After we woke up at Franz Josef, we headed a little ways south to visit the other major glacier, Fox Glacier. On the way, we stopped for breakfast and made a short walk around Lake Matheson, a lake renowned for its mirror-like surface and beautiful surroundings.
Here are the boys crossing the bridge over the small river that leaves the lake.
There were several strange mushrooms that we spotted during the walk. Here is Jasper holding one of the blue-est.
Our first glimpse of the lake through the trees. You can already see how sharp the reflection is in the water.
Super blue mushrooms, in situ:
Here are some native flax plants growing in the marshy area at the edge of the lake.
And a cool reflection:
The boys and Evelyn, admiring the view:
If it were a bit less cloudy, you'd be able to see the tallest mountain in New Zealand, Aoraki, in this photo, but it is still a cool shot down the lake into the Southern Alps.
Another one, with more lake:
A rare photo of us all together. We had passed a hitchhiker on our way to the lake, but we didn't stop to pick her up. Hitching is actually legal in New Zealand. At the end of the lake, we ran into her. She was from Singapore and was in the middle of a long trip through New Zealand. We apologized for not picking her up and then made her take our photo.
The boys, in the woods:
A few more cool photos of the lake:
Resting:
More blue mushrooms. Crazy, right?
Fox Glacier is similar in many ways to Franz Josef - it is a large glacier that has been retreating over the last three hundred years or so, so there is a walk from the car park up the impressive valley the ice carved out of the mountains until you reach the terminal face of the glacier.
Before the cool photos of the walk to the glacier, though, another entry in the continuing photo essay Perils of Stickman. In this installment, Stickman is washed away by a surge wave created by ice falling from the front of the glacier into the river that runs from its base out to the ocean.
Here is the river. Doesn't look too dangerous in this photo, but there are plenty of signs that tell you to steer clear.
Again, the cliff faces of the valley were staggering.
Again, Stickman and his Continuing Perils. Here, Stickman is pelted to death by smaller rocks. Notice the smaller sign beneath - No stopping! Stickman, I believe, is being punished by the Gods for stopping. The message is clear - do not stop or rocks will fall on your head.
Here are the rocks that could fall on your head. Landslides like this one were in evidence all around us. That and the "no stopping!" signs made us a little nervous.
Still, the views were amazing. I stopped to take this picture and got yelled at by Jasper. No stopping!
Jasper and Aidan, hugging on the far side of the no stopping zone.
More landslides:
A stream that fed the glacial river. So pretty!
Jasper, admiring the stream:
Another cool stream and more red lichen-covered rocks.
The hike:
The terminal glacial face! The view of Fox Glacier was actually more impressive than the view of Franz Josef, mostly because it felt a bit more like you were looking straight into the face of the ice wall.
Here is a dramatic photo of the glacier coming out of the mountains and into the valley.
At the bottom of the glacier, the ice was dirty with gravel and dust. You can see the river emerging from beneath the ice sheet.
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| What does the Fox Glacier say? |
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| Pow Pow Pow Pow Pow Pa-Pow! |
Japser, encouraged by his grandfather, high-fives the man who is telling you not to pass the safety barriers if you value your life.
Another glacier photo:
More Stickman. In this scene, Stickman is saved from certain death from giant chunks of ice falling from the glacier, only to be swept down the river into the ocean and to his doom. I'm not sure SurgeWave written in white on yellow without a space really conveys the sense of danger intended by this sign, though it could be a cool name for a band.
One last photo of the river as we hiked back down to our car:
We continued on our way south along the coast, stopping late in the day at Knight's Point. Here are a few photos of the rocks were once part of the point before they were eroded away:
We were staying in Haast, but we decided to continue past and eat dinner at a place called Port Jackson, the true end of the highway. It feels a bit like the end of the world - there is almost nothing out there except a tiny fish-and-chips restaurant that operates out of a trailer. We had dinner there, taking refuge from the extremely aggressive sand flies that harassed us many times that day whenever we got out of our car near water. The most exciting part of our trip to Jackson was encountering a penguin, in this case a yellow-crested Fiordland Penguin. This was the third or fourth species of penguin we've seen in the wild since coming to New Zealand.
Finally, we retired to our little bed and breakfast in Haast:
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