Fox Glacier

If you ever spend some time on the South Island of New Zealand and have limited money, it is still worth it to take a tour onto either Fox or Franz Joseph Glacier.  We joined a half day tour on Fox and the experience is a natural wonder.  It was nothing like what I had expected.  There is a sign about a three minute drive from the glacier face that reads:  “In 1986 the glacier was here.”  If you look to the right of the sign, all you see is dense rainforest.  If you look to the left of the sign, all you see is dense rainforest.  It’s got to be a joke, right?  No!  The glaciers on the west side of the South Island are very dynamic and one of the few places in the world where such a monster that depends on cold temperatures resides so close to rainforest.  They actually have used the forest’s regrowth to determine where the glacier was at any given time.  Pretty cool, huh?

On top of the fascinating ecology effected by the glacier’s presence, the glacier itself is a beautiful thing.  It is a massive ice beast sighing with the exhaustion of moving quicker than many other glaciers on the planet, hissing in the heat of the sun and shedding its layers into the river below and growling at the little people that jam crampons into its surface.   The guided trails led us up onto its spine to look out over the valley it had carved over thousands of years and then through a sapphire blue tunnel that gave off the appearance of an eye from afar. 

The sheer power of the glacier and the threats that lie within its cracks make it all the more beautiful and intriguing.  It is a remarkable place for any fact, geology, ecology, or outdoors-loving person and, though it is a gentle hike for a fair bit of cash, well worth it.

Who thought giving Connor an ice pick was a good idea?