expense! We set off from Dunedin after lunch, made a quick stop at the Moeraki boulders so by the time we hit the westward road it was after 4pm. As it would become clear, this was pushing it, especially since we wanted to get as far as Fox Glacier nearly 400 km away. Laura drove from the boulders following the road that ran alongside the rail trail into familiar territory at Wanaka. I took over the wheel through the winding mountain roads over the Haast Pass reaching the west coast at dusk. Laura agreed (perhaps foolishly) to drive the final section up the west coast road and as darkness fell it soon became apparent ... read more