Blogs from Fox Glacier, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 3

...ICE COLD Seeing as I am from hot and humid South East Florida, I just had to see a 'real live' glacier while in NZ. From Wanaka we drove Sunny to the small township of Fox Glacier. Along the way we stopped in Mt. Aspiring National Park, and in the pouring rain, hiked a short rainforest walk to the Blue Springs Pools. unlucky for us, the 'blue pools' were nothing but green pools because of all the rain pouring down. Still, the walk was peaceful, we could hear all the different types of NZ native birds and the river running by. We trekked over another swing bridge to reach the riverbanks, and we walked away with some great river rocks (maybe even some jade?) and some good memories of our rainy hike. After the hike we ... read more

Hi all Travelled over the Haast Pass from Wanaka to Fox Glacier yesterday. Wanaka very nice along the lake front - sat out and had a coffee and would have been nice to sit and relax there for a day but had to move on. Driving times are longer than you would expect despite very little traffic on roads but winding roads and lots of stops to look at views all take time. Arrived at Haast on West Coast at about 2pm and it started raining as we pulled into the local tourist office and has rained almost non-stop since. planned a flight over glaciers and alps for today but have rescheduled for 08.30 tomorrow if weather ok. If not we'll press on up the west coast and have to come back to do the flight ... read more

We hitched down to the Fox Glacier on boxing day. It’s more difficult hitching as a pair of guys but we got lucky. First lift took us to Hototiki, on the way we saw one of the other guys who had hitched earlier from the hostel waving at us from a passing van. A few minutes later the van came back, we’d got a lift. Dudi the Israeli hitcher had boasted that he could get all three of us a lift, and to be fair to him he’d managed it. Stayed at the Ivory Towers hostel. Another nice hostel, in a nice area, New Zealand has no shortage of nice cheap places to stay. Booked a guide for walking on the Glacier the next day. The walking on the Glacier was only possible with the aid ... read more